<!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/3.28.3"> </HEAD> <BODY> On Mon, 2011-01-17 at 18:39 +0000, alan c wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE> On 17/01/11 14:32, Alan Pope wrote: </PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE> To those who are still finding Linux Emporium prices indigestible, I point out that LE give a retail experience, with expert support. And they are part of our community, family, if you like. Compare that with buying a naked unit and doing a diy install, hopefully first veriying full compatibility, or with effort and risk if not. </PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> Agree, it's sensible to pay the extra and support 'our own' if you don't want to go to the trouble of checking compatibility and installing Ubuntu yourself. However, I always buy a 'naked' PC from somewhere like Aleutia, Novatech or Ebuyer etc etc and have a quick Google check beforehand that its major components are supported (takes 10 mins) - with Alutia, you know it is anyway. Often have to use the latest version of Ubuntu rather than the LTS to have all the drivers available but, so far, haven't encountered any other compatibility issues. This comes out quite a bit cheaper than either LE or any of the other places that sell pre-installed Ubuntu PCs. But, if you don't want to DIY, I think it's reasonable to pay the premium to LE et al 'cos these guys will have worked out what it costs them to do it sustainability (ie without going bust or dying of exhaustion and malnutrition). It's just the same as paying more for fair trade goods. People complain that Waitrose is expensive but (a) the food doesn't taste like wax and cotton wool and (b) the employees are being relatively decently treated. It's no good complaining about what hell it is to work for companies like Virgin Media etc if you don't want to pay the cost of other people's decent employment. Ooops, end of rant <IMG SRC="cid:1295291010.8753.84.camel@fbterm" ALIGN="middle" ALT=";)" BORDER="0"> Paula </BODY> </HTML>