Submission + - Woman gets Ubuntu, drops out of school
das writes: "A Wisconsin student recently ordered a new Dell laptop, planning to enroll in online courses at a local community college. However, she ordered her laptop with the Ubuntu Linux option. When she realized that it wouldn't ship with Windows, she called back Dell, which said there was still time to change her order. But she claims that Dell discouraged her, saying that "Ubuntu was great, college students loved it, it was compatible with everything I needed." So her computer arrived with Ubuntu. Then she realized that her Windows-only "Verizon High-Speed Internet CD" wouldn't load (no software needs to be loaded to use Verizon DSL), and unable to install Microsoft Office, a requirement for her online courses (the laptop shops with OpenOffice, fully compatible with Microsoft Office), she dropped out of the fall and spring semesters. This article — which prompted a firestorm of criticism — may be humorous, but it raises a bigger question about the acceptance of Linux. This computer, with Ubuntu, would handle everything she needs easily — email, web, and Microsoft Office-compatible documents. But when the perception is that Windows and its trappings are mandatory, how can that be reasonably countered?"