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| DATE | 2004-08-21 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Buying Linux System out of the Box
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Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 13:23:49 -0400
From: Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
To: hangout-at-nylxs.com
Subject: [hangout] Buying Linux System out of the Box
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Opinion: If the Linux desktop is ever to be more than a niche player,
it needs a hand from PC vendors, including real support from the ones
that already claim to back it.
RELATED LINKS
Novell Won't Rush Linux Desktop
A Linux Desktop for Die-Hard Windows Users
Red Hat Exec: Linux Desktops Must Stand Out to
Thrive
Xandros Introduces Business Linux Desktop
Picking Your Lightweight Linux Desktop
I use Linux desktops every day in my home office. Specifically, I run
Xandros 2.5 on one of my desktops and my main work laptop, and SuSE 9.1
on my top workstation. When it comes to desktop Linux, I don't just
talk about it, I use it.
But I'm about as Unix- and Linux-savvy a guy as you're going to find. I
also actually find installing new operating systems kind of fun. OK, so
I'm a little weird.
I also know, though, after talking with businesses, resellers and Joe
and Jane User for years, that most people would rather listen to a
"best of" recording of nails being dragged over chalkboards than
replace their old operating system with a new one.
This isn't just switching from Windows to Linux. I've found people
still running Windows 2000 instead of XP who wanted to upgrade, and had
the hardware to do it, but simply didn't want to go to the trouble and
expense of making the jump.
The moral of the story is that if Linux is ever really going to grab a
sizable chunk of the desktop market, it needs to be preinstalled.
Now, some systems out there already come with Linux. Perhaps the best
known of them comes from Linspire, the operating system company
formerly known as Lindows.
You still can buy Microtel machines with Lindows at Wal-Mart for less
than $300. The machines are underpowered\x{2014}128MBs of
RAM\x{2014}from where I sit, but for a home user who wants a cheap
introduction to Linux and doesn't want to worry with installing a new
operating system, you can't beat it.
I have one myself, and while it doesn't suit my needs as a power user's
power user, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to drop one on the desk of
most home users.
Click here to read about a Linux desktop for die-hard Windows users.
If you look around, you can find other preinstalled Linux desktop PCs,
but you're not going to find them in every CompUSA or Office Depot.
Indeed, even Linux hardware vendors such as Penguin Computing are far
better known for servers than for high-end workstation lines. Finding a
midrange Linux desktop PC just isn't that easy.
Now, there are a few white box vendors out there that deliver Linux
desktops and notebooks that are neither low-end systems nor high-end
workstations. Element Computer, for example, offers both a business
notebook and a midrange integrated display/PC with its own house brand
of Linux. In fact, there's a whole marketplace out there waiting for
small system integrators who want to make a name for themselves as
Linux desktop box providers.
That's good news for resellers who want to take their shot at
greatness, but it's not easy setting up a successful Linux PC hardware
company. Just ask the vets of VA Linux, which eventually left the PC
business to become OSTF (Open Source Technology Group), the parent
company to Slashdot and NewsForge.
With PC prices hovering at all-time lows, managing enough profit margin
to keep a new PC vendor's nose above water isn't a job for the faint of
heart.
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
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