| The dearth of boxed Linux |
Mar. 25, 2006
Anyone can download Linux anytime of the night or day. But, what if you want to actually buy a PC with Linux already installed on it? Or, say, like me, you like having a box with a CD and a manual in your hands? Chances are you're out of luck.
But several Linux vendors, especially Linspire, have been doing their darnest to get their goods into the big brick-and-morter electronics and computer chains. But, how successful has even Linspire been?
Christian Einfeldt, at Mad Penguin, looks into this very question. He visits four stores in San Francisco that sell computers and software -- Micro Center, Fry's, Comp USA, and Borders Books -- to see what he can find.
As you'd guess, most of the stores are flooded with Windows software. Still, as he commented, Borders, thanks to its large number of open-source books with discs within, actually has quite a bit of open-source and Linux software.
Some things, though, are always true about stores that sell software. As the old joke goes, "What's the difference between a used-car salesman and a computer salesman? The used-car salesman knows when he's lying."
So, as Einfeldt found out, you can pretty much forget about anyone at a store knowing anything about Linux. Even, as he discovered at a Micro Center, whether it was Linspire version 4.5 or 5.0 inside the boxes.
Of course, you may luck out and find someone who's a Linux fan at a store. Official support and marketing for Linux and open source in the stores is more noteworthy for lip-service than it is for results.
Still, SUSE, Linspire, Xandros, and Mepis have at least made into some retail stores, and that's something. But, as Einfeldt points out in his discussion of distributors and the retail channel, it's still just the merest finger-hold into the market.
Hopefully, by this time next year, Linux will be more widely available for those who like to buy their software at the store. Miracles can happen.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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