HP Starts Pushing Desktop Linux

iswm writes "HP has supposedly been selling MandrakeSoft Linux on the desktop for a while but has been so quiet about it that for all intents and purposes it's been a stealth operation. That's all about to change, with two new Linux desktops ready for rolling out by HP to the North American SMB market, both boxes to be sold with Mandrake Linux."

Year of Linux

[Sla$hd0tSux0r]

I really think this is going to be the Year of Linux!

But then again...

[Anonymous Coward]

HP has supposedly been selling MandrakeSoft Linux on the desktop for a while but it's been so quiet about it that for all intents and purposes it's been a stealth operation. Well, we read it 6 times before we got to the article, one more wont hurt...

Re:Year of Linux

[Bobdoer]

Oddly enough, I think this is going to be the year of people stating: "I think this is going to be the Year of Linux"

Re:Off topic yeah...

[Anonymous Coward]

So I'm petty. sue me. There's lots like me

They likely will!

derrr what's linux?

[challahc]

Time for Microsoft to crank that brain-wash ray up to full power.

Re:Interesting.

[irokitt]

Does he like jiggering with his registry or looking for a 12-year old every time his Windows PC gets farked up?

Re:Year of Linux

[AKnightCowboy]

Oddly enough, I think this is going to be the year of people stating: "I think this is going to be the Year of Linux"

That was 1998.

...and 1999, and 2000, and 2001, and 2002, and 2003... yep, we're comin' out, guns blazing. Pretty soon we may even overtake #2 Apple's 5% desktop marketshare spot. Any day now... I have a feeling 2004 is it... 6% desktop dominance.

SMB Market?

[V50]

Could somebody explain what an SMB market is? The first thing that popped into my mind was Super Mario Brothers market, but that can't be right. :)

Re:HP is on a roll

[jcgf]

Yeah, well respecting them isn't your God-given right anymore.

Illegal

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't it illegal to use Linux like that for a commerical purpose (Selling a PC) without licensing from the SCO Group... HP should do this legally.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:I for one do not welcome our Linux newbie under

[k_head]

When that happens 'we' will move on the the next greatest thing. Maybe Amiga, maybe plan-9, maybe atheos or something.

It's like a city. In a city there are the slums, artists all move to the slums because they can't afford to live on the other side of the tracks. Eventually the artists section of town becomes fashionable because all the cool galleries, restaurants and clubs are there and the yuppies move in. Prices skyrocket the artists move the next slum and the whole cycle starts over again.

Re:I for one do not welcome our Linux newbie under

[utahjazz]

Don't underestimate the power of the dark side.

There is a multi-trillion dollar economy out there that is currently ignoring Linux almost entirely. If that industry turns to Linux as it's bread-and-butter OS, all will change, forever.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

Just as the web became riddled with OBJECT tags and Flash menus, Linux distros will follow the money and be ruled by the desires of the PHBs that control that money. There will be ads. There will be godawful UI's. Talking paperclips. And....DRM!!!

Finally, we will find out that Linus is Bill Gates' son.

hmm... Windows refund...

[jcuervo]

Are they charging for preinstalled Linux on their machines?

Will there be a "Linux Refund Day"?

Re:I for one do not welcome our Linux newbie under

[turgid]

Maybe Amiga, maybe plan-9, maybe atheos or something.

Maybe CP/M. MS-DOS, Atari TOS, RiscOS, hell, what about the Sinclair QL? That had multitasking and structured BASIC, all in ROM!

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Drivers

[Cereal Box]

I had a Radeon VE, and acceleration wasn't working as well; by following these steps it worked:

searched for mesa libraries in mandrake cd and installed everything;
edited files as follows: /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
Section "Device"
Option "AGPMode" "4" /etc/modules
agpgart /etc/modules.conf
alias char-major-10-175 agpgart
options agpgart agp_try_unsupported=1

What with these major leaps in user-friendliness, I'm convinced that 2004 really WILL be the year of Linux on the desktop!