IBM Launches Linux Desktop in India

kanad writes "Who says that Linux on desktop is dead. Well maybe in the developed markets where people are using windows since last 10 years and are used to it. But in nascent markets it maynot be the case. From this story at Times of India , IBM is launching a linux based desktop model (A30) for about US$ 850. The specifications of the A30 is available from zdnet india site although the price mentioned is about US$ 1100. IBM CEO recently visited India generating news and smoke about big blue taking some serious linux initiative in India. Here is a more practical story on Linux in India"

Comments

Linux Jobs in India

[dxnxax]

Mojolin India (http://in.mojolin.com) has some 35 linux jobs in India posted.

Re:What Linux needs

[OmniVector]

check out the grsecurity patch for the linux kernel. bundle that with some restrictive iptable rules and i guarantee you'll have a more secure machine than a locked windows box.

The grsecurity patch has a slew of options on masking processes, and it can restrict process execution based on file permissions, stack execution, port creation based on user privledges on the kernel level, and file i/o on the kernel level. all in all, i think this kernel patch puts linux on par with some of the more anal distros like openbsd (although i can't say linux encrypts things as much as openbsd :)

Old News

[lkaos]

It's actually a whole new series of Business PCs called ThinkCentre. Yes, they are available here in the states (and I actually remember seeing a figure ~$600 for the Linux models). The M50 is the only model thus far to be running Linux. Here's the blurb from the press release:

"IBM also today introduced the ThinkCentre M50, with enhanced support for Red Hat and SuSE Linux. The M50 provides stability and manageability for the enterprise and is available with three improved mechanical designs."

This press release is on the front of IBM's main page on the very bottom under Press Releases. This is from about 2-3 weeks ago (surprised it took /. so long to catch on).

Re: What Linux needs

[mjmalone]

Actually, it DOES work. $100 for the full suit of Matlab applications, for example, is MUCH less expensive than the $5000 or so you would have to pay to buy a commercial licence. Also, schools require students to purchase software like this. In order to be in Engineering at Virginia Tech, for example, students must have Inventor, Matlab, Windows XP, Acrobat, CAD and a whole host of other software. The package costs about $900, but commercial licenses for similar software would be well over $100,000.

Re: What Linux needs

[theCoder]

Only if you run command.exe instead of cmd.exe. Or, you could be like me and when you have the misfortune of being on a Windows PC, run bash.exe. Cygwin (at least the command line stuff) has never been slow(er than the rest of the PC) for me.