No clue

Story: FUD Alert! Wal-Mart, Everex & LinuxTotal Replies: 4
Author Content
qcimushroom

Mar 13, 2008
4:56 PM EDT
That is many of the walk in customers that Wal-Mart attracts have no clue as to how different Linux is from Windows, nor would most of the sales staff. I see the potential for many returns and many unsatisfied customers, until a store has a Linux trained sales staff, a big box store is unlikely to succeed the way they expect it to.
jacog

Mar 14, 2008
3:33 AM EDT
qc, I agree with you about having trained staff. Why is it that retailers like that have never seemed to grasp this? This problem goes back as far as I can remember being a computerite.
Scott_Ruecker

Mar 14, 2008
5:06 AM EDT
Its a catch-22.

For most of the people who visit LXer Wal-mart is not a place they would buy a computer and Wal-mart does not have the focus of selling only technology products to have the need to train their staff in the way we think they should be.

So we don't shop there and wouldn't want to.

dinotrac

Mar 14, 2008
5:41 AM EDT
Scott -

PREEE-cisely.

Wal-Mart's business model is high volume at low margin. A trained sales staff doesn't fit that. Products that require a trained sales staff, therefore, are a bad fit.
NoDough

Mar 14, 2008
9:24 AM EDT
Scott and Dino,

I absolutely agree. Many have complained that Wal-Mart "didn't give Linux a chance." Wal-Mart is not in the business of building new markets for products. They sell products that already have a market. So, to expect them to give any product a chance is a little silly.

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