Posted on 11/05/2007 12:19:20 PM PST by Red Badger
Linux, the free operating system that's a perpetual underdog in the desktop market, will get another chance this holiday season at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The chain was taking orders online Wednesday for a computer called the "Green gPC" that is made by Everex of Taiwan, costs $199 and runs Linux. It will be available in about 600 stores, as well as online, Wal-Mart said. A comparable Everex PC that comes with Windows Vista Home Basic and more memory costs $99 more, or $298, partly because the manufacturer has to pay Microsoft Corp. for a software license. Both computers come with keyboard, mouse, and speakers, but no monitor.
Linux is maintained and developed by individuals and companies around the world volunteering on an "open source" basis, meaning that everyone has access to the software's blueprints.
It is in widespread use in server computers, particularly servers that host Web sites. But it hasn't yet made a dent in the desktop market. Surveys usually put its share of that market around 1 percent, far behind Windows and Apple Inc.'s OS X.
Wal-Mart started selling Linux computers at its online store in 2002, at prices as low as $199. Computers from several manufacturers were available for several years, but are now gone from the inventory.
The variant of Linux on the gPC is called gOS and is derived from the popular Ubuntu variant. It's heavily oriented toward Google's Web sites and online applications, like YouTube, Gmail and the company's word processing program, all of which can be used only when the computer is connected to a broadband line. The PC comes with a dialup modem, but gOS doesn't support it. So most users likely will get online other ways.
Google's push into desktop applications is relatively new, and gOS, the Los Angeles-based startup behind the software, sees it as crucial in overcoming consumers' reluctance to leave the familiar Windows environment.
"We feel the timing is right for open source because of that," said gOS founder David Liu. The company has fewer than 10 people on it staff but gets help from volunteers in the Linux community.
Whether value-minded shoppers who would be enticed by a $199 PC will also be interested in making the jump to Linux remains to be seen. The operating system isn't known for ease of use and mainly attracts the tech-savvy.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien said it is stocking the computer in about one in eight stores to test the demand for an open-source product.
The gPC has a low-end processor from VIA Technologies, plus 512 megabytes of internal memory, an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a combination DVD drive and CD burner.
Everex says the processor is very energy efficient, meriting the "Green" part of the name.
If your time is worth zero, then it is free. Any operating system takes time to load and patch. It will take effort each week to keep up with patches. It will take effort on some periodic basis to do backups of valuable data. Nothing is free.
I had an old epson printer up until about 6 years ago. When I had a big fight with my phone company, I canceled my phone and bought a cell phone. Then my homebuilt computers became useless because I only had dialup and no landline. I had three computers linked together with ethernet. So I packed everything up in boxes after it sat unused for awhile. Then one day I started unpacking all of it and couldn’t find my old printer. I don’t know what happened to it. I looked into upgrading the best homebuilt computer but gave up because it was too old and pointless(1 gig hard drive, etc). So I went and bought a laptop. I’ve still got the homebuilt computers though. Two of them are in pieces now. And I got about a dozen spare ribbons unopened for that old epson that I can’t find.
Yeah, I probably bought that wame HD.
Wait, it was $400 for the upgrade from the basic HD. I still have that catalog somewhere.
Yeah, and I thought that HD woud last for years too.
That’s a pretty epic story! O_O
Nice!
I was given a carload of retired office PC's, nothing really great in the pile, and then I started downloading different distro CD's to see what was out there. I eventually got 11 different Linux distro's up and running on 5 or 6 different PC's. One PC has 7 different Linux partitions on it, others have 2 or 3, or maybe up to 5 distro's up and running. It depends a lot on the video hardware.
Some of the installations went flawlessly, like the typical Windows installation, and others were a major pain to get running right. Anyone who doesn't like to (or can't) fiddle around with stuff to make it work would be better off to buy a pre-configured PC.
This is just like WalMart using slave labor to produce cheap products that prevent software developers from making a decent living.
The majority of linux developers don’t even get paid to do their work. And they work late at night and all kind of odd hours. Many have to hold down a day job to cover their expenses.
WalMart is exploiting the poor GPL and Linux developers I tell ya.
Boycott Walmart Support Microsoft they pay a living wage !!!
/end very very sarcastic parody
Bill Gates is that you ?
[I’m glad you put that last line in there]
[Else, I wouldn’t have known!]
END...............
“a 700 mhz P4 outperforms his dual core Vista box, and knowing that he doesn’t have to buy anti-virus and firewall software each year.”
Hope you’re running an external firewall if not you might as well say hi to the Russian porn industry.
“Download and try the cd LIVE version, you’ll be surprised.”
Its hard to make money with a free product so while Linux is interesting I don’t see myself switch over full time. Perhaps when windows doesn’t have 99% of the desktop market I’ll look at it.
No, it probably support ethernet instead, as a) dial-up is starting to phase out, and b) the article points out that the distribution is tailored around web-based applications that require good bandwidth. Dial-up won't cut it for what the distribution is tailored to do.
Bull. Modern Linux distros plus OpenOffice (particulary Ubuntu) are amazingly slick — everything works and they install faster than Microfraud Vista, XP, etc.
Not very likely. While there are exploits in desktop Linux, they are no where near the number in Windoze.
“Not very likely. While there are exploits in desktop Linux, they are no where near the number in Windoze.”
Its a happy world you live in. Firewalls are a must, regardless of the OS.
That goes without saying. :)
Any Java OS’s out there yet?
Indeed, but with the initial cost being $0, and the fact that you don't have to worry about viruses, trojans, or other assorted malware and the associated programs that you have pay for, install, configure and maintain, you'll end up way ahead with a Linux box.
Looks like you're channeling our resident troll.
I didn’t say you didn’t need a firewall. I said that Linux boxes don’t get owned the same way as Windows do—even without a firewall.
BTW, apt-get install guarddog at the command line or using Synaptic >> Search >> firewall does the trick. No cost, easy as pie.
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