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NEW YORK — Computers that run the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows didn't attract enough attention from Wal-Mart customers, and the chain has stopped selling them in stores, a spokeswoman said Monday.
"This really wasn't what our customers were looking for," said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien.
To test demand for systems with the open-source operating system, Wal-Mart stocked the $199 "Green gPC," made by Everex of Taiwan, in about 600 stores starting late in October.
Walmart.com, the chain's e-commerce site, had sold Linux-based computers before and will continue selling the gPC.
This was the first time they appeared on retail shelves.
Paul Kim, brand manager for Everex, said selling the gPC online was "significantly more effective" than selling it in stores.
Wal-Mart sold out the in-store gPC inventory but decided not to restock, O'Brien said. The company does not reveal sales figures for individual items.
Walmart.com now carries an updated version, the gPC2, also for $199, without a monitor. The site also sells a tiny Linux-driven laptop, the Everex CloudBook, for $399.
Linux software is maintained and developed by individuals and companies around the world on an "open source" basis, meaning that everyone has access to the software's blueprints and can modify them.
There is no licensing fee for Linux, which helps keeps the cost of the Everex PC low. Manufacturers have to pay Microsoft to sell computers with Windows preloaded.
Linux is in widespread use in server computers, but it hasn't made a dent in the desktop market. Surveys usually put its share of that market around 1 percent, far behind Windows and Apple Inc.'s OS X.
Smaller laptops like the CloudBook could provide an entree for Linux, since it runs well on systems with modest memory and hard drive capacity.
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{"commentId":1563471,"authorDomain":"macemoneta"}
The Walmart web site has some good deals. You can read the specs, research the product, order, and have it delivered to your door with a low shipping cost.
If you go into a Walmart store, you have to deal with the sales staff. You're lucky if they know what a computer is. "Linux? That's a cleanser, right? Look in housewares."
Best Buy is no better. I went in to the local store to pick up a 10/100 switch (only because it was on sale for a good price). Their expert tried to convince me that a hub was better (and it cost more too since it wasn't on sale). Same thing when I wanted to buy a 24-inch monitor (again, on sale). The web site said my local store had it in stock. So I went in. The employees (two of them) tried to convince me that "no one makes a 24-inch monitor", and it must have been a typo. I ordered it online and had it delivered.
Brick and mortar stores are dead for electronics, as far as I'm concerned. It's just an exercise in frustration trying to get them to take your money. Order online, save a bundle, don't have to pull your hair out. Win-Win-Win. :)
{"commentId":1563471,"threadId":"232643","contentId":"1357077","authorDomain":"macemoneta"}
- 3 votes
#1 - Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:40 PM EDT{"commentId":1564449,"authorDomain":"evilgenius"}
Your so right. I've been to Best Buy several times where I've caught the sales staff trying to sell customers a more expensive product than they needed. They don't like it when you call them on it either. Now the only time I go to Best Buy is when someone buys me a gift card and then I only buy dvds.
{"commentId":1564449,"threadId":"232643","contentId":"1357077","authorDomain":"evilgenius"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1569884,"authorDomain":"foomandoonian"}
You're right, but Linux needs to reach out to mainstream markets. If non-savvy users looking for a PC see a Linux machine alongside all the Vista boxes, cheaper, then they will see the advantage. None of these users are going to seek out an alternative when they have a 'perfectly good' OS they can already use.
What confuses me, is I'm sure that I read a story a while ago reporting that the gPC had sold out! I don't see how that could be a failure, however you slant it.
{"commentId":1569884,"threadId":"232643","contentId":"1357077","authorDomain":"foomandoonian"}
- 1 vote
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