This columnist takes the stance that Dell's decision to dump
Linux desktop pre-installs wasn't so unreasonable after all:
"I can understand why open-source and Linux supporters
have much contempt for Microsoft. The company may not have always
offered a technically superior product to the marketplace, but it
was able to sell more of its products to willing buyers, which
helped build it into the company it is today.
I don't want to see competing products fail just so Microsoft
can stay in the position it's in. As an advocate of a free-market
system, I'd like to see competitors (and the government, for that
matter) at least acknowledge what the majority of consumers want
and are willing to pay for.
Consumers want integration, compatibility and ease-of-use. They
say that every time they buy a new computer and all the software
and add-ons that come with it.
The majority of consumers are not computer geeks. Once
open-source supporters start accepting that, we might have
companies like Dell be able to justify offering Linux, and even
other alternatives, in the future."
