Huge Linux Desktop Deals Get HP Thinking

An anonymous reader notes an article in CRN about HP recently cutting deals for multi-thousands of Linux desktops. With all the talk about whether Dell will offer pre-installed desktop Linux any time soon, in the end HP may beat them to that particular punch.

As Vista/Office 2K7 go down

[dilute]

Is there a link here between waning interest in Vista and Office 2K7 and rising interest in desktop Linux? For all the hassle of "upgrading" the MS products, it may be easier in many respects to take the plunge and switch to another OS and office suite.

Re:As Vista/Office 2K7 go down

[Nerdfest]

I recall seeing some articles about various governments and large organizations having problems with Microsoft's new 'controls' imposed by licensing agreements, and the possibility that you may be locked out of your hardware. To many, it's unacceptable, and Linux is a nice alternative, especially given the price and the reliability.

Re:It's about time

[Nerdfest]

If the market exists, the crapware will follow.

Figures

[jginspace]

HP also figured in the Who Wrote, and Paid For, 2.6.20 [slashdot.org] research discussed here last week as a significant contributor to Linux. You'd guess they'd be planning on getting their money's worth.

Honestly it does not matter.

[Lumpy]

What linux needs is more users willing to get off their asses and not only introduce new users to it but also act as their support for a while. too many linux users are either outright lazy or apathetic about other users. I founded a LUG for 3 years and left it because outside the core 5 people the rest of them were almost hostile to helping the newbies that came into the group. All they wanted to do was show off how bads their new gentoo install was or give a newbie crap for choosing mandriva before he started attending the LUG and found linux on his own.

Honestly, it wont change until the typical Linux user quits being an asshole to everyone else. and Yes they outnumber those of us that want to help 10 to 1. It wont matter if Dell or HP ships with ubuntu or some other newbie friendly Linux install, when these people go online or to a LUG to find help they will run up against the "cloud of smug" and get turned off instantly.

I teach a linux for new users at the local community college for free once a year. The real "professors" there still call linux a fad and say that no real companies use it, so they are useless and creating a nice uphill battle that I have to fight without making the instructors look like clueless idiots or I'll lose my ability to teach the class that is full every year.

That is what is needed. Linux users to get off their asses and help 1-2 new people through getting up and running in linux. you never EVER can say RTFM! but have to hold their hands. You also need to be out there debunking the lies that professors and other "leaders" are spewing out of their mouths, but have to do it in a way that is tactful as you are just some guy instead of a professor with 31 masters degrees and smells his own farts.

Call me Cynical, but...

[jeevesbond]

Aren't all the news service sites jumping on stories about big manufacturers possibly providing GNU/Linux? Whilst it would be great to see OEMs pre-installing GNU/Linux it's advisable to not get excited until you can see proof, e.g. the machines are advertised on their respective web sites. As a real alternative to Windows too, not hidden in the depths of the site as a token gesture, so their marketing department can claim that they, 'tried Linux but there was no demand.'

From TFA:

HP has preloaded PCs with Linux in previous years, but the market acceptance wasn't there to do that on a broader scale, according to Small. "Frankly, we did that in the past and didn't see the results for it," he said.

My argument to Mr Small would be that he didn't take a sufficient risk. If they did provide a mass-market GNU/Linux desktop, not many people heard about it. This is why it's important to put any offering on an equal footing with Windows (as difficult as that may be considering their contracts).

The other mistake is with marketing departments making this assumption: 'Linux == Cheap. So people who want Linux, want cheap PC's!' Then they only offer it on some low-end model no discerning geek would ever buy. Had they actually bothered to ask the community they would have found that most want Freedom [gnu.org], not free beer. I believe Wal-Mart and other large US shops rolled-out some rather pitiful offerings recently.

He added that HP also plans some enhancements to its channel programs to help in the delivery of Linux solutions, but he didn't give details.

What does this mean exactly? To a layman such as myself it sounds like they are considering doing the same as Dell and getting their hardware certified with some GNU/Linux providers. A step in the right direction, but hardly the Holy-grail of pre-installed GNU/Linux this article is trumpeting.

Re:Fear: once they get a look a Linux

[WindBourne]

And for such a brave and intelligent statement, you post as a AC.

Have some balls.

Re:They also give free courses

[swillden]

I had a look. It's only very easy-peasy stuff - it doesn't teach Linux properly. A Linux course should explain basic computer architecture, what is an OS, how OSes work, what Linux is and how it works, filesystems, etc. all leading up to the point where the user can take control of their Linux system: modify the kernel. Otherwise they can already do most of the stuff that HP wants to teach them, with their Windows system.

Sounds like a perfectly reasonable way to teach Linux to people who only want to use the machine, not hack their kernel. Why is that not "proper"? Should every Windows course cover ntkernel internals and sophisticated registry hacking?

Linux allows you to hack whatever you'd like to hack, which is great and a lot of the reason it's my favorite OS, but it's been a long time since kernel hacking was required to use the operating system effectively.

Re:They also give free courses

[redbeard55]

You were doing fine up to this point:

"all leading up to the point where the user can take control of their Linux system: modify the kernel. Otherwise they can already do most of the stuff that HP wants to teach them, with their Windows system."

We are talking about end users, not Geeks or CS majors. 99.99% of users do not want to modify kernels etc. They want to be able to use their systems to get business done, access the internet, use office apps. play music/videos and play a few games at home. I think the Linux desktop finally has a chance to take off because the work that has been done by several distributions to make the Linux desktop usable without diving into the kernel or editing 50 config files to get a usable system.

Re:As Vista/Office 2K7 go down

[flyingfsck]

Hmm, the problem is not user acceptance or training. The problem is IT personnel acceptance and training. All a typical corporate user need in terms of training is a one page cheat sheet. However, the IT guys need to figure out how to make Linux work with MS Active Directory, learn how to configure Samba, figure out how to make Gnome Meeting work cross country and futz around till they have Linux going with some wacky Citrix applications and so on. Each problem is not insurmountable in its own right, but lumped together it becomes a huge head-ache.

Re:HP's got the clout

[Stewie241]

What about Apple? How come I don't see anyone insisting that Apple offer their computers sans OS X and pre-loaded with Linux?

Cause nobody would want one. Apple without OS X is just another clone in fancy packaging.

lets hope they don't get Lonovoed ..

[rs232]

Last summer, Lenovo agreed to preload [desktoplinux.com] Novell Inc.'s SLED 10 (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) on its ThinkPad T60p mobile workstation.

Then, Lenovo started retreating, and hemming that they really didn't mean that they would offer it pre-installed

Lenovo recommends [ibm.com] Windows Vista(TM) Business for business computing.

Re:Government doesn't like closed formats

[drinkypoo]

And they have HP-UX, which (backing you up here) means their software guys are already pros... but they have HP-UX, their own *nix that they may not want to share with a non-license paying linux? (Here's to hoping that won't happen).

The thing about HP-UX is that IME the vast majority of people who actually have experience with it call it HP-SUX. Having worked with it just a tad, I can already see why. AIX seems to have more or less crawled into the modern age and there are compelling reasons to use it; IBM makes the most powerful commodity hardware around, for one. (Check out the Top 500 if you don't believe me.) But they also support Linux! There's no particular reason for HP not to.

Over time I think you can expect to see Linux more or less kill all other Unixes, relegating them either to the trash bin or to niche markets. It might be a pretty long time, but there's no reason for it not to happen. Linux has the potential to become anything, whereas the various commercial flavors of Unix are encumbered by their licenses.

If IBM can figure out that selling Linux is a good idea, then I have some faith that HP can come to the same conclusion.

Re:Honestly it does not matter.

[Anonymous Coward]

"I teach a linux for new users at the local community college for free once a year. The real "professors" there still call linux a fad and say that no real companies use it" ...and that is why they are just instructors at community colleges.