--Jeremy Allison, LCA 2010
TWO days ago we mentioned very briefly a Comes vs Microsoft exhibit that exposes Microsoft's attack on GNU/Linux at HP. "Let the Market Decide…" is a witty headline from Pogson, who uses this exhibit to demonstrate that Microsoft does not compete, it simply attacks the right of its competition to exist.
Again, I claim that if their product were superior, M$ would not have to pay people to push it. GNU/Linux was doing very well back then, 3% of HPs PCs, but a campaign by M$ to block production held it back. HP was enjoying 100% per annum growth in the GNU/Linux shipments. Isn’t that acceptance by the market? Isn’t that what the customer wants? So, here we are six years later and these trolls still claim GNU/Linux is on only 1% of PCs. Liars.
HP knows about thin clients? They are the leading supplier. They know you can run them very nicely with GNU/Linux, yet they recommend that other OS. Does GM recommend Cadillacs? No. They make them for people who want an expensive car. It is silly to recommend the most expensive line for every customer. There may be some customers of HP for whom “7ââ¬Â³ on new machines is the best choice but they must be in the minority or “7ââ¬Â³ would be doing a lot more to pump up the PC industry. Instead “7ââ¬Â³ is holding the PC industry back my putting a pricey roadblock on renewed IT.
This is the continuing soap-opera that is M$’s marketing schemes. They persuaded HP to put a damper on sales of GNU/Linux in 2002/2003 for a few shekels.
--Mark Shuttleworth