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I don't know how big the opportunity is, but from the interest in my Linux laptop store so far [1], it appears a lot of people do want these machines. Dell's en

by revorad 14y ago

I don't know how big the opportunity is, but from the interest in my Linux laptop store so far [1], it appears a lot of people do want these machines. Dell's entry into the market is a surprising and welcome change too. It feels a bit weird to be entering into the laptop market just as the world is moving to tablets. Linux on the desktop is perhaps the most tragic case of too little too late. But, as a hacker I want to try and push the world in a direction I like and not just accept the status quo. [1] If you're interested in buying a machine, please sign up here - http://giniji.com http://giniji.com. We're currently trying to cut a deal with Lenovo, so things are moving a bit slowly, but we should have it sorted soon.

qxcv 14y ago
Hmm, just looking at your homepage there I can't say I'm entirely sure what you do. What do I gain by buying a Thinkpad from you instead of buying it from Lenovo and installing my own distro? Do I save money by not having to pay for a Windows license?
- jnorthrop 14y ago
  > instead of buying it from Lenovo and installing my own distro? I would buy from him over Lenovo precisely to avoid having to install my own distro. I want a laptop that just works, not a new project.
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    Picking a linux/bsd distro is such a personal decision, though. Unless this service let's me pick from about 20 different distros (and it might), I'm probably going to wind up installing what I want anyways.
    - revorad 14y ago
      We'll offer some choice of distros, and also a no-OS option.
- revorad 14y ago
  You gain: 1. A better price on an equally specced machine because we buy in bulk. 2. Save time installing and much more importantly testing and making sure everything works out of the box. If you like playing with drivers, then maybe this is not for you (although we might want to hire you!). 3. Get to work faster - choose your distro and software packages on the site when you place your order. A fully customised machine is delivered, so that you can get to work the first time you boot it.
  - wpietri 14y ago
    This is exactly why I bought a preconfigured Linux laptop. I ended up paying a few hundred bucks over retail to Emperor Linux for a Thinkpad x220 tablet because I didn't have time to screw around with drivers and didn't want to take the risk of having the machine not work at all due to some issue with unsupported hardware. Sadly, they didn't live up to the promises; their support has been terrible. But I think the idea has a lot of merit, and I hope your business goes well!

by revorad 14y ago

qxcv 14y ago

Hmm, just looking at your homepage there I can't say I'm entirely sure what you do. What do I gain by buying a Thinkpad from you instead of buying it from Lenovo and installing my own distro? Do I save money by not having to pay for a Windows license?

jnorthrop 14y ago
> instead of buying it from Lenovo and installing my own distro? I would buy from him over Lenovo precisely to avoid having to install my own distro. I want a laptop that just works, not a new project.
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  Picking a linux/bsd distro is such a personal decision, though. Unless this service let's me pick from about 20 different distros (and it might), I'm probably going to wind up installing what I want anyways.
  - revorad 14y ago
    We'll offer some choice of distros, and also a no-OS option.
revorad 14y ago
You gain: 1. A better price on an equally specced machine because we buy in bulk. 2. Save time installing and much more importantly testing and making sure everything works out of the box. If you like playing with drivers, then maybe this is not for you (although we might want to hire you!). 3. Get to work faster - choose your distro and software packages on the site when you place your order. A fully customised machine is delivered, so that you can get to work the first time you boot it.
- wpietri 14y ago
  This is exactly why I bought a preconfigured Linux laptop. I ended up paying a few hundred bucks over retail to Emperor Linux for a Thinkpad x220 tablet because I didn't have time to screw around with drivers and didn't want to take the risk of having the machine not work at all due to some issue with unsupported hardware. Sadly, they didn't live up to the promises; their support has been terrible. But I think the idea has a lot of merit, and I hope your business goes well!