[Ubuntu-be] A lot of software free laptop

[Laurent]

>> I don't think so because I know that university of Louvain-la-Neuve pays 
>> exactly 20 euros for XP pro on each PC.
> 
> In general, educational institutions get lower prices than "normal"
> people?  And site licenses can also be cheaper than OEM licenses?

   You are right. But the 20 euros of ldlc are related to HOME Windows 
while the 20 of UCL is related to PRO Windows. So the 20 of UCL are 
actually cheaper.


>> I also know that there are no work of pre-confifuration at all : an
>> men in a Excell shop shown me that they received their computers with
>> an installing CD : just put the CD in the drive and Windows comes with
>> all "usefull" softwares.
> 
> Which means you get no Windows CD, so no possibility to do a "sane" and
> safe installation...?  *Shudder*

    No : this installation procedure was applied by Excell before to 
expose the computer. I do not know if the purshaser get an install CD.

> This technique is also only possible for computers that have the same
> hardware (most Linux distro kernels boot without problems on other
> hardware, but that's not true for Windows!), and requires creating those
> image-CDs, which also costs money.

> And don't forget that Win XP as delivered by Microsoft can't be
> installed on most new desktop/laptop computers, which means you first
> have to make your own install-CD with all the drivers needed.

Effectively, the CD was hardware-dependent. Ok but is should be created 
only once for each model of computer, and I am sure that most of the 
installation software is actually hardwade-independent.

    Anyway, it is sure that the 20 euros of ldlc are is not a "true" 
price in the sense of Test-Achat. But I think that a "true" reduction 
should be not very different.


>They are a wholesaler / assembling factory, but you can find their
>dealers on their site (pointersystems.be).  Their laptops are based on
>barebones from MSI and other Taiwanese/Chinese manufacturers, and
>according to the price-list it looks like Windows is an option, just
>like more RAM, a faster CPU, etc.

    Very interesting. I am wondering : is the Ubuntu-be website a right 
place to put a list of software-free laptop shops ?


Laurent