[ Thanks to Dean Pannell and Dennis Powell for the tip
]
File this story under “datapoint mentioned in passing”: Gateway
may be one of the kings of the customer loyalty realm, but they’ve
clung to what their marketing head calls “stupid” policies,
including invalidating warranties if customers install third party
software (which we assume includes whole operating systems).
According to this article from CNET, not only was the ban on
unofficial software problematic, but the time it took for the
company to process calls from customers angry over the policy was
bogging down its support lines. The company has, as a result,
changed its ways. Whether newly liberated Linux fans will flock to
Gateway to buy their hardware is another issue, though the company
has been a Red Hat reseller on some of its servers for close to two
years now.