How Do Small GNU/Linux PC Vendors Survive?

garananda asks: "In spite of being one of the very few sources for customized PC laptops pre-installed with various flavors of GNU/Linux, Qli Linux Computers is closed as of March 15th 2004 after serving the community for six years (thanks for all of your hard work). It is becoming easier to get Linux computers from some of the big vendors, but usually this means no hardware choices and no choice of preferred GNU/Linux distribution. Is any small company providing this service and succeeding (lots of hardware options for desktops, custom laptop options, multiple GNU/Linux distributions, and no mandatory 'Microsoft tax')? How do they do it? Given the low margins in the PC market and given the variance of component quality and component vendor reliability/prices, how would _you_ do it?" When one asks "How does one sell Linux", it's only fair to point out what you don't do. Beyond that, what are other recommendations do you have for putting Linux out there for consumers, in the hopes it will sell your hardware?

Comments

GNU/Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

This GNU/Linux thing. Is that anything like real Linux?

Oh, that!

[Otter]

When one asks "How does one sell Linux", it's only fair to point out what you don't do.

Oh, the link is a reference to that Newsforge piece (which has essentially nothing to do with question asked here)? I thought Cliff was pointing out the irony of asking that question on a site owned by the most spectacular failure ever at profitably selling Linux systems. Excuse me, GNU/Linux.

Do I have anything constructive to say? Not really. Penguin Computing is still going strong. The problem with offering lots of little configuration options is that corporate users don't care about them and the individual users who want Gentoo and USB vibrator support are the last people who are going to pay you to do the fiddling that's more of an end than a means to them.