HP Pushes Open Source For Small Businesses

ruphus13 writes "HP finally begins to actively push open source in its products. From the post, 'HP has been quirky over the years when it comes to open source. It has been, traditionally, a company that supports open source — especially in larger enterprises... Wednesday, it announced two new open source products, geared to small businesses and educational institutions. HP plans on including its 'Mozilla Firefox for HP Virtual Solution' on more of its business class desktop PCs (to a total of seven models between the HP Compaq dc/dx lines in the US, eight models worldwide). Come December 15th, HP will also offer Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on its HP Compaq dc5850 model. The base SLED-equipped model will cost $519, and features the usual open source suspects for the small business setting — OpenOffice, and mail clients such as Evolution.'"

Comments

What, again?

[Erikderzweite]

How many times did they claim Linux support and backed out of it later?

Re:What, again?

[Anthony_Cargile]

Too many times, I'm afraid. They were also supposedly going to offer desktops with Linux around the same time Dell was, and I heard they did but never saw any advertised (or even hidden on their website, for that matter).

You're right, they need to make up their mind or actually stick with what they announce they're going to do.

Re:What, again?

[theaveng]

I took a quick look at what HP is offering.

The $500 PC discussed in the summary only has 512 megabytes of RAM. That won't work with Vista which runs like a snail through molasses, but is it enough to run "SUSE" Linux? Or will that be running slow too?

The fear is gone

[BearRanger]

At long last vendors have gotten over their fear of Microsoft. There was a time HP and Dell would never consider preloading an alternative operating system. Now they're both doing it, and it's good for the customer, good for Linux and -- surprise -- good for HP and Dell.

The complete marketing failure that is Windows Vista made this possible. (Note that I didn't say the failure of Vista. Microsoft is on the road to salvaging the OS itself, but customer perception of its quality is a lost cause.)

Re:The fear is gone

[Divebus]

At long last vendors have gotten over their fear of Microsoft.

Just what I was thinking. They're still a 300 pound gorilla but can no longer bully several 150 pound gorillas.

Re:The fear is gone

[Anonymous Coward]

a) Why do you count how many Mac users you know, unless you are out to prove something
b) He said "every new pc". I know Macs run on Intel now and the Insanely Mac project allows non-Apple hardware to run OS X, but call a Mac a Mac and a Dell/HP/Asus/* a PC, e.g. a computer that has yet to be blessed with the holy Apple logo.

<rant>
And since I am going to be modded down for badmouthing crApple anyways (hello, slashdot!):

Apple needs to stop dictating their App store so much and pissing off developers before everyone switches to Android and keeps jailbreaking the iPhone. If I wanted to pay for Unix on high-end hardware, I would (instead of getting a Macintrash) go to NewEgg and SCO. And If I have to watch Steve Jobs get up at another keynote and act like the second coming of Christ one more time for a mediocre line of new products, I think I'm going to put all my money in Microsoft stock! Oh, and stop trying to patent the 3D desktop: Compiz-Fusion has been doing that for years! If they get their patent approved I'm applying to patent the steering wheel (car analogy)!
</rant>

There, all of my Apple complaints are off my chest. Man, I feel better now!!

Re:The fear is gone

[kanweg]

I think it would be better if the {the other) machines they sold ran both Windows and Linux (such that customers could run both concurrently). It would be great if a PC manufacturer could say: "Yes, you can run that Windows-ony business app of yours, but you also get (access to) a boat load of free useful software. It would sell. And buyers could throw off Linux if they insist.

That not being the case is still a tail of MS's monopoly abuse still present, I'm afraid.

Bert

Re:The fear is gone

[Divebus]

There, all of my Apple complaints are off my chest. Man, I feel better now!!

Ok, A/C, I'll bite:

a) Frankly, I don't know many people buying new Windows PCs. They're mostly buying Macs and half are migrating from Windows PCs. The ones buying Windows PCs always give a sad excuse like "my wife needs it for her work".

b) Apple was using the term "Personal Computer" for six or seven years before the IBM PC, which simply co-opted the term from others. Apple probably has more rights to "PC" than anyone.

c) It sounds like you should be worrying more about how obsolete your knowledge base will be in the next decade than ranting against whatever is displacing it. Step into the light. More individuals and companies are realizing that it's irresponsible to put a Windows machine where something else will do the same job. Everything is a threat only if you stay in a box and galvanize yourself against technological change.

Re:The fear is gone

[pallmall1]

They're still a 300 pound gorilla but can no longer bully several 150 pound gorillas.

HP is shipping Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop linux.

Novell is Microsoft's trained 150 pound gorilla.

Re:The fear is gone

[Antique Geekmeister]

You have more confidence in Windows 7 than I do. Do you have some reason for such confidendce? Vista was similarly advertised as a wonderful upgrade, but its promised features (such as WinFS) somehow managed to fail, miserably, when actually tried and many of them were pulled from the final product. The new user interface is pretty silly, its intrusive DRM and security features are painful for users and encourage similar stupidities of always hitting 'yes', and the policy games played with releasing 'Vista-only' drivers and products are awful.

There seems no reason to think that the policies that led to Vista have changed, even if its preliminary tests are promising. Preliminary tests of Vista were also misleading in their performance tests.

Re:The fear is gone

[rolfwind]

Wow, they lost a lot of weight. I remember when Microsoft used to be an 800 or 900 pound gorilla.

Should make their doctors happy.

Re:The fear is gone

[theaveng]

Uh... then you'll have to add $200 to the cost of the PC. Better to leave the Windows off and push Linux as a "lower cost alternative".

Re:The fear is gone

[theaveng]

That's because Vista's DRM isn't turned on yet. Microsoft says they'll turn it on starting year 2010 (via an update of course), and then good luck trying to play all your burned CDs and DVDs that lack DRM.

Also:

I wouldn't be so sure that businesses will immediately jump to Windows 7. Being a contractor I get to see a lot of different companies installations, and Not One has upgraded to Vista. They still prefer XP even though it's almost three years since a new OS arrived.

Re:The fear is gone

[lukas84]

That's because Vista's DRM isn't turned on yet. Microsoft says they'll turn it on starting year 2010 (via an update of course), and then good luck trying to play all your burned CDs and DVDs that lack DRM.

Yes, every vendor of any OS can release an update that changes the behaviour of it. That's kinda the reason for updates. Alas, this hasn't happened yet and it won't - there is no base for all the "evil conspiracy" hype around Vista.

I wouldn't be so sure that businesses will immediately jump to Windows 7. Being a contractor I get to see a lot of different companies installations, and Not One has upgraded to Vista. They still prefer XP even though it's almost three years since a new OS arrived.

Of course they won't! Heck, i still see businesses running Windows 2000 on Desktops and Servers, even new ones! (which is insane, IMO)

I work for an IT service company that services small businesses, and most (~80%) of the machines we deploy are running Windows Vista. We've been selling and installing Windows Server 2008 since the release date, and last week i just finished installing the first SBS 2008.

Yep, smaller companies are more progressive than very large companies, simply because they have fewer apps to support and are more flexible.

A few thoughts...

[nagnamer]

First of all, I wonder if "HP recommends Windows Vista® Business" (c/p from the product's description on HP's site) will go away when Linux offering is finally presented.

Also, I wonder if the Linux OS will be labeled "Genuine Novell(r) SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop(tm)" or just "Novell(r) SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop(tm)". Imagine the following scenario: an unsuspecting consumer comes to the website, sees a bunch of "genuine" Windows products, and then notices a (non-genuine, huh?) Linux-something desktop and goes "Wtf? Why is this not genuine?!"... That'd be M$: 1, Novell: 0...

Yeah, I'm skeptical... They all say they support open-source and free software, whatever. But I think they are just trying to get whatever piece of market they can.

Remember how the Punk movement started off as an attempt to contradict the system, and now it's highly commercialized. You can earn a good buck for pre-torn pair of jeans, and you can sell a circle-A leather jacket... people used to make these things by themselves to make a statement. Now you can get off-the-shelf statements for money. I think it's gonna be the same for open-source. In the end, it's all about money, and they don't care about the underlying philosophies. Consumers don't.

Re:A few thoughts...

[jimicus]

First of all, I wonder if "HP recommends Windows Vista® Business" (c/p from the product's description on HP's site) will go away when Linux offering is finally presented.

I doubt it. Have you noticed that the wording of that phrase is the same with every PC manufacturer? "${MANUFACTURER} recommends Windows ${VERSION}". It's a marketing thing from Microsoft - include this phrase prominently and get a % discount on your OEM licenses.

Always supported Open Source?!?

[supernova_hq]

If they always supported open source, then why do all their laptops have ATI graphics cards, Broadcom Wireless cards and Intel sound systems?

Re:Always supported Open Source?!?

[Drinking Bleach]

They all work in GNU/Linux without any proprietary components, so what are you complaining about exactly?

HP is IBM; IBM is HP

[reporter]

HP is just executing the IBM plan for profits: (1) sell services and (2) sell hardware/software at a loss (or for free) to sell even more services.

After Lou Gerstner assumed the helm at IBM in the early 1990s, he re-organized the company to focus on services. He shutdown the division manufacturing desktops. He embraced open-source software like Linux. He turned IBM Semiconductor into a contract manufacturer of ASICs. Today, the bulk of both revenue and profits at IBM are due to services. Gerstner's successor came directly from IBM Global Services.

HP followed in the footsteps of IBM and purchased EDS. Just like IBM, HP fired thousands of employees to eliminate redundancies.

Both HP and IBM remain profitable during this ghastly recession. Sun Microsystems, which failed to significantly grow its services division, may not survive as an independent company.

Stuff that just makes sense

[mcrbids]

Small businesses are used to running on a shoestring budget. They will often make a $150 used PC from Ebay "work" because they spent their capital on inventory, or paying taxes, or paying off a balloon payment for a short-term loan.

This is even more the case with the impending recession. Small businesses that can live on a shadow of the income of "the big boys" by staying lean and mean will survive and thrive through this economic shakedown, while wasteful "fat cats" will be pruned like the rotten fruit that they are.

In this space, saving a few hundred bucks can make or break a deal, and HP recognizes this.

Here, for $500-ish, they can offer a "complete office solution" that can only be matched for about $1,200 in the Microsoft camp. That's not a "few hundred bucks", thats OVER FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS difference, pure profit, all of it.

All without sacrificing HP's profit margins!

Of course they are going to do this, as soon as the $500 solution is functionally approximate to the $1,200 solution! (and it largely is, now!)

Printer drivers

[frisket]

If they'd only open up and produce printer drivers for CUPS...

Re:Is 512 megabyte enough RAM?

[yelvington]

The $500 PC discussed in the summary only has 512 megabytes of RAM. That won't work with Vista which runs like a snail through molasses, but is it enough to run "SUSE" Linux? Or will that be running slow too?

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