"As far as I see there is no market for a big box shifter like Dell sticking Linux on its PCs. Given how easy it is to install Linux in the first place I really don't see the point."
It's easy if you're computer literate, but a great deal of Dell's customers aren't computer literate.
They wouldn't even think of changing the OS in the same way that most of us wouldn't even think of changing our car's engine. Most PC users just assume the OS has to be there, don't know that they can replace it quickly and easily, and don't even really know why they would want to replace it.
Windows dominates ordinary consumers' desktops pretty much by default, it's what comes pre-installed so it's what most people use.
If Linux was the OS that came pre-installed on most PCs, very few people would replace it with Windows because they wouldn't know how, wouldn't know why and wouldn't even know it was possible.
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It's not that easy
"As far as I see there is no market for a big box shifter like Dell sticking Linux on its PCs. Given how easy it is to install Linux in the first place I really don't see the point."
It's easy if you're computer literate, but a great deal of Dell's customers aren't computer literate.
They wouldn't even think of changing the OS in the same way that most of us wouldn't even think of changing our car's engine. Most PC users just assume the OS has to be there, don't know that they can replace it quickly and easily, and don't even really know why they would want to replace it.
Windows dominates ordinary consumers' desktops pretty much by default, it's what comes pre-installed so it's what most people use.
If Linux was the OS that came pre-installed on most PCs, very few people would replace it with Windows because they wouldn't know how, wouldn't know why and wouldn't even know it was possible.