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Good luck finding a laptop that doesn't have Windows installed on it.

Well gee, that one wasn't too hard. /sarcasm
Try this one. If that list is a little too complicated to follow, then try ZDnet's top five vendors (desktop a& laptop) from last year.
And of course you can always take pride from the DIY route.
Seriously, do you even care about sticking it to the man? It just seems to me like you're just being lazy.

Some judge probably will. Remember Obelix versus MobiliX?

There are even a few installation reports for ELKS Linux on laptops with 286 CPUs.

There is a short survey of free applications for bicycles at TuxMobil. Most applications are based on Linux. An overview of Open Hardware for bicycles (not much yet) is available there also.

Alternative:

1) Buy a laptop with Linux preinstalled: list of vendors around the world
2) Do your research.: http://www.linux-laptop.net/, http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html, and Google.
3) Ask the retailer if you can boot the laptop off a live CD or USB stick and check everything works.

TuxMobil provides a short (actually there a four entries) survey of Linux solutions for cars and automobiles. BTW: there are a lot more free and open source solutions for bicycles yet.

TuxMobil provides a short (actually there a four entries) survey of Linux solutions for cars and automobiles. BTW: there are a lot more free and open source solutions for bicycles yet.

Can this tool be used as a means for laptop theft and loss protection?

There is at least a small number of Linux applications for watches and heart rate monitors, as well as some free and open source tools for bikes, including applications and open hardware for data acquisition from exercise bicycles. You may find (yet little) information about appropriate data formats, too.

There is at least a small number of Linux applications for watches and heart rate monitors, as well as some free and open source tools for bikes, including applications and open hardware for data acquisition from exercise bicycles. You may find (yet little) information about appropriate data formats, too.

I'd like to point out a few flaws in this argument:

1. These "hardware manufacturers" do not build their own laptops. They are built by OEM's like Compal, AlphaTop, Asus, and Quanta. Here is a nice chart that can give you an idea of who really made your laptop.

2. In the cases of the laptop batteries catching fire, the problem was not with the design of the laptop. The heat produced by the electronics did not cause the battery to catch fire. The problem is that Sony, who is the OEM of the batteries used in all of these cases, used substandard materials in the battery pack. Check the headline on your second link if you need evidence the problem is with Sony batteries.

There is also a comprehensive and international list of vendors which provide laptops, notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones with Linux pre-installed. This list is accompanied by a survey of laptop and notebook manufacturers which provide Linux pre-installed, a survey of mobile phones with Linux pre-installed and an overview of media players with Linux pre-installed (these manufacturers are marked with an asterisk).

There is also a comprehensive and international list of vendors which provide laptops, notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones with Linux pre-installed. This list is accompanied by a survey of laptop and notebook manufacturers which provide Linux pre-installed, a survey of mobile phones with Linux pre-installed and an overview of media players with Linux pre-installed (these manufacturers are marked with an asterisk).

There is also a comprehensive and international list of vendors which provide laptops, notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones with Linux pre-installed. This list is accompanied by a survey of laptop and notebook manufacturers which provide Linux pre-installed, a survey of mobile phones with Linux pre-installed and an overview of media players with Linux pre-installed (these manufacturers are marked with an asterisk).

There is also a comprehensive and international list of vendors which provide laptops, notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones with Linux pre-installed. This list is accompanied by a survey of laptop and notebook manufacturers which provide Linux pre-installed, a survey of mobile phones with Linux pre-installed and an overview of media players with Linux pre-installed (these manufacturers are marked with an asterisk).

This site lists several people who sell open source laptops in the Netherlands

http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html

If they did and and stopped, maybe they didn't just sell enough.

Actually Zepto Computers sell barebones computers from Compal all over Europe.

And there are these companies recommended for Germany -

http://www.kdedevelopers.org/node/3400

Some of them are US based but will ship. If they'll ship to Germany, there's no reason why they won't ship to the Netherlands.

Those ODM contracts that forced people to install Windows on every machine if they wanted to install it on any of them have been changed. That's why you can get Dells with Freedos or Linux.

TuxMobil provides a survey of Linux compatibility and configuration guides for different Blackberry models. Currently only four guides are listed. Not much yet, but a start. But I guess the number of guides in the TuxMobil Linux and mobile phone section will increase soon.

TuxMobil provides a survey of Linux compatibility and configuration guides for different Blackberry models. Currently only four guides are listed. Not much yet, but a start. But I guess the number of guides in the TuxMobil Linux and mobile phone section will increase soon.

Just in case you want to connect a Blackberry to a Linux PC, here are some guides about Blackberry and Linux connectivity. Not much yet, but a start. There is also the beginning of a survey of Linux applications under GPL useful for the Blackberry.

As far as I can see Opensolaris as well as Solaris is not widely used on portable computers yet. TuxMobil provides a Survey of Solaris, OpenSolaris & NexentaOS Installation Guides for Laptops and Notebooks. The survey contains links to around 70 installation guides. The overall number of installation guides for Unix operating systems listed at TuxMobil is almost 8,000.

It's actually easier than Windows, IMHO. It boots into Ubuntu without asking a single question, so you can decide if you like it. If you do, double-click "Install" on the desktop, answer the same type of questions as you would on Windows, and while it loads onto the hard drive, you can continue using it.

Or, if you prefer, stick the disk into a computer running Windows, click "Install", and it will install as if it were a Windows application. After installation, when you reboot, you get the usual grub menu to select either Ubuntu or Windows. If you later decide you don't like it, boot Windows and select Ubuntu and Uninstall from Add / Remove Programs, and it uninstalls.

I really can't imagine anything easier. Well, other than buying it pre-installed. :-)

This is not the first and only OS X installation attempt on a UMPC. There is a short survey of installation guides for MAC OS X on (small) laptops and notebooks provided by TuxMobil. There are guides for the ASUS Eee PC 701, the OQO e2, the Lenovo ThinkPad X61 and others. More submissions are welcome though.

than just this one product.

1. Take a look at this estimate of who builds laptops for what brand. http://tuxmobil.org/laptop_oem.html The brands like Sony might change vendors, but the manufacturers listed haven't changed, so re-arrange the check marks if you want to pretend.

2. Many of the OEM's are marketing barebones laptops which are going to eat into Sony's laptop business in unpleasant ways. MSI and Asus are two notables. http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=23

Talk amongst yourselves....

It's an interesting experiment, but as I said in the comments on his blog post, there's one thing I would change. He says "I'll say I managed to get an illegal copy off a Polish guy I know over the internet." (Emphasis added.)

Why bother lying about it? Just say "I managed to get a copy off a Polish guy I know over the internet." Don't say anything at all about its legal status and allow the listener to assume that it is illegal. There is no need to tell an explicit lie in this case.

And doing so could potentially have adverse consequences. For one thing, the listener may actually have heard about Linux before, and call him on the lie.

For another, it might have personal consequences. It sounds like this a completely informal experiment, and that the guy will be trying it out on his friends. If I was his friend, and I discovered later that he lied to get me to try something, I'd probably be upset with him. Even if the lie meant that I had actually not committed a crime at his suggestion.

Even if telling the lie doesn't have either of those consequences, it explicitly gives them the false idea that Linux cannot legally be copied. So does misdirection of the kind I have proposed, of course; but I tend to think it's easier to correct a mis-impression than an outright lie.

As for the price, I think there probably are people selling Linux for $500 in the States. Certainly there are small vendors selling pre-installed Linux systems for that or more. So that part's not a lie.

Do you want to be on the safe side and have some fun, too? Just make your custom DPF and install Linux on it. Here are some DIY instructions to make a digital picture frame from an old laptop or notebook. And here is a survey of Linux used on selfmade digital photo frames

Besides Lenovo there are some other manufacturers offering Linux without "Micorosoft-Tax" or even Linux pre-installed. Here is a (not yet complete) list of currently available laptops and notebooks without "Microsoft-Tax" at TuxMobil. If you need the features of a laptop which comes with Microsoft OS still, here are some tips and tricks to get a refund for the operating system from Redmond. And just in case you want to buy a laptop with a custom Linux installation, here is a survey of resellers.

Besides Lenovo there are some other manufacturers offering Linux without "Micorosoft-Tax" or even Linux pre-installed. Here is a (not yet complete) list of currently available laptops and notebooks without "Microsoft-Tax" at TuxMobil. If you need the features of a laptop which comes with Microsoft OS still, here are some tips and tricks to get a refund for the operating system from Redmond. And just in case you want to buy a laptop with a custom Linux installation, here is a survey of resellers.

Besides Lenovo there are some other manufacturers offering Linux without "Micorosoft-Tax" or even Linux pre-installed. Here is a (not yet complete) list of currently available laptops and notebooks without "Microsoft-Tax" at TuxMobil. If you need the features of a laptop which comes with Microsoft OS still, here are some tips and tricks to get a refund for the operating system from Redmond. And just in case you want to buy a laptop with a custom Linux installation, here is a survey of resellers.

Motorola is no the only manufacturer offering mobile phones with Linux operating system. Here is an overview of mobile phones with Linux pre-installed. The entries marked with an asterisk *) show around twenty manufacturers which offer Linux on mobile cellular phones.

The article titles one section "Linux OEM companies can survive, even flourish". In this section three US based companies are considered as Linux OEMs. At least for laptops and notebooks this statement seems wrong, because as far as I can see non of these companies manufacturers these devices themselves, though they pre-install Linux on them. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a really "free" laptop or notebook available yet. But at least you can get Linux pre-installed on laptops and notebooks from different vendors around the world.

From my experience the market for pre-installed Linux boxes is still small, at least for PDAs, laptops and notebooks. I guess for pre-configured servers there is a bigger market and rumours are that more and more mobile phones are coming with Linux. BTW: here is my international overview of Linux laptop, notebook, mobile phone and PDA vendors.

The TuxMobil Linux Compatibility Survey for Media Players lists more than 100 compatibility reports for many audio and video players. There is also a survey of useful Linux software to organize, convert and sync your MP3, Ogg and MPEG files.

You may wish to check out the compatibility of your tablet against this website: http://tuxmobil.org/tablet_unix.html

But what of the purported fact that the guy cannot get another OS on there? An effective rebuttal would include a good explanation why this problem occured; even better if it discussed a work-around or a fix.

Does anyone here have such a laptop? Would you care to install Linux on it as a test? Has anyone here tried? Did it work?

Actually their prices are about normal for an asus chassis.
Not all laptops are created equal. There is a decided quality difference between a Dell (Quanta) and a system76 (ASUS).
Just because they cost more doesn't mean their prices are ridiculous. A porsche costs more than a camaro, but that doesn't necessarily make the price ridiculous.
Here is a chart of brands and the actual manufacturers. http://tuxmobil.org/laptop_oem.html
I think if you do a little research you'll find that ASUS are worth the money. A flimsy laptop is a sad thing.

There's actually a wealth of mobile telephony and PDA APIs and applications available for Linux. Check out the software page on TuxMobil -- this kind of software is still somewhat in its infancy, but if you're interested in Linux on embedded devices -- heck, why not join in the development process and help out?

It's too late for "Linux on the desktop". Now it has to be "Linux on the Laptop". With WiFi. And that just doesn't work very well.

Yes, there are resources for running Linux on laptops. And they're very funny.

• Linux-Laptop.net This is a collection of links to blogs of people who were able to get Linux to run on a laptop. Really.
• Tuxmobil.org A collection of links to other sites about Linux. With ads.
• Linux.org's laptop page. Most of the listings are for machines that are no longer manufactured, or even for defunct manufacturers. Compaq and DEC are listed, but Leonovo isn't.
• Ubuntu's support wiki for laptops. Big table of laptops, what doesn't work, and what hacks might make them work. Dell's current laptop line, the Inspiron 1501/1505/1705, isn't listed. Even for ones that work, there are instructions like this: This is installation instructions for Hoary. I was unable to complete a successful install with Warty, and I looked, but was unable to find anyone else who had completed an install of Warty. You must first upgrade to BIOS version A32. .... For information on doing this without a windows partition, go here: ... Type in at boot: linux pci=noacpi noapic to prevent it from freezing partway through install (this seems to be a recurring problem with Dell laptops). ... Debian will detect the screen resolution incorrectly. ... To fix this once everything has installed, boot to the Root Terminal or use Applications-System Tools-Root Terminal. Once logged in, type (without quotes) "sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf" and edit...

This is no better than it was four years ago. Maybe worse. You can't even get the WalMart Linux laptop any more.

Linux on the server, sure. Linux on the desktop, maybe. Linux on the laptop, not ready for prime time.

...before using Asterix imagery: those people are pretty litigious.

As far as I can see there is no official announcement from Lenovo about Linux on their laptops available yet. The articles at DesktopLinux/eWeek only propose an official announcement in two weeks. And nothing about some important details: would the pre-installed Linux support all the hardware of a ThinkPad, let's say the internal modem? and how well will the hardware be supported, e.g. will 3D acceleration work together with all the suspend-modes and an external projector? will there be Free and Open Source drivers available? will it be possible to use all these nice features (if provided really) with other Linux distributions, too? will the hardware be cheaper because of the missing MicroSoft tax? There have been rumours from other manufacturers about pre-installed Linux laptops recently, see A History of Blurb, Rumours, Vaporware, False Alarms and a Little Truth Concerning Linux Laptops. But as far as I can see you can't buy one yet, at least not in the U.S. or in Europe.

Linux support from laptop manufacturers seems still poor. But there are some independent retail shops which offer Linux pre-configured on laptops and notebooks. They offer different laptop brands, some of them e.g. Xtops.DE are specialized in pre-configured Debian or SuSE Linux on Lenovo/IBM ThinkPads.

Lenovo just brands them. http://tuxmobil.org/laptop_oem.html

can be found here http://tuxmobil.org/phones_linux.html

Much like http://www.phoenix.com/en/about+phoenix/investors/ news+releases/2003/may+27,+2003-a.htm Theftguard.

Admittedly, their BIOS system only operates through the internet, though it will defeat attempts to format the harddrive.

Here's a previously posted link to current theft deterrent techniques. http://tuxmobil.org/stolen_laptops.html . Recommended.

Here are some tips for theft and loss protection for laptops and notebooks. This article is dedicated to Linux users, but some of the tips are applicable to other operating systems as well. Some of the techniques work for other portable electronic equipment (PDAs, mobile phones, et. al.), too. But note: some devices which are offered to provide physical security can be by-passed easily. For example there are different approaches for hacking laptop and notebook cable locks.

http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html

Here you go.

There are plenty of other companies that sell Linux an (sic) no-OS machines.

http://www.addonshop.com/
http://www.emperorlinux.com/
http://www.ibexpc.com/
http://www.koobox.com/
http://www.linare.com/
http://www.linspire.com/
http://www.linuxcertified.com/
http://www.linuxsyscorp.com/
http://www.microtelpc.com/
http://www.outpost.com/
http://shoprcubed.com/
http://www.sub300.com/
http://www.systemax.com/divisions.htm
http://www.walmart.com/
http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html
http://www.us.debian.org/distrib/pre-installed
http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html
http://tuxmobil.org/ (general information)

Slashdot's lameness filter is actually pretty... well... lame. Defeating it is usually as easy as adding more text. You know, like this sentence. :-)

Here you go.

There are plenty of other companies that sell Linux an (sic) no-OS machines.

http://www.addonshop.com/
http://www.emperorlinux.com/
http://www.ibexpc.com/
http://www.koobox.com/
http://www.linare.com/
http://www.linspire.com/
http://www.linuxcertified.com/
http://www.linuxsyscorp.com/
http://www.microtelpc.com/
http://www.outpost.com/
http://shoprcubed.com/
http://www.sub300.com/
http://www.systemax.com/divisions.htm
http://www.walmart.com/
http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html
http://www.us.debian.org/distrib/pre-installed
http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html
http://tuxmobil.org/ (general information)

Slashdot's lameness filter is actually pretty... well... lame. Defeating it is usually as easy as adding more text. You know, like this sentence. :-)

There are plenty of other companies that sell Linux an no-OS machines. http://www.addonshop.com/ http://www.emperorlinux.com/ http://www.ibexpc.com/ http://www.koobox.com/ http://www.linare.com/ http://www.linspire.com/ http://www.linuxcertified.com/ http://www.linuxsyscorp.com/ http://www.microtelpc.com/ http://www.outpost.com/ http://shoprcubed.com/ http://www.sub300.com/ http://www.systemax.com/divisions.htm http://www.walmart.com/ http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html http://www.us.debian.org/distrib/pre-installed http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html http://tuxmobil.org/ (general information)

There are plenty of other companies that sell Linux an no-OS machines. http://www.addonshop.com/ http://www.emperorlinux.com/ http://www.ibexpc.com/ http://www.koobox.com/ http://www.linare.com/ http://www.linspire.com/ http://www.linuxcertified.com/ http://www.linuxsyscorp.com/ http://www.microtelpc.com/ http://www.outpost.com/ http://shoprcubed.com/ http://www.sub300.com/ http://www.systemax.com/divisions.htm http://www.walmart.com/ http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html http://www.us.debian.org/distrib/pre-installed http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html http://tuxmobil.org/ (general information)

http://www.addonshop.com/ http://www.emperorlinux.com/ http://www.ibexpc.com/ http://www.koobox.com/ http://www.linare.com/ http://www.linspire.com/ http://www.linuxcertified.com/ http://www.linuxsyscorp.com/ http://www.microtelpc.com/ http://www.outpost.com/ http://shoprcubed.com/ http://www.sub300.com/ http://www.systemax.com/divisions.htm http://www.walmart.com/ http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html http://www.us.debian.org/distrib/pre-installed http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html http://tuxmobil.org/ (general information) No OS (Sabio made by Quanta, like Dell-latitudes) http://www.avadirect.com/ http://www.asimobile.com/ http://www.powernotebooks.com/