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Comment by corin_ | Hacker News Reader

"Would you be willing to pay extra for a Linux-based Alienware system?"

I thought one of Alienware's distinction was their support. Presumably they need to hire support reps for whatever flavor of Linux they support. Also presumably, this is more costly and intensive than hiring someone with an A+ certification. Obviously this is conjecture, but it would explain the 'charge more'.

If it was reasonably priced and decent, I would actually love support for Linux on my pc. My next one will probably be an Alienware (the mx11 netbook), and if they can make things less of a headache, I'm all for it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a geek, I'm a power user, I can fix my own computer. I just don't want to. I just installed the latest version of Ubuntu on my current netbook, and surprise surprise, I need to hack some drivers and recompile the kernel. It's a chore that I just don't want to deal with any more.

More economically, if the price of support works out less than the opportunity cost of doing it myself, then it obviously makes sense to use the support.

I can't fairly speak to their support quality (having never bought their products, and as someone who sees a fair bit of their money come my way for marketing) but:

- I would have thought most people currently buying linux PCs don't have the same support needs as those buying Windows PCs (generalisation obviously, but lowest common denominator and averages)

- For Dell products at least, support is a paid-for extra that you can add on when buying (at least for OS-level support)

- I wonder how the costs would balance out between needing staff with new skills and saving money on Windows licenses

Yes, I would. Why is that weird? It's not just about the money. Linux users are clearly willing to spend more for some things. Even though it's probably a symbolic gesture, the humble indie bundles show that.[1][2]

Not to mention that it will cost Alienware quite a bit of money to start shipping Linux. As I put in the "additional comments" box in the survey: I would pay (up to $150) extra only if every installed hardware component (sans video card) worked properly with stock Linux. That includes webcam and HDMI audio out. Video card is sort of a special case, though :(

1) http://www.wolfire.com/humble 2) http://www.humblebundle.com/

Crapware authors pay manufacturers. At least that's the rationale they use to give.

Actually, Alienware would save money. Windows pre-installed does not come for free. A linux based system should be cheaper than a windows based computer.

I never liked to pay for a windows licence by default although I install linux anyway.

That was my point. If I buy a computer with linux on I expect it to be cheaper than Windows, so it was weird that Alienware are asking people that question.

Linux computers sell in much smaller quantity. This causes increased costs of manufacturing.

How exactly NOT installing windows is a manufacturing challenge?

Packing, documents, install cds. There is also the cost of creating drivers for Linux. Testing the machines before production. You also need to do random sample tests after production.

There are a lot of challenges. Those are simply the ones off the top of my head.

Alienware has always been focused on gaming systems. Maybe they want to bundle some form of VMWare?

yes - for good suspend/resume (in laptops), multiple monitor (hot plugging and unplugging doesnt work as well as Win 7) and.... Steam.

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