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HP Linux Business Software Linux

Huge Linux Desktop Deals Get HP Thinking 218

Posted by kdawson from the git-er-done dept.
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.
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Huge Linux Desktop Deals Get HP Thinking More

Huge Linux Desktop Deals Get HP Thinking

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  • well (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mastershake_phd ( 1050150 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @08:31AM (#18275210) Homepage
    Well its about time someone did it on a large scale. There is a market, so whats holding it back? Dare I say back room Microsoft deals?

    • HP's got the clout (Score:5, Informative)

      by yog ( 19073 ) * on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:07AM (#18275554) Homepage Journal
      HP's stock is up--take a look at their chart (HPQ). They have a market capitalization of $109 billion, they have surpassed Dell as a supplier of desktops, and they have new stable management (post-Fiorella) in place.

      It takes clout to stand up to Microsoft. Smaller companies have little choice but to toe the Microsoft line and act as Windows pimps for their Redmond masters, but the huge players--IBM, HP, and Dell (if Dell had any backbone) can push back a bit, even though they still have to continue to sit at Microsoft's table.

      Microsoft stumbled with Vista; they have insisted on replacing XP on all new machines. I couldn't even buy a Dell laptop with XP a couple of weeks ago--have some specialized software that still doesn't run on Vista--had to find one from HP. Vista is late and has problems and Linux is looking better and better.

      In the end, it is a combination of market demand, linux readiness, and corporate clout that will break the Microsoft hold on the PC market.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by NSIM ( 953498 )

        Microsoft stumbled with Vista; they have insisted on replacing XP on all new machines. I couldn't even buy a Dell laptop with XP a couple of weeks ago--have some specialized software that still doesn't run on Vista--had to find one from HP. Vista is late and has problems and Linux is looking better and better.

        You can't have tried very hard to get DELL laptops with Xp rather than Vista, there are pretty prominent links all over the laptop section of their website and you can select XP as the installed OS

        • Re:HP's got the clout (Score:4, Informative)

          by yog ( 19073 ) * on Thursday March 08, 2007 @10:27AM (#18276522) Homepage Journal
          I was in the "Home" section of Dell.com. No XP was offered there, only Vista. I called Dell's sales line and was given the same story--no XP available on any laptops.

          However you are correct--the small business section is still offering XP. I guess I should have thought to try that. But I believed what the salesperson told me, gave up, and went to HP.

      • It takes clout to stand up to Microsoft. Smaller companies have little choice but to toe the Microsoft line and act as Windows pimps for their Redmond masters, but the huge players--IBM, HP, and Dell (if Dell had any backbone) can push back a bit

        You got that backwards. There are plenty of small companies right now that are offering preloaded Linux systems without making you jump through hoops, like System 76. It's the 'huge players' who fear the penguin.
    • On a large scale it isn't a problem. More companies will take on that challenge.
      It is time for a large company to do it on a small scale -> individuals who want to buy a laptop/desktop with linux on it.
    • What held it back was likely the use of the 'we will install linux' as a bargaining chip to secure lower prices from microsoft.

      I see the recent moves of microsoft into the linux world as an admission of the inevitable rise of Linux to status of serious windows competitor on the corporate desktop. No doubt they hope to embrace and extend, to take it over. I don't see this working, but they have no other strategy.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SQLz ( 564901 )
      Err HP has been doing this for years. My company has over 1000 desktops, close to 10,000 machines, 99% of which run CentoOS with KDE. Many of the newer ones are HP since Dell refused to sell AMD and offer Linux support, where as HP has been happy to do this. I guess that is why they surpassed dell not to long ago.

  • As Vista/Office 2K7 go down (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dilute ( 74234 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @08:35AM (#18275246)
    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 (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Nerdfest ( 867930 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @08:44AM (#18275344)
      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.

      • Government doesn't like closed formats (Score:4, Interesting)

        by spineboy ( 22918 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:02AM (#18275518) Journal
        More and more governments don't like proprietary or closed formats for documents. HP always seems to be able to get big government computer contracts, so this seems like an easy route to follow.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mbrod ( 19122 )

          HP always seems to be able to get big government computer contracts,

          Those big government contracts are why OpenVMS is still alive at HP. Once they aquired the system whilst aquiring Compaq they saw just how many contracts the government had for this.

          HP has a greater potential to affect the Linux pendulum than even Dell. HP has the hardware and software guys to back it up. They have a lot of hard core systems guys with their different offerings that already help a lot with Linux compatibility and can do a lot more quite easily if the need is there.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by networkBoy ( 774728 )

            HP has a greater potential to affect the Linux pendulum than even Dell. HP has the hardware and software guys to back it up. They have a lot of hard core systems guys with their different offerings that already help a lot with Linux compatibility and can do a lot more quite easily if the need is there.

            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).
            -nB

            • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

              by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

              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

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by AJWM ( 19027 )
              The HP hardware side is happy to put Linux on any hardware they sell. Even the Integrity servers (based on the Itanium2 chip and which are the "standard" HP-UX platform these days) are available with Linux. The Pooliant series (x86) of course won't run HP-UX at all, the choice there is Linux or Windows.

              There are plenty of Linux pros at HP, it's well supported.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Gr8Apes ( 679165 )
      That's already been discussed as a reason for Apple's future to look brighter. After all - new interface, new paradigms, and lack of backwards compatibilities and lack of software all make for a nice big opening for other systems to enter the market. Add to that an entirely new administrative/maintenance learning curve, and going with something a little more stable, like, say, Apple or Linux, all of a sudden becomes quite enticing, especially when you include the lack of CALs (Client Access Licenses).

      Vista

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by FridayBob ( 619244 )
        I've been predicting that M$ was going to shoot itself in the foot with Vista for a while now, but last year not many were willing to agree with me. Now, it looks like it's happening, but the question is, are we ready?

        We're an army of Linux nerds, but I fear there will not be enough of us at first to satisfy any sudden growth in demand for support as Linux crosses the threshold of critical mass. At first, I think this lack of support will limit the rate of growth, but not for long. It's going to take sev

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by Gr8Apes ( 679165 )
          You're not alone. There's some of us going all the way back to 93/94 that said that Cairo->Longhorn->Vista was going to kill MS should they ever actually try to release it. That's right, look at Cairo's claimed functionality, and you'll see Longhorn, of which Vista is the reality.

          MS overshot/overstated their capabilities, and anyone with even half a brain knew it.

          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            by RetroGeek ( 206522 )
            Do not forget Chicago, which turned into Windows 95.

            MS was going to make a new OS from the ground up, completely object oriented, not DOS etc. Something like OS/2 but entirely from MS.

            The first alpha releases were that, but then time lines stretched, marketing took over, and MS put a GUI layer over DOS, rolled out Windows 95, and said "Look at us, aren't we great!".

    • Re:As Vista/Office 2K7 go down (Score:4, Insightful)

      by flyingfsck ( 986395 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @10:10AM (#18276318)
      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: (Score:2)

        by Locutus ( 9039 )
        Huge head-ache? Just tell them to pretend it's just another MS Windows worm they have to clean the entire network of. Not sure about you but there was one not to long ago which shut down some of our city offices and it took the IT people working overnight to get things somewhat working again. It took another 2 days to get to all the non-critical systems since, IIRC, many required disk re-imaging.

        So, tell them it's like another one of THOSE Windows issues but this time, it'll be the last time.

        LoB
    • OK, I'm in pedantic mode. Anyway...

      Usually, 2k7 means 2700. Like in 2k7 Ohm. And not 2007!!!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Aladrin ( 926209 )
        Usually? I've never heard that before. 'Usually in your circles', you mean. The term didn't come into wide use until we hit the year 2000, and now it is a common abbreviation for years beginning with 2001. If you read '2k' as 'two thousand' you get two thousand seven from 2k7.

        http://www.wordspy.com/words/2K1.asp [wordspy.com]

        How did you make it to 2007 without knowing this, anyhow?

        2700 would be 2.7k in any other field, btw. 2k7 is an odd way to say it.
        • No, 2k7 is normal in electronics. First time I've ever heard that it could be interpreted to mean 2007.

        • Are we talking about discrete integers used primarily as sequential labels, or are we talking about decimal floating point numbers. In the first case, 2007 makes obvious sense. In the second case, 2700 (accurate to two places) makes obvious sense.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by 1u3hr ( 530656 )
          How did you make it to 2007 without knowing this, anyhow?

          I guess I've been living in a cave for the last 6 years too, first I've heard it. Seems rather a pointless abbreviation. Replace "2007" with "2k7", saving a grand total of one character, and confuse half your readers. If you must abbreviate, try '07, which at least is a standard form, and will work after 2010 too (or are you going to write "2k10"?).

  • It's about time (Score:5, Interesting)

    by phoenixwade ( 997892 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @08:40AM (#18275296)
    That was the puzzle piece the Linux commnity needed.

    I'm wondering if Hp figured out how to preinstall AOL, and all the rest of that junk for advertising like the Windows machines come pre-installed with to supplement income. It occurred to me that windows machines might actually be cheaper, not because of the windows deals with MS, but because of the paid to be installed junk. If so, that may not be nearly as nice as it first appears.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Nerdfest ( 867930 )
      If the market exists, the crapware will follow.
    • It is true that greater Lx adoption may start to look enticing to the crapware guys, but don't forget that an OEM can compete on things other than price. Namely: *features.

      Dell or HP could easily develop a GNU/Linux system optimized for their hardware. It would run circles around a comparable XP installation, and it would include with an Office Suite.

      There are also other ways to compete on price: with kernel optimization, a 2 GHz/512MB RAM machine (read: cheap) can outperform an XP machine with higher specs

  • Laptop committment as well (Score:4, Interesting)

    by landoltjp ( 676315 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @08:42AM (#18275324)
    It would be nice if HP also comitted to getting Linux on their laptops as well. I noticed that there is no trouble getting Windows running on my laptop, but It's always hit and miss whether or not Linux runs.

    Of the three laptops I've had over the years, It's only the latest one (an HP dv6000 from Canadia) that's not playing nice.

    While this is indeed trolling, I wonder if Microsoft encourages HP (et al) to make it difficult to get Linux running on their machines (ie wierdness for screen / network / etc firmware or modules).

    Thank goodness for sites like http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ [linux-on-laptops.com] (even though there's nothing for the dv6000 yet)
    • I have Ubuntu running as a VM on my dv9035 with no problems. I do not have Linux running native on any laptop so I can't speak for it but I'm guessing that my VM install would handle just as if it were installed directly on the laptop. Maybe others can verify this or set me straight on the difference.

      • Re:Laptop committment as well (Score:5, Informative)

        by swillden ( 191260 ) * <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:39AM (#18275932) Journal

        I have Ubuntu running as a VM on my dv9035 with no problems. I do not have Linux running native on any laptop so I can't speak for it but I'm guessing that my VM install would handle just as if it were installed directly on the laptop. Maybe others can verify this or set me straight on the difference.

        Nope, it doesn't run the same in a VM as it does running natively on the machine. For much of the hardware -- basically anything except USB -- the "hypervisor" (VMWare or what have you) provides fake devices to the virtual machine. Your Ubuntu install sees, for example, a VMware-brand network card (mine sees a "VMware accelrated AMD PCNet Adapter"), a VMWare-brand graphics card ("VMware SVGA II"), etc., and talks to those "devices". The hypervisor intercepts the requests from the guest OS, translates them and hands them off to the host OS, which uses its drivers to talk to the real network and video card.

        With VMWare, at least, USB devices are potentially handled differently, and direct access to them can be handed to the guest machine, via a faked USB controller. I say potentially, because if the USB device is a USB implementation of another kind of device, like a network card or a serial port, you can also allow the host machine to control the device, and then export the functionality to the guest as just another network or serial interface.

    • I have linux running on a HP/Compaq nw9440. I'm running Ubuntu Edgy. All the important hardware works (the fingerprint scanner is not yet supported) although I haven't tried WPA (but the wifi works.) This is all pretty easy because it's centrino and nvidia. I'm running beryl with AIGLX using the very latest nvidia drivers. Oh, and to be honest, I'm not sure if bluetooth works or not. Besides WPA (and to be honest wifi in general) I think bluetooth is the worst-supported feature of modern computers under Lin

  • This really isn't news per se.... (Score:3, Informative)

    by 8127972 ( 73495 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @08:51AM (#18275392)
    Compaq had LINUX support as early as 1999. In fact Compaq had an alliance with Red Hat:

    http://www.chguy.net/news/jun99/press_compaq.html [chguy.net]

    And some models of their servers came pre-installed with Red Hat:

    http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT= 104&STORY=/www/story/11-21-2000/0001371236&EDATE= [prnewswire.com]

    That gave them the ability to put LINUX into the enterprise as it was easier to deploy than a "roll your own solution."

    Given that Compaq was bought by HP, would it not be logical to assume that HP would simply keep doing this (although maybe they wouldn't broadcast it as loudly as Compaq did)?

  • Figures (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jginspace ( 678908 ) <jginspace.yahoo@com> on Thursday March 08, 2007 @08:55AM (#18275446) Homepage Journal
    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.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by TheRaven64 ( 641858 )
      I didn't read the breakdown in detail, but I understand that most of the work HP did on Linux related to the IA64 port. Since they are about the only people still selling IA64 hardware, and Linux is about the only OS that runs on IA64, this means it's pretty-much up to them to keep the work going. I don't think they are planning on selling IA64 desktops or laptops though...
      • The next revision of IA64 is supposed to make it competitive. I'll believe it when I see it. But HP is just hedging their bets. If the new improved itanic hits another iceberg, at least it's intel's fault and they can ditch it and tell intel where to stick it without looking like assholes. If it actually manages to stay afloat, then they can make some big money because they'll be at the head of that particular table. It'll be interesting to see how badly it tanks :D

  • as a former employee (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:02AM (#18275516)
    as a former employee I can say Linux is quite big within HP itself... they have a large business unit (including R&D for drivers and several F/OSS applications) purely for Linux. They also have great management tools for providing applications and patches/updates to all desktop users, including Linux desktops. This is probably tested well enough to consider rolling it out to customers now. Within HP you can choose whether you want to run Linux or Windows, although they will only support certain distros (forgot which ones, I suspect they were SuSE and Fedora, although there is strong (user)support for Debian as well) with their managment tool.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      Then why thenhell don't they advertise it for christ sake.
    • "they have a large business unit (including R&D for drivers and several F/OSS applications) purely for Linux."
      Where, so I can move there? :-)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jkrise ( 535370 )
      Bruce, is that you? You should know better about HP support for Debian, eh!

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by masinick ( 130975 )
      I worked at Digital Equipment Corp. myself, and again as a consultant for Compaq prior to the HP merger-acquisition. I also attended a Debian conference where SEVERAL HP employees were openly favorable to Debian Linux and who were actively promoting the use of Debian GNU/Linux software within HP. From my Digital days, I know that Jon Hall, when he was still at DEC, actually brought in Linus Torvalds (I met Linus personally during one of those meetings, and Jon also saw to it that Linux had his own AlphaSt
  • For me, the trick for getting FC6 going on a pavillion was to toggle the plug and play bios setting http://forum.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php ? t=139555&highlight=a1612n [fedoraforum.org] and after that things went pretty smoothly. A have not heard back on my question about why power saving for the screen makes the mouse disappear. But, for the most part linux does well on this machine.
    --
    Run your computer on solar power: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html [blogspot.com]

  • The downside (Score:5, Funny)

    by AlHunt ( 982887 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:10AM (#18275576) Homepage Journal
    The downside to an explosion of Linux installations?

    Linux Geeks getting called out when friends and neighbors can't get their Linux Desktops working.

    Remember - this was all your idea.

    • Re:The downside (Score:4, Informative)

      by gi.net ( 987908 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:18AM (#18275686)

      Downside?

      It's would be far less frustrating than the current situation:

      Linux Geeks getting called out when friends and neighbors can't get their *MS Windows* Desktops working.

      And you can do it remotely and securely.

    • Re:The downside (Score:5, Funny)

      by BigBuckHunter ( 722855 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:20AM (#18275704)
      The downside to an explosion of Linux installations?
      Linux Geeks getting called out when friends and neighbors can't get their Linux Desktops working.
      I'm just thankful I chose technology rather than a medical profession. At least I don't get creep'd out when my neighbor says, "Hey, would you mind taking a look at this".

      BBH

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by bronzey214 ( 997574 )
        I'm just thankful I chose technology rather than a medical profession. At least I don't get creep'd out when my neighbor says, "Hey, would you mind taking a look at this".


        Yeah, you're thankful until that Swedish supermodel and her sisters move in next door.
    • Trust me... it happens less than with Windows. The best thing I ever did was switch over my aunt and my parents to Linux. It went from weekly calls that things weren't working to just check things out and update when I'm visiting, and having it done in the background. Plus, there is Ubuntu now. I love passing around those CDs to friends. They know BEFORE installing if they are going to have trouble with their hardware. Thank God for Live CDs.
    • One word: SSH

      Dat's all folks...

    • It's an upside, because more linux geeks will then be working on usability. True laziness [xahlee.org] will save the day! of course, in the short term, if you want to get out of fixing everyone's iptables rulesets you should practice saying the following with a straight face: "sorry, I only work on windows."

      It may take you a couple of years, so start now...

    • Oh, how I'd like that for a change. Say what you will, fixing a Linux system is far, far easier than fixing any problem on Windows. Since, you know, Linux is actually fixable. With Windows, most errors aren't even debuggable, and the few ones that are, are instead unfixable (like spyware that has grabbed ten different methods of being autostarted on boot, etc.), so it almost invariable ends up with a "Well, I'll just have to reinstall that for you", and they you're stuck for many hours backing up, reinstall

  • Perhaps a reason HP is taking mkt share from Dell (Score:5, Informative)

    by Scott7477 ( 785439 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:14AM (#18275626) Homepage Journal
    PC World's posted yesterday iSuppli's market share report for the fourth quarter of 2006; the headline is "HP Beats Dell in PC Sales" [pcworld.com]. It looks to me like HP is responding to what customers are asking for, while Dell is clinging to Microsoft's subsidies. The top 5 vendors look like this:
    1. HP - 17.4%
    2. Dell - 14.5%
    3. Lenovo - 7.1%
    4. Acer - 6.6%
    5. Toshiba - 3.7%

  • Honestly it does not matter. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:15AM (#18275640) Homepage
    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.
    • What you say is probably true, but it will be a godsend for people like me once the manufacturers make it easy to get a Linux ready machine. I helped one friend buy a laptop on the condition that I would only be his tech support if he used linux. I put ubuntu on it and I still cannot get the internal wireless card working (I've tried every broadcom guide, this specific model just doesn't work). Then I put ubuntu64 on a different friend's Acer, and after finally getting the video drivers (proprietary nvidia)
      • I was gonna say, don't throw all the blame for that on Linux. Hell, Broadcom chips suck under Windows, being unable to work in multiple modes that are kinda important for more than just web surfing, except under debug drivers. Linux devs do what they can, but if you want to run Linux, the best bet is to get good hardware, and that often means pretty much Intel chips throughout, because of their open source support.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by nick.ian.k ( 987094 )

      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.

      Nonsense. You should be *encouraging* people to RTFM. Note that this is very different from shouting "Leave me the fuck alone, noob!"

      A big part of learning anything to do with computers that gets skipped all over the place is "how to think/how to learn". You should never, ever just hold somebody's hand all the way through

  • Call me Cynical, but... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jeevesbond ( 1066726 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:15AM (#18275650) Homepage

    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.

  • They also give free courses (Score:5, Informative)

    by hopbine ( 618442 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:26AM (#18275770)
    Go the HP Learning center at http://h30187.www3.hp.com/ [hp.com] and look for the free Linux courses.

  • Critical Mass (Score:2, Interesting)

    by lilomar ( 1072448 )

    "We are involved in a number of massive deals for Linux desktops, and those are the kinds of things that are indicators of critical mass...that's an indicator."
    Perhaps the most telling quote in the entire article? This indicates that the major OEM's are at least keeping track of the popularity of Linux to the desktop user. If this is true, Pre-loaded Linux is inevitable, since all the numbers do indicate that linux popularity is rising.

  • lets hope they don't get Lonovoed .. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rs232 ( 849320 ) on Thursday March 08, 2007 @11:34AM (#18277400)
    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.
  • Sure, the percentages are vastly different, but I would think a small but expanding market looks better to shareholders than a large but shrinking market...

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