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A comment on The First Big Antitrust Trial of the Century Is About to Start. Parent comment

Re:The First Big Antitrust Trial of the Century Is About to ... by lolinder on Sunday August 06, 2023 @03:00PM (#37025358)
If you assemble the components yourself, you still don't get Windows for free, you just get out of paying the Windows tax if you intend to install Linux.

Edit: The idea that OEMs only tack on the extra cost to big companies is demonstrably false. For one thing, margins per-item are always lower on bulk purchases, not higher—Fortune 500 do not pay list price on anything. For another, you can see the difference in cost on the Dell XPS 13 by switching between Linux and Windows:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-13-plus-dev...

Computers that don't offer a Linux option just all come with that $149 surcharge baked in.

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Re:The First Big Antitrust Trial of the Century Is About to ... by JumpinJack_Cash on Sunday August 06, 2023 @03:41PM (#37025779)
> > If you assemble the components yourself, you still don't get Windows for free, you just get out of paying the Windows tax if you intend to install Linux.

You get Windows for free from the combo of self-assemble + torrenting + Microsoft not pursuing individual users for piracy

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Re:The First Big Antitrust Trial of the Century Is About to ... by lolinder on Sunday August 06, 2023 @03:44PM (#37025817)
This is a completely useless argument in the context of antitrust. Microsoft falling victim to copyright infringement is not going to cause a judge to say "actually, since so many people steal your stuff, you're not a monopoly after all!"
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