Element Computer: ION Linux on Linux Hardware

JigSaw writes "Well known Lycoris person Jason Spisak left the company to join Element Computer, a new hardware company which now strives to offer the Apple experience on PCs: they sell Linux-certified modern hardware with their own flavor of Debian, ION Linux. ION is a desktop distro and it is developed specifically to work perfectly with the accompanied hardware. Other highlights include usage support (as opposed to installation-only support other distros provide) and system upgrades specific to the exact hardware the user runs. The KDE-based distro will only sell with their hardware as Mike Hjorleifsson says in his interview." (The company was previously mentioned on Slashdot.)

Comments

Any ideas?

[metalhed77]

The distribution is Debian based, and built on top of another outstanding distribution which we are not a liberty to name just yet.

Anyone have any i deas what distro this is most likely based on?

But ...

[Snoopy77]

the problem with Macs was that while they performed better on the whole, they were more expensive.

ION Linux may guarentee that the software and hardware will play together nicely but you've gotta pay for it. I've never had a problem getting Linux (RedHat, Debian, Gentoo) to work well on standard Dell machines or on machines I've built from various parts.

Nice idea but prebuilt Linux machines don't have a big market and I don't see that ION Linux is going to change this.

Kind of Pricey

[hng_rval]

Is it just me, or do these computers cost more than an equivalent Dell model?

Why not buy a Dell, format with Linux, good to go.

I guess they install Linux for free, and provide you with some sort of support, but if you really need that why not just use Windows?

Or, install Debian - it's getting easier every day.

Re:Kind of Pricey

[NanoGator]

"You spend so much time denouncing Linux. Why is this?"

Hardly a rebuttal, but I'll answer anyway. I'm not denouncing Linux. I'm pointing out its weaknesses. Why would I do this? Well certainly it's not to convert people to another OS. I want to see Linux improved. I want to see more people use it. I want it to be used broadly enough that I can switch to it without giving up hardware compatibility and the game library. Slashdot sometimes has a hard time realizing why Windows is in the lead, sometimes a little smack with the reality stick is in order.

"Having read through your comment history, you make it very clear that you're pretty die-hard when it comes to windows (minus some dabbling in linux). So what do you care?"

Die hard when it comes to Windows? Eh I guess in a sense that's sort of true. It's not because I like Windows, it's because Linux hasn't caught up to Windows in some of the areas that count.

"Or is this the same mindset that makes all usenet windows-advocacy groups full of linux advocates and all linux-advocacy groups full of windows advocates?"

I am not a Windows advocate.

"Are you so egomaniacal to think that you're turning people away from the evil path, or can you just not resist the urge to throw in your opinion no matter what?"

I'm pointing out Linux has flaws. Sorry if that's too much to take. A wiser person would listen to my criticism and figure out a.) if it's valid, b.) what to do if point A is true. Attempting to label me with names like 'egomaniacal' is really rather fruitless.

I-Dash?

[ponds]

With Mandrake and Lindow's recent troubles, you'd think they would check that the name isn't already taken.

I just hope the distro ends up changing its name and not My favorite Window Manager

Un-fricken-believable

[MicroBerto]

Wow. I was just thinking to myself, "You know what, Mike? We need MORE LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS!"

Not only that, but we need distributions that only work_on/come_with certain hardware. So now I go from 2% market share to 0.0002% marketshare!

Have these guys ever taken Marketing 101, or ANY type of business course? What kind of business plan is this, and who honestly expects it to sell?

Let me give you one obvious hint - steal business ideas that are GOOD, not those that have been holding Apple back for the past 15+ years.

Re:Un-fricken-believable

[foniksonik]

Hmmm.... you do know that Apple makes more money on their 2-4% of the market than 99% of the companies out there who have 20% or more market share. Also remember that individual companies really don't get as much market share as you think. Intel based PCs may have a huge amount of the market and Intel based PCs running Windows have a huge amount of the Desktop PC market but HP or Dell or Gateway or IBM individually only have a fraction of that market.... the more players the less each gets.

I think they are addressing a real problem and if they target their market correctly could end up doing very well.

Re:Apple experience?

[RefriedBean]

What about USB keychains?

I never go anywhere without them. They are faster, more reliable, and have higher storage capacity.

They aren't expensive either..

Their life expectancies are also waay higher than floppies. Oh, and lets not forget that they don't get corrupted every time your two year old puts a fridge magnet close to it.

And it's also dead easy to boot from them on today's machines..

Really, floppies should've died a long time ago.

Thanks apple!

Server meltdown.....

[gnuman99]

Indeed, they do appear to be running a desktop only version of a web server,

While trying to retrieve the URL: http://elementcomputer.com/

The following error was encountered:

* Connection Failed

The system returned:

(111) Connection refused

Sounds like a reasonable approach...

[isaac]

I think the general idea of shipping machines with an operating system and, indeed, applications that are tuned to the specific hardware of the machine is a sound one.

I've installed more operating systems in the last 20 years than I can count. My main home system is a Fujitsu P2040 laptop that currently dual-boots Win2k and Mandrake 9.2, and I've probably spent 60-80 hours installing and tweaking and tuning both of these operating systems just to get everything working to my liking in both operating systems - all the hardware buttons (even the "email" button and notification light), cd-burning, region-free DVD playback, trackpoint sensitivity & z-axis support, 3d acceleration (albeit pathetic on this Mach64-based Rage Mobility) under linux, cygwin in win2k, Crusoe-tuned power management and monitoring, remapped keyboard (caps=ctrl, winkeys useful), separate partitions for my data and OS (and a swap partition used by both operating systems). I can recover this clean, custom load of either OS with bootable CD sets I made. I replaced the fujitsu logo on the top of the lid with a metal plate I screen printed with tiny C version of DeCSS (efdtt.c, props to Charles Hannum and Phil Carmody). It's a great little computer and works a treat - but I'll probably sell it soon because I've come to prefer my girlfriend's G3 ibook. It's got that UNIX-fresh flavor I crave right out of the box, and doesn't come loaded from the factory with bullshit like a PC, and it took all of 5 minutes to configure to my liking when I installed Panther on it.

A company that can deliver a no-bullshit PC running linux with Apple-grade hardware/software integration might get my business. I'm not convinced that Element is that company, but we'll see.

-Isaac

Re:Secret developers

[iplayfast]

Probably because they don't want developers to be inundated with calls from hardware vender's saying pick me pick me.

(PS. I love KDE, it spellchecks this form as I type. Who says Linux isn't innovative).

Re:If 2004 is the year of Linux

[Lord Kano]

I think that a penguin wearing a bullet-proof vest would be a good mascot.

Subtitle it with "Make sure your server is Bullet Proof" or words to that effect.

LK

Nobody has!?

[autechre]

You're posting on Slashdot, remember? Slashdot is part of OSDN, and the parent company of OSDN is...well, VA Software. But if you think back a few years, they used to be VA Linux. They thoroughly tested hardware to make sure it was reliable under Linux, then sold machines with Linux pre-installed.

Now, I don't know if VA sold workstations, but I know that Penguin did (and does), because I've used them. Penguin has some nice-looking Opteron servers as well.

You might argue that these two companies are targeted more at businesses than the home user, and you'd be right. But it's not as if this is some new mind-blowing concept. Lindows is basically trying to do the same thing; while they will sell you the software separately, most people are going to pick it up via those cheap computers which (gasp!) have hardware selected for Lindows.