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Comment License cost (Score 1) 1091

Linux will become a lot more viable on the desktop when the price of hardware falls to a level that makes the windows license a very significant percentage of the overall cost. In 2002 it costs me 800 bucks for the hardware to build my own system. Now you can pay like 300 for all the parts you need to build a system. Lets say it cost a about 100 bucks to go out and buy a windows license. In 2002 Windows would have been about 11% of my total cost (100 bucks for windows + 800 for hardware is 900 total). Now the total would be 25% if you buy a 100 windows license for 300 hardware. I don't know how much it cost a company like Dell or HP for a windows license (I'm sure it under $100, but I'm guessing it is more than $50, anyone know?) but it is becoming a bigger percentage of the cost of a PC every passing day.

Comment Re:Isn't this need slowly disappearing? (Score 1) 81

If wifi is virtually everywhere why would I want to pay 100 bucks or more a month for cell service when I can buy an unlocked, no contract cell phone and use wifi with voip to do all my data and talking needs. If you are using pubic wifi and worried about security (it is a legitimate worry) you can pay for a vpn service or even set up your own openvpn server on your home network (some routers and 3rd party firmware support vpn). I'm not sure how much voip calling would be affected by vpn though. Lastly if you happen go somewhere that has zero wifi coverage you could get a pay-by-the-minute or pay-by-the-day cheap cell service.

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