Dell mocks MS' mandatory-OS regime

The Register (UK) ^ | August 15, 2002 | Thomas C Greene

[HAL9000]

Dell has devised a cute trick to accommodate its big corporate customers without crossing its Lord and Master, Microsoft, which has decreed that all OEM computers shall be shipped with operating systems, according to a recent Cnet article.

To make life easier for big shops using Linux, which can be installed on any number of machines without drawing a 'dynamic entry' from the BSA paramilitary squads, Dell is going to ship naked desktops and workstations and simply chuck a copy of FreeDOS into the shipping carton to satisfy the Microsoft licensing Taliban.

Thus it will not be necessary for the recipient to purchase some unwanted OS for hundreds of machines at a time.

Now this hardly qualifies as a boon to the little guy; it will be confined to Optiplex and Precision lines and be available only by arrangement. Dell is hardly contemplating this dodge as a means of sneaking naked PCs to the rude masses, who MS fears would defy their licensing extortion by loading legally-purchased editions of Win-3.x, 95 and 98 on their new boxen (surely no one would voluntarily load Win-Me).

So Tuxers who admire Dell hardware, all twenty of them, will still have to pay for Windows and Office, though they have no use for either. But the concept is intriguing. The FreeDOS chuck-in does satisfy the Redmond naked-box-taboo, so OEMs other than the MS-loving Dell might dare to accommodate the smaller market of individual buyers who like a pre-built box but prefer to sort out their own OS and apps for themselves. ®

[HAL9000]

FreeDOS is truly awful, but now it has a useful purpose - to defeat Microsoft's extortion tactics.

[Wurlitzer]

Is MS looking to be hauled back into court or what? Gee I use their products but their tactics are hard to defend. Guess that is why I don't try!

[jae471]

FreeDos isn't that bad. It's great for useful for all the CLI utilities MS denies you in windows, and the shell (FreeCom) is better than anything microshaft ever put out.

[TechJunkYard]

And as a coaster to rest your glass of iced tea on while you're locating your favorite Linux distro CDs...

[Neanderthal]

I guess they can't just throw in a free Linux CD because then they'd be "selling" Linux.

[rdb3]

The Penguin Ping. Want on or off? Just holla!

Got root?

[B Knotts]

Sure they could. You can sell Linux for however much money you like. You just have to offer access to the source code; that's all.

[Grig]

I'm sticking with Win98se and hoarding software for it. WinXP is like making your PC the itellectual property of Microsoft.

[demlosers]

How dare you defy me?
Bill will do what he likes to do in life: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. Goodbye Dell! <\sarcasm>

[Born to Conserve]

The nice thing about freeDos is that they will not have to support it because no one will install it.

If they bundled Linux, they would have to support it or have pissed off customers.

[Britton J Wingfield]

Depends on what kind of copy you happen to have. Get the unrestricted business one and you never have to deal with MS. I really like it.

[Bush2000]

Dell has devised a cute trick to accommodate its big corporate customers without crossing its Lord and Master, Microsoft, which has decreed that all OEM computers shall be shipped with operating systems, according to a recent Cnet article.

Hal, you crack me up. You think this is hurting MS. What you don't realize -- or fail to point out -- is that most corporate customers have enterprise license agreements. They're paying for the software regardless. This will simply lower their costs so they don't pay twice.

[Fractal Trader]

Just a few threads back here our ever reliable Bush2000 told us that there was "zero credibility" that MS would force Dell or other OEMs to ship naked OS PCs.

I guess that shows the basic Microsoft FUD tactics : Deny, Deprecate and Deceive (not to mention vile personal attacks and sexual innuendos) until the truth catches up for you, and then you pretend like your antics never happened.

Do you wonder why we don't find you credible, Bushie?

[Bush2000]

Just a few threads back here our ever reliable Bush2000 told us that there was "zero credibility" that MS would force Dell or other OEMs to ship naked OS PCs.

Dude, lay off the crack. Why would MS "force Dell or other OEMs to ship naked OS PCs"? Put down the Bill Gates pincushion for a second and think about what you're saying.

Do you wonder why we don't find you credible, Bushie?

Do you ever wonder why you screw up so much, dood?

[Admin Moderator]

Regarding your request- no I can't. We have no way to edit posts. Sorry, AM

[LibKill]

OK, I'm a dinosaur.

Before I go extinct, what is FreeDos?

[HAL9000]

Before I go extinct, what is FreeDos?

"FreeDOS aims to be a complete, free, 100% MS-DOS compatible operating system."

The FreeDOS Project

[LibKill]

Thanks for the link. Bookmarked for detailed examination (not now, it is Friday night).

Is this a replacement for MS-DOS?

[Fractal Trader]

There you go again! One minor typo and your off to the races with personal attacks. Obviously, the word "not" was supposed to come after OEMs

More important, notice how you have evaded the basic charge, which is proven by the hyperlink that you are a complete FUD machine and can never admit when your lies and attacks are totally wrong.

Wake up and smell the roses, Bushie. On MS issues we all know that you can always be trusted to come out with one response -- defending the party line -- even when facts incoveniently get in the way.You also have been found defending security flaws so gaping that you could drive a Mack truck through them.

Obviously, you never learned good manners in kindergarten, and have suffered ever since. I know plenty of people who have worked behind the fortress walls of Microsoft. It seems to be a common personality disorder. Kind of ironic, since Robert Fulghum, the author of the referenced title, was Bill Gate's minister when he was a boy.

[HAL9000]

Is this a replacement for MS-DOS?

That is the goal of FreeDOS, but in my experience, MS-DOS is better - especially when trying to access peripherals like CDROM drives.

I know it's hard to believe, but the FreeDOS group actually managed to make an operating system that is worse than Microsoft's.

It's a simple system to try out. Just download it, put it on floppies, and boot up.