Miscellaneous > Technical Support
Do store bought PCs suck, or just Compaq, other?
worker201:
We all know that what you've said is true, that MS doesn't actually provide any actual support to their retail customers, and if the customers asked, they wouldn't respond. But they have somehow fooled them into thinking that they would, and Compaq uses this to their advantage. No sane person has ever called Windows technical support, mostly because there would be no point, and it isn't even toll free. But the fact that they have a telephone number makes all the difference to the idiots. Some people trust the name, even if the name (or the company behind it) doesn't offer any reason for trust. Retail culture is set up to deal with corporately branded products, and Linux isn't one of them.
piratePenguin:
--- Quote from: worker201 ---That's only part of the equation. Another part is support. Let's say Compaq began selling laptops with Fedora Core pre-installed (forgetting the fact that Microsoft would punish them for this). If something were to go wrong, the Fedora Group/RHL takes no responsibility. Contrast that to Microsoft, who takes responsibility for their OEM installations. Ignore the fact that Microsoft support doesn't ever go beyond "reinstall". At least they have an obligation to the purchaser and to the vendor for support (even if it is only the illusion of support). The only way to get this from Linux is to install an enterprise Linux, which costs a shitload of money, making it a bad idea for consumer consumption.
All of this may mean shit to you or me, but it is something that Compaq and Microsoft and the Fedora Group take very seriously. That's
one reason you don't see too many Linux boxes at consumer retailers.
--- End quote ---
Yea I said "maybe a reason...", but that is another reason. There are many companies trying to capitalise on the support-hole though, with a bit of effort and a bit of money I bet any OEM could make it work.
Really my point was that malware in a way does benefit Dell and MS etc because people think their computers are fucked (when they aren't, just the software is) so they buy new computers too early and too often (and if they installed GNU/Linux this would go away (to a large extent for a while)).
piratePenguin:
--- Quote from: piratePenguin ---with a bit of effort and a bit of money I bet any OEM could make it work.
--- End quote ---
And what do you know, HP just announced telephone support for Debian on selected HP computers (servers and thin clients).
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126717/article.html
H_TeXMeX_H:
Hey, that's good news. With more support maybe more people will switch or have less of a problem switching. The article only mentions support for Linux servers not desktops, but surely if you can support servers you can support desktops too.
worker201:
--- Quote from: H_TeXMeX_H ---Hey, that's good news. With more support maybe more people will switch or have less of a problem switching. The article only mentions support for Linux servers not desktops, but surely if you can support servers you can support desktops too.
--- End quote ---
Let's not get too excited. Servers are usually lorded over by people who have at least some idea of what a computer is. Giving them telephone support is somewhat easy. Desktops are usually lorded over by people who can't tell the difference between a motherboard and the frame on their parents' bed. Giving them telephone support costs a lot of money and makes the supporters want to kill themselves.
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