__/ [ Rex Ballard ] on Saturday 05 August 2006 01:19 \__
>
> Jeffrey Silverman wrote:
>> On Fri, 04 Aug 2006 20:17:33 +0100, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>> > Desktop Linux breakthrough: Lenovo preloads SUSE on ThinkPad
>> >
>> > ,----[ Quote ]
>> > | Finally. For years, the holy grail of the Linux desktop has been to
>> > | get a major computer vendor to commit to preloading a Linux desktop.
>> > | It finally happened.
>> > `----
>> >
>> > http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS7778908329.html
>
> Keep in mind that the T60p is designed and optimized for Linux. It has
> FireGL graphics, dual-core Intel processor, and can be configured with
> Linux on a blank or spare hard drive in about 20 minutes.
I have come across many ThinkPads that have got Linux installed flawlessly
(SuSE/SUSE has some ThinkPad-specific options in YaST2). It is nice,
however, to have the OEM take care of that and shave off the cost of an
unnecessary Windows licence.
> It's also a high end machine, costing as much as $2000 with UXGA
> (1600x1200) display, 1 GIG of RAM (expandable to 3 G), and
> DVD-Dual-layer Writer.
>
> In fact the machine isn't even that Windows friendly. It will run
> Windows, but Windows isn't optimized for that hardware.
Is it optimised for /any/ hardware? Other than x86 architecture, with which
those pre-packaged binaries are compatible?
>> > HP are probably committed to doing the same thing. They hinted that way.
>
> HP also makes a number of "Linux Ready" machines which are designed for
> Linux even though Windows is preinstalled. All of the AMD-64 and
> Dual-core pentium machines are "Linux Ready".
Have a look (a quick slice through past COLA post):
HP To Certify Suse Linux For Notebooks
,----[ Quote ]
| Hewlett-Packard will ensure that the operating system works on several
| of its notebook models by year-end.
|
| [...]
|
| Lance Stevens, software product marketing manager for business PCs at
| HP, said he expects that HP would eventually preload SLED 10 on desktops
| on a custom-order basis.
`----
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=190301147&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All
> Dell goes one better, promising Installation media for Windows, which
> allows Dell users to install Windows under Xen, VMWare, or Bochs.
>
>> I'll believe it when I see it.
>
> What I'd really like to see is the T60p, in a retail store, running
> Linux as the foreground operating system.
Aye.
> My guess is that even these machines will be running Windows as a
> secondary OS (under VM of some sort).
SUSE comes with virtualisation build in (they are ahead of Red Hat in that
respect, based on something I recently read). I would hope that a Windows
licences remains just an option (or an addon). Dual-boot sounds like a
possibility too and it is quite unprecedented for an OEM to do so (unless I
am missing something).
>> Does this mean that Lenove will ditch the "Lenovo recommends Windows..."
>> tag? The one that EVERY LARGE COMPUTER SELLER IN THE US HAS on their
>> website????
>
> Keep in mind that Lenovo is the third largest computer seller in the
> WORLD, and they are not headquartered in the United States (unlike HP
> and Dell). Furthermore, China has been a hotbed of Linux activity, and
> some countries in Asia have Linux usage rates as high as 40%. I think
> that's 40% of the total user base.
I read yesterday (and the day before that) about Levono's splendid
performance (financially). They seem to have surprised the market with their
success in recent months. There is nothing better than assigning SLED to a
growing and exciting company. Ironically, it was none other than Levono that
snubbed Linux completely some months ago and then denied it(after the
community started shouting).
> Lenovo is the only vendor who now has the revenue and profit model
> sufficient to challenge Microsoft openly. This may be one of the
> reasons that Microsoft decided to publish their "We'll play nice with
> Linux" page a couple weeks ago.
They have not obeyed that since. I pointed this out on several occasions.
Those 12 tenets in particular have been made void by action on the 'ground'.
> Vista isn't clearly on the radar screen. It might come out sometime in
> 2007, but
> probably not in time to generate significant consumer revenue, and
> corporate purchase cycles are typically over a year.
Release is now expected in March-April 2007 (according to analysts) while
Microsoft say "it will be released when it's ready". Surely, this could take
longer. A group of analysts said that it would take 13 months for people to
embrace Vista, if at all. Companies are already looking for cheaper and
better alternatives, notably Linux.
> Linux deployments are now greater than PC sales. For every PC sold, a
> PC is converted to Linux. More and more, it's the NEW machine that's
> being converted. This is a new dynamic in the marketplace. Sales and
> prices have shown that "Linux Ready" systems exceed demand expectatons,
> hold their price/value longer, and generate more real profit.
>
> Microsoft is no longer the goose that lays the golden eggs, Linux is.
> Microsoft is rapidly becoming a "Lame Duck". Longhorn has become a
> steer, and Vista is more like a mirage. Meanwhile SUSE 10.1 is
> delivering everything Microsoft promised, and doing it really really
> well.
I can confirm this, based on personal experience. I have been with SUSE for
three years, almost exclusively. I rarely looked or reached out for
alternatives, but curiousity had me test the water before returning to SUSE.
SUSE 10.2 will visually resemble SLED. It will probably have more function
too and a series of simple steps will get all the proprietary and multimedia
stuff working.
>> The only way Linux is getting on Joe Consumer's desktop through a major
>> computer vendor such as IBM, Gateway, Dell, or HP is if Linux is made as
>> visible and as palatable and as appealing as windows is made. Front and
>> center. Tux right next to the Windows logo, and the same size.
>
> IBM doesn't sell desktop and laptop machines anymore. Lennovo is now
> the third largest PC maker in the world. Gateway FINALLY reported a
> little bit of profit - and most of that came from "Linux Ready"
> machines.
They reported very high profits, actually. Try searching one of the news
aggregators (e.g. Yahoo, Google) for "Levono".
>> AND, to top it off, the Linux option will have to shave 50 to a hundred
>> bucks off the price of the final PC. I mean, it should be the less
>> expensive option, shouldn't it?
>
> Ironically no. Linux is actually more efficient than Windows.
> Microsoft decided that memory, CPU cycles, and hard drive were cheap,
> so they didn't worry about things like latentcy, cache thrashing, and
> context switching speeds. Linux did.
Reminds me of a conversation I had in the search engines newsgroup yesterday.
To paraphrase an friend: "I have 2 GB of RAM and it doesn't feel slow" (he
uses Windows XP). He was referring to my .sig which said "Windows XP: Dude,
where's my RAM?"
> As a result, "Linux Ready" hardware is capable of running faster, doing
> more in less time, has better graphics, and makes more efficient use of
> resources such as dual-core CPUs, 64 bit addressing and registers,
> larger L1 and L2 cache, and process switching than Windows ever did.
> Essentially, Linux now has the capabilities of those $30,000 CAD/CAM
> systems that used to the exclusive domain of Dreamworks, high end
> engineering shops, and supercomputers. And it comes in a laptop that
> you can use on an airplane, a coffee shop, or a hotel room, as well as
> for client presentations.
>
> Linux still has those marvellous server capabilities, complete with
> authentication, and of course the legendary "fortress" of security.
> For Linux, Firewalls are just the beginning. Mess with a Linux system
> and you could easily find yourself being arrested. Remember, you don't
> have to sign a EULA that gives someone permission to raid your PC for
> any information it wants, and use it any way it wants.
>
> There is also a good chance that Windows and Linux will be running side
> by side
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060718/tc_nm/microsoft_linux_dc
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