Fry's Electronics - Selling Linux... Or Not?

TheMadPenguin writes "For those of you who may not be aware, Fry's Electronics has been selling a Linux desktop PC loaded with ThizLinux for quite a while now. The question is, are they really selling it? The answer is a definitive no."

No Suspens

[Jason_says]

Why would slashdot readers read the article when he answers the question for you?

Do they sell linux?No

Oh, ok move along nothing to see here....

He would make for a poor Soup Opera writer.

cheap PC - now windows tax

[bolind]

Hmmm, Doesn't this feel a bit like they're trying to sell you a OS-less PC? Either to appeal to people buying this, and throwing a pirated copy of Windows on it, or to sell the customer a copy of Windows along with the PC...

Anyone work for Frys?

[Zebbers]

And can explain how they came to be selling THIS machine? I mean. I totally understand how you can staff clueless people as most electronics store employees are pretty clueless or just FUD-injected. But who made the decision to sell this unit? Seems pretty poor to me.

If you are going to sell something, it needs to be a quality product. This goes for anything. I just don't understand how a big retailer like Frys can end up with something like this on their shelves.

A decent box running a current popular distro advertised as a cheap webbox could certainly sell IMHO, but not this.

HOW DID THIS GET PAST THE PHB?

Sorry hardware and a okay OS

[Bruha]

I dont think it's the OS mostly though I would of preferred to see Redhat or SuSE installed. The hardware of the machine is subpar to the extreme IMO. But what can you expect for 200 dollars which is the common sales price for that PC.

I hate to knock fry's since I'm a regular at the new Irving TX store but Wal-Mart ships better Linux pc's.

I'd rather see PC's shipped without a OS installed and leave it up to the consumer. However there needs to be a few desktop app's that are not on Linux at the moment such as out of the box DVD playback (Even if it's commercial).

Thoughts

[Otter]

1) Should I be astonished? It's Fry's and it's Linux. Some insane distro running the Chinese localization seems about par for the course. Hey, until recently buying a Mac in CompUSA was like that -- you'd keep telling the salesman, "No, I want to buy *this*. I do not want a Compaq. Either sell me *this* or I'll leave!" with no success.

2) I suspect the point of the "Windows can be easily installed..." sign is not to enrage you by dissing Lunix but to attract the borrowed-or-warezed-Windows-CD crowd.

3) The claim that WalMart is "doing an excellent job" seems odd given that their Linux boxes are catalog only. I think what they're doing is great but if they were selling them on the floor between bottled water and Barney coloring books, I wouldn't expect brilliant presenattion from them either.

Sounds like an OK machine, so who cares?

[dilute]

At least you know the hardware is compatible, since it is running kernel 2.4.18. Just install the Linux distro of your choice and you are good to go.

Re:Fry's vs. The Rest Of The World

[NineNine]

Hang on for a sec... these kids are probably paid $8/hour, and you expect them to be knowlegeable on something as obscure and complicated as Linux? You're living with you head in the sand, buddy.

the new mindset

[redJag]

Well maybe this isn't new as I'm fairly new to the Linux scene, but why does everyone seem to think Linux is ready for the average consumer? I don't have a problem with selling Linux computers, but you can NOT expect them to sell well. Seriously, the average person is the root of the tech jokes about the "any" key and the white-out on the monitor. Linux is becoming very nice, sophisticated, etc. but it just is not there yet.

Re:heh

[Lemmy Caution]

How completely shocking, that $7-an-hour floor sales staff at a discount warehouse store aren't very savvy about technology! One would think they'd hire 20-year industry veterans and experienced Unix sysadmins to tell people on what aisle the mouse pads are, right?

We'll reformat and install Windows 98 for a fee

[weave]

For the few of you who read the article, one bit said it had a sign on it that said that it was running Linux and they'd reformat and install Windows 98 for a fee.

• Are they charging for and installing the retail copy of Windows 98? Is this even available anymore?
• Are they gently suggesting that you buy this cheapo PC and you can just install your own bogus copy of Windows 98 on it?

In either case, it should be Microsoft that is upset, not Linux people. Something stinks.

Re:I refuse to pay the Linux tax.

[0x0d0a]

That's actually an interesting consideration. However, I strongly suspect that any place that sells Linux will also sell empty machines.

Re:I have two of these machines.

[tliet]

I've been very happy with these machines. For $150-250 (the prices fluctuates based on the phases of the moon), I got hardware that feels essentially the same as my wife's $2000 new iMac.

Really?

I did have to buy an external modem for my home box because it apparently came with a Winmodem. Also, they seemed to have changed sound chips between the time when I bought the first machine and the time when I bought the second one, and I was never able to get sound working on the second one -- maybe someone with a little more savvy would've been able to solve that problem.


Aha. I see, just like the iMac. I couldn't get Mac OS X to recognize my audiocard in my new G4. Maybe I should recompile the kernel? No?

Go away, MadPenguin.

[fm6]

Rob, you gotta stop accepting stories from this idiot. He only submits them to promote his own site. Which I don't mind, except that his site isn't SE-effect-proof, and he always submits invalid links!

Hate the Fry's Culture, Not the Employees

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok, lets clear a few things up.

I work at the new San Marco's Store north of
San Diego. I was there during the initial hiring
process before the store was opened.

First of no body probably hates the Fry's culture more than the Sales people themselfs.

The culture of Fry's is to find the cheapest possible way of doing things.. That means, we have no HR department, the sales people themselfs have to make all the friggin signs, the commisioned sales people find themself working in backstock, (mind you we make minimum wage).

Anyhow onto the topic, I am a commissioned sales person in the computer department. I fancy myself on being the most knowledgeable there. What does that mean to me? It means I make the least money out of anyone there.. Why? Because much of my time is wasted running between associates answering simple questions for THIER customers. Or when a customer finds I actually know what I'm talking about, I get stuck with him draining every bit of knowledge out of my head for over an hour.

I repeat I'm on minimum wage, so i'f i'm not selling, i'm not making money.

I'm not there to give newbies a crash course in wireless networking 101. That sounds harsh but it takes a lot of time and its NOT MY JOB to do that.

So hows this fit into the Fry's culture and hiring process? They see numbers, and the people with no computer knowledge generate more sales numbers than those do know stuff about computers.. See where I'm going?

Anyhow I could rant forever but I'll stop here and let everyone think on that.

ThizLinux is just a way to sell a PC w/o Windows

[The Eating Gorilla C]

I bought of these recently, intending to wipe linux off it and install Windoze (a new computer for my boss). I booted it up once to take a look at the linux...and it has a "uninstall linux" option in the start menu. Just pick that and it erases the partitions and reboots the machine. Just have a windows CD in the drive and you're ready to go.

On top of that, in the documentation, they expressly state that there is no support what-so-ever for Thizlinux.

So this is just a way to sell an assembled, tested PC w/o windows. And good for Fry's, for offering a way to get around the "Microsoft tax".