More on Toronto's Linux-only Computer Store

bluethundr writes "The Register today is running a story about what we first thought (but thought incorrectly as it turns out) to be the world's first Linux-only computer store. Who knew that they were also running a Linux-powered car wash in the back? Heh."

Comments

Rotating penguin

[MoOsEb0y]

Ohhhh, I so wanted to see pictures of the rotating penguin. Also, the idea of selling a hard drive with linux preinstalled is really cool. I like it. They should have one of these in my town! Especially if they had random linux gear ala thinkgeek. Oooh, and a wifi-enabled cafe-type-place.... mmmmmmmm. (Hey.. they have a linux-run carwash already)

Some thoughts.....

[thewldisntenuff]

Wonder why the cost is higher....Can't be too hard to load up Linspire. Even states in TFA that it loads in only 10 mins. If anything, the costs should slightly lower (although TFA does not take into account for rebates, discounts, etc, so we can't be sure, eh?)

The store remains focused on the Linspire (formerly Lindows) OS and office suite, says Silverman, with no immediate plans to start selling other distros from the store.
For the regular user, Linspire is the most simple to work with," says Silverman. "It installs in less than ten minutes."

I've been to their site before...They state on both Canadian and American sites the following -

"Do you prefer a different Linux distro? We can accommodate most requests."

Which does seem contradictory to TFA...Linspire seems hokey to me to be the primary distro. One would think that they would use a popular distro (ie-Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, etc) While Linspire is easy to use, I threw my younger sister into SuSE and Yast and she had a decent handle on things (Mind you, she's no geek but quite trendy, so a shock indeed :) ) I think they might be better off offering better/more distro options...

Ditto on the hard disks preloaded with Linspire. A neat idea, although I bet it takes a bit for the distro to auto-detect the hardware, etc. For the non-Linux, this might troublesome.But a good idea nonetheless...Like Knoppix on steriods or something....

Gotta love the rotating pengiun though....

-thewldisntenough

Linux and Booze

[Anonymous Coward]

Those MegaTouch games in many bars run Linux. Check out the credits, they thank the Linux community, and say sources available on request. Toggle the power to see lilo on boot.

http://www.moneymachines.com/touch.html

Re:Linux and Booze

[sydsavage]

Those MegaTouch games in many bars run Linux.

I was quite amazed to learn this fact while sipping suds at my local watering hole. There was a technician working on the machine, and had it open. Seeing the guts, it was pretty obviously just a pc inside. It even had a cd-rom drive, mounted sideways. When he was finished, and started it up, it looked (from across the room) to be Linux starting up.

I asked the (extremely grumpy) repairman what OS was running on the box, and he grumped, "ly-nucks", with a frown. I asked him how he liked it, and he gave me a thumbs down.

Then I quipped, "So you're more of a BSD guy, then?" He gave me a long stare, turned his back, and walked out. My drinking buddy thought it was pretty funny.

Five minutes later, it was into it's endless reboot cycle that he'd been called in to fix. Freakin' genius.

Seeing linux, as well as the technician's incompetence and rude manner, made me consider applying for a job with the vending company. I may yet, but I doubt my credentials would impress them.

Re:Interesting

[Sivar]

I know that's the normal line, but it seems that a company that is so flagrantly linux-based that they would open a Linux-only computer shop (and a carwash with a Tux logo no less!) would make it a point to eat their own dog food and use a Linux server. It isn't as if it is difficult to find Linux hosting online. Many hosting providers specifically ask what operating system you would like to run, and there are far fewer Windows-only hosts than mixed OS hosts.

First All Linux store went bankrupt years ago!

[hajo]

we had the Linux general store in Atlanta which opened in the late nineties (98-99). It was opened by a great guy; but the only people that visited were the local pierced freaks from GA tech and me. And like me we'd get one Suse (redhat whatever...) CD and put it on a bunch of discarded PCs. Guess what: The store didn't make it!
In todays environment as a small business I don't think you can compete with $200 PCs at wallmart with Lindows pre-loaded or on the side of the equation with the IBMs of the world.
The one niche I do see for significant growth in the Linux marketspace is as a consulting firm for small businesses. You do NOT need to spend $30 a square foot on retail space to do that! (Or whatever you pay for retail in Canada; but I can assure you professional looking retail is more expensive than professional looking mixed warehouse/office space.
And for you entrpeneurs out there: you can start such a business really cheap!