I’m really ticked off right now. I really do NOT want to build my next computer. It’s a hassle just to keep up with which RAM goes with which front-side bus speed, and which processor goes on which motherboards, etc., etc.
“So why not just buy one from Dell, HP, IBM or Gateway?” you ask. Well, because I’m not planning to run Windows on it. I won’t get into a diatribe on why, but I choose to run Linux on every box I own, except for my Mac (which I keep around mainly for GarageBand and Dreamweaver). And while I could just buy a machine with Windoze on it and install Linux over top of it, I’m essentially going to pay around $200 more for the machine, for the privelege of getting an OS preloaded, which I’ll never use.
“So why not buy one of the Dells that come with no OS pre-installed?” you ask. Well, because they absolutely suck. It’s 2004, for crying out loud! Why the hell would I buy a machine with a 2.4 GHz CELERON!?!? Sure, it’s cheap, but as I’ve stated time and time again: if a software or hardware vendor takes the time to put together a system that works with Linux, I’m willing to pay for that. I’m NOT willing to pay for what would otherwise be Dell surplus machines.
“So why not buy one of those Wal-Mart PCs that come with Linux or no OS?” you ask. Because they suck too. They’re extremely low-end systems that are built specifically to be cheap. That’s not what I want. What I would like to have is something along the lines of a Dell dimension 8200 or 8400, but without the Microsoft tax.
“I happen to know that vendor xyz sells Linux or no OS systems” you say? Well, send the link then I guess — but I’ve looked at every big name vendor site in existence, and searched long and hard on each one to find Linux desktops. The closest I came was an IBM workstation which says you can get it with linux, but I couldn’t figure out how to configure it as such — the OS option was locked on XP. Lovely.
What really pisses me off isn’t that I can’t find Linux preinstalled. I don’t care so much about that, because I’d likely do a reinstall anyway. What pisses me off is that vendors claim to support it, and preload it in some instances. Then, in another year or so, they’ll take that line off the market, claiming that “Linux isn’t selling”, when in reality, they should be saying “Linux users don’t want crappy systems”.
“So why not buy a penguin computing box?” you ask. Because those are really workstation specs, and they’re priced as such. I’m really looking for a higher end desktop system. Penguin makes a fine machine — they just don’t make desktop systems — they make workstations.