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TurboLinux & Linksys Announce Bundling Deal

Posted by Hemos on from the gettin-more-linux-out-there dept.

Sam writes, "TurboLinux, Inc. announced today an agreement with Linksys to bundle TurboLinux in shipments of Linksys 10/100 Ethernet products sold in North America. The special bundling will be included in popular small and medium business solutions such as 10/100 hubs and switches, routers, NIC and PC cards. The agreement, projected by the companies to include more than 1.2 million product shipments over the next 12 months, will give Linksys customers TurboLinux operating system solutions with selected purchases of Linksys products. Source: Electic Tech "

3 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Up, Down, or Same? by Accipiter · · Score: 4
    How is this going to affect the price of their products?

    A standard NE2000 NIC card runs about $15. TurboLinux 6.0 runs $19.99. I don't mind buying NIC cards because they're cheap. If the price stays the same then consumers would be happy, but A) Linksys has no incentive to bundle, and B) TurboLinux makes no money from the bundle. If the price goes up, consumers will buy other cards (Like D-Link, which I have had good luck with) because they're still hovering around the $12-$15 price range.

    But if the price goes up, what's the difference between buying a Linksys Card with TurboLinux bundled, or buy a different card and TurboLinux seperately....other than conveniance?

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  2. Ethernet Cards with No Windows Drivers. by jelwell · · Score: 4

    My friend bought an Ethernet card just 2 days ago. I think it was by SMC - it was a cheap 10/100 card for about 15$. What surprised me is the CD he handed me when he asked me to install the card - because he couldn't figure it out. Popping it in I saw directories like dosutils, img, root, etc... I looked at him and said, "Did it come with any instructions?" he pointed to the back of the box that had detailed instructions for linux and 1 sentence for windows. For windows it said "Windows will detect and configure the card automatically." sure... It didn't. I was stunned - I told him that the cd contained no windows drivers and instead was an TurboLinux CD. "It might contain Linux drivers", I said sarcastically. He didn't get it.

    Joseph Elwell.

  3. Bundling Linux is a Good Thing(tm) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    How can anyone complain about bundling Linux with hardware? Many people that I know don't run Linux because they've:

    • Never heard of it.
    • Don't have a CD.
    • Not sure which distro to choose.
    • Don't feel like d/l a copy.
    • Not sure if they have supported hardware.
    • Not sure what it can do for them.
    • Afraid of the learning curve.
    • Don't want to spend $$$ on an unknown OS.

    Bundling Linux with a NIC or LAN-in-a-Box package is great. Not only do you get hardware that will run on Linux, you get the OS as well. This will undoubtedly increase Linux's presence in the desktop and server market.

    People are comparing AOL's CD distribution scheme with the Linux OS bundles. I view this opinion as flawed. Linux bundles are not mailed to every household, they are not included in most new PC purchases, etc. Additionally, I'm certain that the AOL CD marketing scheme has been wildly successfull. Otherwise, AOL would have stopped long ago since it does cost money to press and disseminate the CD's.

    In closing, let me state that the Linux bundles hurt no one and may introduce people to Linux. In other words, it's a Good Thing(tm).



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