Re: [tlug] Ubuntu Laptop Assistance Please + Rant about Akihabara

[Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com>]

On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 11:16 AM, Jawaad Mahmood
<jawaad.mahmood@example.com> wrote:
> As I mentioned in the grandparent message, I went to that Dell shop.  They
> told me they had nothing related to Linux at all, which is what really
> irritated me.  Again, we are talking about geek paradise Akihabara, not
> Shinjuku or whatever.  There should be a higher bar of knowledge there.


Ah, me bad!  Sorry, I missed that.  I think that Dell shop had
Linux-based *servers* and the staff at least knew they existed.  Of
course, staff in that shop end up helping you purchase it through
Dell's web site.

Given the level of 'service' at the superstores, they can save floor
space if they used that sales model...  :-)


> Is it hard for ONE PERSON IN A CHAIN to take the time to produce a
> compatibility chart.  It wouldn't increase sales significantly, but it would


...that one person would have to be a manager, not a salesperson, I
think.  And there would have to be enough people requesting it to
motivate them.  If all the Linux users in the Tokyo area went to them
in a day to ask about Linux, that would change their minds.  :-)


> 10 years ago the Internet wasn't obliterating these stores.  It is now.  It
> is time for them to realize that the long tail is not difficult to appeal
> to, and having information available in the information age should be a
> piece of cake for a mega corporation
>
>>
>> As a start, I would advise you to avoid any laptop with an integrated
>> NVidia graphics card.  It's not going to work under Linux [yet]...
>>
>
> Much appreciated! :D


So as I've ranted before here (though it was actually a question), the
switching between the on-board graphics card and the NVidia card is
done by software within WIndows.  Nothing currently exists for Linux,
but some progress seems to be happening.  I haven't checked the status
the last few months.  The manufacturer is Dell, by the way.

So, mega corporation is not just the distributor, but the manufacturer, too...

Ray