<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 TRANSITIONAL//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; CHARSET=UTF-8"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="GtkHTML/3.12.1"> </HEAD> <BODY> On Sun, 2007-25-02 at 12:20 +0000, john levin wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE> There are an increasing number of small, local shops selling computers with linux - often Ubuntu - pre-installed. See the linux vendor database: <A HREF="http://lxer.com/module/db/index.php?dbn=14">http://lxer.com/module/db/index.php?dbn=14</A> </PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> I've found that a lot of these places don't bother with any system integration issues.  They just sell a box with a Linux distro that kinda works.  Dig under the covers and you'll find half the hardware ill- or un-supported. <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE> Yeah, the amount of research I have to do, just to make sure I'm buying something that works with linux drives me nuts. A lot of this is the fault of the vendors, who change components in devices without making it known. </PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> I blame, as with almost all the fiascos in computing, the consumer. We put up with this shit.  No company does the right thing because it's the right thing.  They do the right thing because they've been forced at gunpoint (symbolically) to do it. <TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD> -- Michael T. Richter <ttmrichter@gmail.com> Disclaimer: Any people who think that opinions expressed from my private email account in any way, shape or form are those of my employer have more lawyers at their beck and call than they do brain cells. </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY> </HTML>