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HP Will Ship Systems With Novell Linux Desktop
Ted Haeger writes "Two weeks after Novell ships the Novell Linux Desktop, HP announces that they are certifying their hardware and allowing customers to order systems with NLD pre-loaded through HP "Factory Express.""
This looks like another step in the right direction, having workstation PCs available from a known and large company can only help linux on the desktop at the business grow. It's still a baby step, I think when we see a big company release a consumer level PC running Linux that it will really be something to get excited about. As it stands right now, I don't think this is going to be happening. The reason for this is that the people interested in Linux are not going to be interested in buying a "consumer level" PC, they are going to either build a machine, or buy a high level prefab.
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
If you had read the article, you would've seen this: Most of the Mandrake and Turbolinux sales went to Asia and (to a lesser extent) Europe, and not all HP hardware was Linux-certified. The Novell program extends to workstations, desktops, and laptops. HP is also taking more steps to address demand in the US market. I bought an HP Pavilion notebook less than a year ago, and all sales people explicitly told me that Linux was not an option.
The Novell program also gives Linux customers another indemnification protection option as an alternative to HP's.
I would really like to know how much of a savings is available to customers who choose Novell Linux Desktop over Windows XP Home Edition. I resold the OEM copy of XP that came with the Pavilion, so if there's more than a US$75 price difference, it would be a win-win situation.
I checked with Novell Customer Service: NLD isn't marketed as a boxed retail package. Pity. I wanted to buy it.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
The Microsoft tax was created when Microsoft started selling bulk licenses to computer manufacturers. They gave the manufacturers cheaper rates if the manufacturer would pay Microsoft for every computer the manufacturer sold, regardless of whether it actually shipped with Windows or not.
So MS goes to HP and says "You can either pay us $20 for every non-mainframe/server you ship, or you can pay us $50 for every machine you ship Windows on."
It used to be worse. MS used to say "You have two choices: You can pay us $20 for every non-server and promise that every non-server ships with Windows, or you can pay us $70 for every machine you ship Windows on."
The promise of every machine shipping with Windows (and locking out competition) was part of the DOJ anti-monopoly suit against Microsoft. It meant as soon as you shipped a machine with linux installed you lost the cheaper rate for Windows on all your machines (which would often drive your price up to the point of being uncompetitive)
So manufacturers who want to ship Linux machines still often end up paying Microsoft for every non-server they ship, even if the machine does not ship with Windows. This is called the "Microsoft tax".
This may not be a big step for Linux as a whole, but it is a huge step toward a Linux that is viable for corporate desktop users. In the past, Linux vendors seemed to believe that a full Linux install (everything but the kitchen sink) was fitting for any sort of desktop install. Increasingly, though, we see the sort of features like real manageability and simplicity that are necessary for large deployments.
Red Hat started moving in this direction, but their corporate desktop distro, Red Hat Desktop, was very (IMO) half-assed both in implementation and the way they marketed it (or failed to market it).
Sun's JDS is a nice corporate desktop Linux distro, but it will most likely only find a home with current Sun customers, unfortunately (or fortunately, if you have a beef with Sun's treatment of Linux like I do).
Systemd: the PulseAudio of init systems