Re: Embrace. Extend. Extinguish.
"Microsoft has form against little Linux machines - remember netbooks. After Microsoft embraced them, the skinny Linux models were driven out by fatter Windows 7 based ones. History will recur."
The factors that worked against Linux based NetBooks are not applicable for Raspberry Pi; lets go through them:
1) Users appeared to want Windows; many manufacturers and retailers had problems because people bought what they thought was a "Windows PC" and then complained when they found it wasn't.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/ubuntu-confirms-linux-netbook-returns-higher-than-anticpated
2) Manufacturers of NetBooks also sold Windows PC and may have been subject to commercial pressure from Microsoft. In the case of Windows on Raspberry Pi, there's no commercial relationship between Microsoft and Raspberry Pi Foundation; even if Microsoft were making a charitable donation to them, how could this be used to force out Linux?
I still have my Asus Eee PC 901; bought with Windows (because it was cheaper) and currently running Mint 14, it's a great machine with Linux but my requirements and expectations aren't the same as the average PC buyer. I suspect that many people who wouldn't touch a non-Windows NetBook won't buy a non-Apple tablet either.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
