[ubuntu-uk] DELL w/Ubuntu available in the UK

[Mark Harrison]

Tony Arnold wrote:
> I've never understood how or why this works! Why should the vendor of
> the bloatware pay Dell to install it? Surelly, Dell should buy a license
> for the bloatware from its vendor and pass this on to the customer. It
> just seems counter intutitive to me, but then I work in a University and
> have almost zero understanding of how business works!
>   
It's the "free trial" principle.

The software that's included is something like a 30-day version of a 
paint program, or a 6-month subscription to an anti-virus product.

Once the customer is hooked on the product, it's easier for them to get 
out a credit card and pay the fee to enable it for longer than to start 
looking around for alternatives.


On the bright side, sometimes this approach gets people into FL/OSS 
software.... my brother, for instance, used the paint program until it 
expired, decided he needed a paint program, and now uses The GIMP.

Once you've got someone on The GIMP, OpenOffice, Firefox and 
Thunderbird, it's not a long stretch to get them onto Ubuntu....

M.