HP UK pulls Linux from all new netbooks
HP has decided UK consumers don't want Linux-based netbooks. Actually, it appears to believe business buyers don't want the open-source OS either. It emerged today that the company will not now be bringing its Mini 1000 netbook to the UK - at least not with Linux on board. Nor will it release the more business-oriented Mini …
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@Nic
Not just 10 netbook sales.
We're the techies who buy ALL the kit.
Look at what happened to SCO. And it's not vindictiveness - we are relied on to produce reliable solutions for our clients. And we know that OSS provides the most reliable solutions. Just ask Google.
Win tax idiots Mk2
to Anonymous Coward,
well bugger me , and even playing field.
Well almost, HP selected a crap version of Linux to install.
HP seem to have gone downhill steadily since those with the names Hewlett and Packard have disappeared from the company.
Remember Carly?
Market share, market share, market share
Did any of you gobshites bother checking the HP US website? They actually have user reviews. What's interesting about the user reviews of the M1000 us that there are 10 reviews of the Linux version, and 126 reviews of the Windows version. If that's any sort of reflection of the actual market share, then HP are selling 12 times as many of the XP version.
Either that or the Unix customers are so busy trying to make the thing work that they aren't bothering to write reviews.
And the only options for the Mini 2140 on the US website at the moment are Windows - either XP Home or Vista.
@Linux doesn't cut the mustard
Oh pleez. Just go away. If you don't like Linux and/or can't stomach the learning curve for something different, no one is making you use it. The well-trodden path of least resistance is the right path for many, even for most. So be it.
To the person who likened it to the recurring pimples on his 63 yr old ass... Well, thanks for the visual there. I hope they don't spread and ultimately take over your ass, whether or not Linux ever becomes mainstream. If they do, I'm sure you won't take it sitting down.
The real reason I'd rather not purchase an HP product is the fact that our organization has had many hardware issues with HP laptops and workstations---and how utterly miserable it's been dealing with HP in every step of the ordering and support process. They seem to slowly be coming around (like Dell finally did), but much more work is needed.
Left Handed
(I LOVE the idea of Linux)(I HATE Gates)
I tried Linux a while back. I forget the distro.
"Where the F is the MOUSE control panel?????"
Some idiot (obviously testing Uncle Bill's drugs in quantity) actually suggested I switch hands!
I checked some stats and found that in some groups (mainly artistic) up to 50%!!!!!!!!! were left handed!
Yeah I know, things have improved. Maybe I'll try another distro.
I DON'T have time to fart around becoming a senior programmer for Earth computing genuis just to get some work done.
Further, who the hell named Ubuntu, some cousin of an African god? It's an OS not a galactic social movement. (I LOVE Africa and everything about it, including all its amazing people).
I'll go try latest PCLOS probably, or DSL.
Jezuz H Christ!!
Responses
Well, I live here in the states, so I still have a choice of a real OS on this machine apparently. But, I also will not buy a single machine ever again with Windows on it. No non-Windows version? No sale. I don't care if it has Linux or is blank, I will not send money to Microsoft for something I'm never going to use. And I know the reality is companies will make me FIGHT to return the unused software, more than I'm willing to put up with.
@Linux doesn't cut the mustard, quit the trolling. Modern Linux distros are MORE point'n'click and easier than windows overall. Try installing most scanners and printers -- linux has drivers, windows you have to go download them, it's much harder. I've found more situations the Winodws GUI won't handle than OSX *or* Ubuntu's. No comment on Suse specifically.
@Nic, MS are evil AND successful. They are successful, but also are a (twice! US *and* EU) convicted monopolist. They REALLY play dirty, and will do ANYTHING including bribery to keep their position.
@Brian Allan: Wasting money on Linux? Windows has a much higher cost.
Hardware and linux
it may not be a netbook, but Fedora10 works very well on my acer 4720z laptop. Bluetooth check, webcam check, wifi check, antivirus........ Shiite!! I guess winduhs must be better cuz it got that nice antivirus thing running to play with those nice trojans and virii that are part of the winduhs experience.
HP Lost OS plot with the 2133
HP's problem with the 2133 is that, being developed before the netbook market really got started, it is designed for corporate rather than personal use.
So, the original O/S choices were SLED or Vista Business - both of them inappropriate for what they are running on. I think they must have been thinking "new HP palmtop", i.e. to be bought by businesses for the executive class.
In 2133 reviews there are as many reports of people replacing Vista with XP as SLED with XP.
The hardware is engineered to a standard that reminds one of the "old HP", a light alloy chassis, metal case, gigabit ethernet, excellent sound, high-resolution screen etc. But because of that the price was always too high, and they didn't sell.
Cue fire-sale late last year - picked up a couple of the 1.2GHz SLED versions for £190 each. One is now running Ubuntu - a very easy install, and everything works - and the other runs Windows 7 (obviously had to download a bunch of drivers, and the machine won't suspend to RAM).
Both work well BUT Ubuntu is a bit slicker, and is able to take advantage of the VIA processor's hardware encryption engine, so that full-disk encryption is possible with no performance penalty.
BTW the original meaning Ubuntu comes from the Zulu/Xhosa languages. It's a philosophy of life along the lines of "everyone helps everyone else" - one of the things that helped black South Africans get through the apartheid years when the SA government made no effort to provide for their needs (more than that, to intentionally exclude them from many areas of society). Hmm, there could be an interesting analogy coming here....
Left-handed etc.
On Ubuntu, System->Preferences->Mouse->left-handed mouse.
My own theory on the early netbooks is that as well as wanting to keep costs down, the devices didn't actually count as PCs and that therefore they were actually *allowed* to sell a Windows-less computer. http://www.birdhouse.org/beos/byte/30-bootloader/ explains more about the relationship between MS and the hardware vendors. The article also makes the point that hardly anybody ever actually buys Windows: they buy a computer, and Windows is what comes with it. And only Windows.
Right, I'm off to install BeOS on an old Thinkpad...
Re: Not surprised - SLED10 is cr*p - but.................
SLED10? Where's the OpenSuse 11.1 (with kde4.2 if you want)?
I suspect the problem is people really want to buy a cheap laptop, rather than using a netbook they way its supposed to be used.
These things are supposed to be for email, browsing, IM and maybe googledocs. If you start trying to install MYOB or MS Project or F.E.A.R. you will fail. The problem is, when people fail they look for what has changed - and that would be "linux installed". So they take it back and ask for Windows. If the thing is unusable with Windows installed, then they might admit they got the spec wrong, but they probably won't take it back and ask for linux again.
Bottom line: Windows is cheaper for HP. Who cares about the customer?
With that attitude, I'd rather give my money to Apple...
Easy-don't buy HP
Simplifies the market I guess if you want Linux-don't bother with HP. It's clearly business they don't want.
Manufacturers should be offering a blank model of any pc anyway so that no-one *has* to pay for windows if they ain't using it. Ridiculous concept.
@David Kairns
When did you try linux? Was it ten years ago?
I just looked and on my Debian machine I go to System (one of the menus on the top menu bar) -> perefernces -> mouse.
Left/Right handed is the top option on the settings dialog.
The main difference between Linux and Windows:
Linux: http://www.besticmarket.com/en/images/electronic_components.jpg
Windows: http://www.min.at/prinz/oe1rib/IPS/Images/Board-Finished.jpg
The point being, sometimes people want to build it from scratch, and other times, they just want to plug it in. When one wants control, they'll do it themselves, but when one wants it to just work reasonably well to serve a couple of purposes, what's the point?
ahahaha
you people crack me up saying windows costs more than linux, and linux really does cut the mustard.
when something doesn't work in windows, it tells you to what menu options to press to remove it or update the driver. when it doesnt work in linux, you have to edit a bunch of files, do some stuff with your kernal, or buy new hardware.
its obvious you linux fanboys are all biased. personally i think an operating system that threatens to put people like myself out of a job by being "free" is the definition of evil.
windows xp boots on my dell mini 9 in seconds, it is lightning fast. not fast enough? what the hell? i had xp running on my 333mhz laptop with no problems (just a looooong boot time).
while ubuntu or whatever might run smoothly and nice, the second something goes wrong, it is a thousand times harder to fix for the average guy than it is in windows. i think you freetards take a lot for granted, just because you have spent years mastering console commands doesnt mean your average guy has.
I think most freetards enjoy comparing windows 98 to linux, constantly banging on about blue screens and stuff.
"Try installing most scanners and printers -- linux has drivers, windows you have to go download them"
actually, no. windows has drivers for most things, and if not, you just have to pop the CD in the drive or run windows update.
oh and anyone in charge of purchasing IT equipment for employees who chooses linux over windows is an idiot and should be fired.
mmm
Most business are geared up to use Microsoft OS its as simple as that.
As for the old Linux chestnut, I deal with home PC users all the time who mostly are non tetchy, its all very well the Geeks (I include myself here) going on about Linux but its not really for most people. I have installed various LInux Distros and have got ever thing to work with a lot of fannying about but as someone who deals with PC's all day I don't want to be messing about all night, those days have gone
Linux my arse
But Linux STILL doesn't cut the mustard. Yes.
@AC - "Oh pleez. Just go away. If you don't like Linux and/or can't stomach the learning curve for something different, no one is making you use it."
Oh the irony... that's exactly what HP and the Carphone warehouse *are* doing. Do you see? ;-)
If someone stops using Linux, the fanboys rant about how evil and stupid they are. If someone complains about Linux, the fanboys tell them to stop using it. If they stop using it, the fanboys rant about howevil and stupid they are...
The real reason you foam at the mouth so much is because you *know* it's inadequate for Joe the plummer. He needs Windows. You're smarter than that, and other people irritate you as a result because, unlike animals, you can't just put them down when they annoy you. You still have to work with them or take your orders from them. And doesn't that make you mad?
Still, at least you have an outlet on aggressive IRC channels where you display rage and fury to newbies and potential users just tryng to ask a few questions about it. And on your specialist messageboards where you compete on who's the biggest nerd and who can come up with the wittiest and most computer-cryptic put-downs to newbies and those who don't know quite as much as you. And then there's the shallow end of your pool - blog and aricle comments sections.
Normal people need Windows. Deal with it. There are loads of MP3 players and file sharing networks better than any Apple product but people still *need* iPods and iTunes. Deal with it. All you want to do is tell those people they're wrong - breaking rule #1 of any marketing department,especially Microsoft's. And let's face facts shall we, if anyone is in a position to lecture you about marketing it's commercial giants like MS, Apple, Google Inc and Mozilla Corp.
Dont Fret
This smacks of a social engineering paired with psychological tools to try to deflate the rise of Linux, namely Ubuntu.
They (HP and others) will try to poison the pill, because M$ is now getting frightened of Ubuntu.
Take this as a note of encouragement, during my spare time I've upgraded more than 250 PC's to Ubuntu 8.04 (for older sub 1Gig machines) and 8.10 for the newer iron, and this is all over the last 3 months! I have only seen 1 (read that again) machine revert back to M$(xp), and i still chat on a regular basis with about 90% of the converted Pc users on IRC - they love it.
I'd ignore this story as negative hype, and carry one. In the end most users do get fed up the the M$ bully boy tactics, and do adopt Linux. Proven in reality!
Well then...
There's no way I'm paying £50 over the odds for an OS I'm never going to use.
Although I wouldn't go with HP anyway, them and compaq are pushing out really poor quality stuff these days.
Windows/Linux
There is a reason not to use Ubuntu for HP: legal threats (read: SW patents).
As for Hp pulling linux, I really understand it.. most people are too dumb to use it.. and they are used to use the "known" software.
As for Ipods, etc.. well, I just don't care and use the player I like most: in this case I use my laptop (windows) or my mobile (propietary).. or my linux powered HD decoder.. and I just don't care about the OS as long as it does what I need...
As for HP not using linux.. well, I think they just got it all wrong..
re: Windows/Linux
What SW patents are Linux distros infringing?
Haha.
All you anti-Linux tards make me laugh. When was the last time you checked your blood pressure? :)
Enjoy that new piece of malware they call Conficker by the way, it was made especially for your kind by the Windows-only malware creation squad. You know, your kind, the crowd followers.
Especially you Simon, for god's sake go service pack that brain of yours. If you're too piss-poor abled to actually still learn something, then you are the one who should be fired.
@Simon
"actually, no. windows has drivers for most things, and if not, you just have to pop the CD in the drive or run windows update."
I just told you of at least on e situation where the opposite is true. Keep spouting your bullshit though.
"oh and anyone in charge of purchasing IT equipment for employees who chooses linux over windows is an idiot and should be fired."
Right, because we all know that change is bad and companies should never try changing business practices to save money on software, increase productivity or increase the lifetime of their hardware acquisitions?
All because that initial 10 minutes of "here is your office program, it works pretty much the same, here is how you log off" is just too costly.
Twat.
Linutop re-new commitment to Linux
Linutop strongly believe in giving users the maximum freedom of choice and flexibility. An open source, Linux-based operating system is the ideal platform that allows users to get most of their devices. Additionally, open source allows running systems more cost-effective because users do not have to pay for an operating systems and applications from the established vendors. We are convinced that open source operating systems will become even more popular amongst many professional and semi-professional users in the future.
Even in the area of consumer technology there is strong opportunity for open source. It will be very interesting to see how the market reacts on the Google mobile phone with its open source operating system and what effect this might have on the established systems like Symbian and Windows Mobile.
Businesses are under incredible pressure to become more flexible and reduce costs at the same time. This will drive demand for more developer friendly and cost efficient systems in the future – which is exactly what open source operating systems like Linux provide.
LINUX Laptops
Give it up. If there were sufficient people wiling to buy Linux laptops then HP would be selling them. That old "you've got the wrong distro" excuse is years-old now. The viable non-geek consumer choice is between WIndows and Mac on the desktop.
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