[TriLUG] New Vista laptop needs Linux

[Michael Kimsal]

I wonder if Apple store employees would let you try to boot a live linux
distro to see if it worked there.  They're pretty open (or give that
appearance) about everything else in their stores - touch it, test it, play
with it, surf the web, etc.  Contrast that attitude with BB/CC where you see
30 laptops all showing the stupid Firedog or Geeksquad logo locked down so
that you can't *test* anything with them to see how they perform.  The weird
thing about that is that really, all Macs are sort of the same (during any
time period) - there's far less variation between the few macs at a store
than there are between the 20+ laptops you can choose from at a bestbuy, for
example.

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 9:53 AM, Hadrian Zbarcea <hzbarcea at gmail.com> wrote:

> Michael, I've had experiences similar to yours.  I think it depends a
> lot on who you get to talk to.  I think  employees tend to behave
> (predictably) irrationally when such odd requests pop up and act
> towards minimizing their personal risk and not increasing the business
> revenue.
>
> http://www.predictablyirrational.com/
>
> Hadrian
>
>
> On Dec 17, 2008, at 9:42 AM, Michael Kimsal wrote:
>
> > Not sure if that was directed specifically at me, since I mentioned
> > I've
> > been booted out.  That was slightly overstated - I was told by
> > someone at
> > BestBuy
> > that if I kept asking I would be escorted out of the building.  I
> > don't
> > shop there any more.
> >
> > In another case (circuit city) I asked if I could boot up from a
> > liveusb
> > disk
> > to see if my linux distro would work.  "No, I can't let you do
> > that."  "Why
> > not?"
> > "It's store policy."  "Why?  I just want to boot - I don't write to
> > the
> > drive."
> > "We might get viruses."  "But I'd really like to give you $600 for
> > this
> > laptop if I can prove it works with the live usb drive.  I just want
> > to
> > check."
> > "No, this is store policy."
> >
> > I was not agitated, but was in a hurry in both cases
> > (laptop had just broke and I was trying to get a new one in a hurry.
> >
> > Both of these stores were on Capital near Triangle Town Center.  If
> > anyone
> > else has had better luck at those stores, let me know.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 9:15 AM, <OlsonE at aosa.army.mil> wrote:
> >
> >> Ihmo, if you're going to use the "livecd", then you should be
> >> allowed.
> >> But to wipe Windows off the machine without putting it back in its
> >> original state ...I'd also tell you to leave my store. I've had no
> >> issues booting LiveCDs at any of the local area places I've been
> >> (BestBuy, BJ's, Circuit City ...etc).
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
> >> Behalf Of Glenn Starling
> >> Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 3:15 PM
> >> To: Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion
> >> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] New Vista laptop needs Linux
> >>
> >> I have had good luck at several stores just asking the sales person
> >> helping
> >> me if I could "try" Ubuntu.  They said "yes" and watched me as I
> >> booted
> >> the
> >> live version.  I also indicated that it would not write anything to
> >> their
> >> hard disk.  I had already asked for their machine recommendation and
> >> they
> >> knew that I was going to put Linux on the machine if I bought it.
> >>
> >> Glenn
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Steve Litt" <slitt at troubleshooters.com>
> >> To: "Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion" <trilug at trilug.org
> >> >
> >> Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11:59 AM
> >> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] New Vista laptop needs Linux
> >> ...
> >>> Now you know why I buy my laptops at Costco.
> >>>
> >>> By the way, most of the time I've been able to sneakily boot live
> >> distros
> >>> on
> >>> display laptops at Costco.
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
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> >>
> >>
> >> --
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Michael Kimsal
> > http://michaelkimsal.com
> > 919.827.4724 - Skype
> > 919.455.8488 - Cell
> > --
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-- 
Michael Kimsal
http://michaelkimsal.com
919.827.4724 - Skype
919.455.8488 - Cell