3 ms·

Agree with the above - lack of pre-installs is a major, major barrier, no matter how good the software is. Clearly there have been a number of missed opportunit

Agree with the above - lack of pre-installs is a major, major barrier, no matter how good the software is. Clearly there have been a number of missed opportunities over the years, with HP, Dell, Acer, probably others. Yes, they each have done suboptimal things with their preinstalls, but my sense it isn't just big companies messing up. Something is lacking somewhere in the FLOSS ecosystem such that there hasn't been a single mass market manufacturer stick with it. I don't think it is the software (anymore at least), but not sure of anything beyond that. (Obviously there's System76 and Zareason and even smaller companies; I wish them wild success and will eventually purchase from them when I stop getting hand-me-downs.) ... The "top 10" list from Linux.com is pretty reasonable, but it's proof that Linux.com is not the home of real journalism -- the list isn't presented as an image gallery. :-/

tikhonj 15y ago
The dearth of mainstream Linux laptops certainly has nothing to do with the quality of the software--it is simply a result of unholy market pressure from Microsoft coupled with a ton of marketing. No big manufacturer is going to go all-out on Linux: too much risk and uncertainty; big corporations rarely endorse such risk-taking. Instead, they want to sell some Linux computers but still maintain Windows. This gives Microsoft a lot of leverage in the market. A perfect example would be netbooks--a while back, there were Linux netbooks available and they were threatening to become successful. I think Microsoft first lowered the price of XP and extended support for it and then threatened and cajoled OEMs into stopping selling these netbooks. A cursory Google search revealed, among other things, this[1] article about Microsoft's tactics. [1]: http://blogs.computerworld.com/microsoft_strikes_back_at_linux_netbook_push http://blogs.computerworld.com/microsoft_strikes_back_at_lin... The other thing is that compared to the obscene amount of marketing behind Windows and Mac OS, Linux is driven almost entirely by word of mouth. Since there is no really heavy backing, Linux is at a disadvantage even ignoring vaguely anti-competitive practices and bullying on the part of the established players. Edit: Here[2] is another article with more details that explains exactly what I was getting at about Linux netbooks. [2]: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/why-the-linux-netbook-crashed-and-burned/9156 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/why-the-linux-netbook-...
- mlinksva 15y ago
  I agree proprietary $$$ (marketing and otherwise) are a big part of the story. I'm reticent to say it is the entire story. That's very disempowering. Even if it is the entire story, the inability to successfully counter MSFT/AAPL/et al $$$ (not necessarily with more of the same of course) still points to some kind of gap in the FLOSS ecosystem.
holri 15y ago
There is also some movement to make community hardware: http://Open-PC.com/ http://Open-PC.com/ From the community, for the community The Open-PC is a PC for everyday use built by the Linux community for the Linux community. We use only free software. Your help will be welcomed, to make our project even better.

tikhonj 15y ago

The dearth of mainstream Linux laptops certainly has nothing to do with the quality of the software--it is simply a result of unholy market pressure from Microsoft coupled with a ton of marketing. No big manufacturer is going to go all-out on Linux: too much risk and uncertainty; big corporations rarely endorse such risk-taking. Instead, they want to sell some Linux computers but still maintain Windows. This gives Microsoft a lot of leverage in the market. A perfect example would be netbooks--a while back, there were Linux netbooks available and they were threatening to become successful. I think Microsoft first lowered the price of XP and extended support for it and then threatened and cajoled OEMs into stopping selling these netbooks. A cursory Google search revealed, among other things, this[1] article about Microsoft's tactics. [1]: http://blogs.computerworld.com/microsoft_strikes_back_at_linux_netbook_push http://blogs.computerworld.com/microsoft_strikes_back_at_lin... The other thing is that compared to the obscene amount of marketing behind Windows and Mac OS, Linux is driven almost entirely by word of mouth. Since there is no really heavy backing, Linux is at a disadvantage even ignoring vaguely anti-competitive practices and bullying on the part of the established players. Edit: Here[2] is another article with more details that explains exactly what I was getting at about Linux netbooks. [2]: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/why-the-linux-netbook-crashed-and-burned/9156 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/why-the-linux-netbook-...

mlinksva 15y ago
I agree proprietary $$$ (marketing and otherwise) are a big part of the story. I'm reticent to say it is the entire story. That's very disempowering. Even if it is the entire story, the inability to successfully counter MSFT/AAPL/et al $$$ (not necessarily with more of the same of course) still points to some kind of gap in the FLOSS ecosystem.

holri 15y ago

There is also some movement to make community hardware: http://Open-PC.com/ http://Open-PC.com/ From the community, for the community The Open-PC is a PC for everyday use built by the Linux community for the Linux community. We use only free software. Your help will be welcomed, to make our project even better.