Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> HP exec on navigating the open-source waters
>
> http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1861543635;fp;2;fpid;4
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> |
> | Question:
> |
> | HP sells PCs installed with Mandriva Linux in Latin America. When
> | could
> | we start seeing such Linux desktops elsewhere?
> |
> | HP exec:
> |
> | We could do that anytime. We do certify Novell on our desktops. We
> | don't ship desktops with Linux now because the market is not big enough
> | or cohesive enough from a worldwide perspective. We watch it closely,
> | though, as does the Personal Systems Group [PSG]. Our regional groups
> | have the freedom to work more locally if a customer wants it. So we do
> | Mandriva in France and Brazil, and Ubuntu in South Africa. If there is
> | big interest when SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 from Novell is
> | released, the PSG can turn on a dime and offer it pretty quickly
> | worldwide.
> |
> | I've heard, though, that OEMs are reluctant to install Linux because
> | they get such great marketing dollars and softer incentives such as
> | support from Microsoft when they install Windows. Also, Linux doesn't
> | have a track record of adding new features and making the PC hardware
Wrong!
Track record does exist!
Almost all the real embedded devices are running Linux made possible
with the openness of open source software.
> | obsolete every three years like Windows. So in the long run, supporting
> | Linux is not smart for the PC vendors.
Wrong again.
There are so many falsities in that statement!
Almost every person I know moans about obselesce and incompatibilities
holding back spending. To open up the wallets, whats needed
is less obselesce so that critical components can be ported
across to an upgraded platform.
Look at it this way, if you had to throw your monitor away
everytime a new PC is bought, it WILL hold back your spending!!!
If you had to buy a new PC every time the hard disk is upgraded,
it WILL hold back your spending.
The fact is, many PC cards do need to be thrown away
with windopes upgrades because it doesn't
support it any more. Thats whats holding up spending!
People don't want to throw away their webcams TV tuners
on PCs just because they upgraded to another windope version.
Under GNU/Linux, that hole is being plugged to allow
users to upgrade just the critical components and not
the whole thing. When you are talking about over a billion PCs
out there, its important to know precisely whether it
is a imagined thing to have obselence or
more practical to not be forced into it.
> `----
>
> So, it's a matter of _finance_, *NOT* the quality of Linux as an O/S.
>
> http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1861543635;fp;2;fpid;4
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