Wal-Mart, Dell offers help breathe new life into Linux

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Nov. 27, 2007 | Elwin Green

[twntaipan]

PC system isn't just for 'geeks' anymore Tuesday, November 27, 2007 By Elwin Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette At the beginning of November, Wal-Mart gave shoppers a chance to get an early start on their holiday shopping by offering a $199 desktop computer, both in its stores and online at WalMart.com. As desktop machines go, the Everex TC2502 is not particularly powerful, with a 1.5-gigahertz processor, 512 megabytes of RAM, an 80-gigabyte hard drive and no monitor. But consumers judged it powerful enough -- in less than two weeks, the retailer was out of stock.

Given the price point, the sellout might have been predictable; what makes it remarkable is that the Everex PC does not come with any pre-installed software from Microsoft -- no Word, no Excel, no Internet Explorer, and most importantly, no Windows. Instead it runs on Linux,

[twntaipan]

Fairly good article of a general nature. Pointing out how far Linux has come if it is preinstalled on a machine sold at Walmart is the best point.

[ShadowAce]

OSS Ping?

[twntaipan]

Yeah. I think so. The only new ground covered is the muscle of Walmart to market Linux.

[goldstategop]

gOs is now available for download as an ISO. Its taken the Internet by storm, considering its an Ubuntu fork with a E17 desktop environment instead of the usual KDE or Gnome desktops. Its Mac-inspired. Now there's ASUS's eee PC, which is a fork of Xandros. Another hot seller. Linux can make it in the mainstream market as a pre-installed operating system. People won't miss Windows at that price point.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[twntaipan]

Buy.com had the eee PC (in black) for $349.99 this morning. Not sure if that is with or without rebate.

Sure wish I had the extra cash. I’d be fine with the eee PC about 90% of the time. I have an Asus notebook with Ubuntu Gutsy as it is. Works like a charm.

[bigdcaldavis]

Keep in mind gOS is still in “alpha” stage. I was running gOS while chatting with my girlfriend the other night, and in the middle of our chat, gOS froze up, so I had to go get on the desktop running Ubuntu to finish up the chat, then I had to install Xubuntu 7.10 on my laptop over gOS.

I’ve had issues with Ubuntu 7.10 crashing on my desktop and laptop, but Xubuntu 7.10 works like a charm. Haven’t tested Kubuntu 7.10. I imagine I’ll probably give Ubuntu 8.04 a whirl when it comes out in April. They’re supposed to revamp the Ubuntu “Human” theme into something that looks something like Ubuntu Studio’s default dark theme.

[tutstar]

gnip...