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Why Wal-Mart Linux PC Is A Bad Deal
Of course, naysayers could argue about the limited supply, but again, checking out the product reviews on this page prove otherwise. Beginners and advanced users alike absolutely love the new product and why not? It makes sense, it's reasonably priced and it gets the job done. Everything is rosy so far. |
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Comments (31)
11 earlier comments in the full thread.
I've never really run Enlightenment as a standalone wm, but I remember using it when it was the default wm integrated into Gnome back when I used Gnome.
I was always fairly impressed with Enlightenment and was disappointed when they switched to Metacity as the default.
Actually, I think that's what got me seriously looking at other wms....
The people I set up/sell Linux computers to tend to have lots of questions up front, then once they get used to things rarely come back requiring more help. Invariably I go back to them after a long period and they will tell me, no, they don't have any problems. The conclusion I draw from this is that Linux is no more difficult than Windows, and for most people (read ordinary users) the only real problem is unfamiliarity.
Quoting:I've tried to install E17, which is what gOS uses, but that is not trivial and it is not stable. E16 should be available in the repositories for most distros. You probably should try elive if you want to test E17.
Note that there's a really, really big difference between E16 and E17. E16 is a window manager, much like Metacity or Beryl/Emerald. E17 is a complete desktop environment like GNOME, KDE or XFCE.
I have to agree with tracyanne, I have set up linux systems for windows users. those that have an open mind and are willing to learn the basics (like firefox vs IE) have had very few problems that I have had to help them with. and the ones that I have helped were because of codec's
I have my mom's computer running Linux too.
She just needs web/email/word processing, so she's a perfect candidate for average user testing.
Once in a while she'll ask me for something, but it's usually help with like fixing settings in OOo to her liking or emailing a link or some such.
She doesn't mess around with the system at all, just runs her stuff and is happy.
I currently have her on SAM 2007.
> Now TC is making me wonder how many of the decent techs out there are really Linux geeks to begin with....
jdixon waves hand from the back of the room. ;)
jdixon waves hand from the back of the room. ;)
/me waves both hands proudly
Quoting:Abe, you're right on all points except price,Three out of four is not too bad, TC! :-)
You are right. There is a lot more savings with Linux than just the licensing cost, I was just using least case.
Thanks for elaborating
A big part of this equation is educating users about what FOSS is and why it's important from a business and personal standpoint, taking into account everything from security and maintenance concerns to vendor lock-in, system stability and better hardware utilization.
The average user who doesn't even know what Linux is will say, "Hey, my company's too cheap to put Windows on the computers. What's this 'Ubuntu' anyway?"
At my company, we didn't have MS Office but needed that functionality to do our work. When they added OpenOffice, I had never heard of it, and very little effort was made to educate users as to what it was. There's NO training in most office settings. In my workplace, we got training on our main, proprietary system, but the 20 other things we use -- we're on our own.
People who need to use OO can make it work, but they don't know the philosophy behind open source, or the reasons (besides cost) for not using MS products.
Some would say they don't have to; that the apps should stand on their own, with no explanations or apologies needed for using FOSS instead of the proprietary systems every is accustomed to.
But users hate change of any kind. Here we couldn't even open a Word document. So getting OO is a big plus. But businesses, and by extension home users as well, need to educate their employees on whatever systems they adopt -- there's nothing wrong with a little context, explanation ... and even training.
If big retailers like Wal-Mart can somehow explain what Linux is all about to a huge, nationwide marketplace, that will go a long way toward showing people that there is a viable alternative to Windows and proprietary software.
The average user who doesn't even know what Linux is will say, "Hey, my company's too cheap to put Windows on the computers. What's this 'Ubuntu' anyway?"
At my company, we didn't have MS Office but needed that functionality to do our work. When they added OpenOffice, I had never heard of it, and very little effort was made to educate users as to what it was. There's NO training in most office settings. In my workplace, we got training on our main, proprietary system, but the 20 other things we use -- we're on our own.
People who need to use OO can make it work, but they don't know the philosophy behind open source, or the reasons (besides cost) for not using MS products.
Some would say they don't have to; that the apps should stand on their own, with no explanations or apologies needed for using FOSS instead of the proprietary systems every is accustomed to.
But users hate change of any kind. Here we couldn't even open a Word document. So getting OO is a big plus. But businesses, and by extension home users as well, need to educate their employees on whatever systems they adopt -- there's nothing wrong with a little context, explanation ... and even training.
If big retailers like Wal-Mart can somehow explain what Linux is all about to a huge, nationwide marketplace, that will go a long way toward showing people that there is a viable alternative to Windows and proprietary software.
"I've tried to install E17, which is what gOS uses, but that is not trivial and it is not stable. E16 should be available in the repositories for most distros. You probably should try elive if you want to test E17."
E17 is in the Mandriva 2008 repos, and so far (after 10 minutes) it hasn't crashed. Very nice eye-candy. I've been able to browse the web, read e-mail, etc., haven't tried anything stressful yet, but for Mandriva users, at least, no need for elive to check out E17. Just install task-e17.
E17 is in the Mandriva 2008 repos, and so far (after 10 minutes) it hasn't crashed. Very nice eye-candy. I've been able to browse the web, read e-mail, etc., haven't tried anything stressful yet, but for Mandriva users, at least, no need for elive to check out E17. Just install task-e17.
> E17 is in the Mandriva 2008 repos
Maybe that is a reason to give Mandriva 2008 a try. I'm a Debian user, but do recommend Mandriva to friends, this would be just one more reason to do so.
Maybe that is a reason to give Mandriva 2008 a try. I'm a Debian user, but do recommend Mandriva to friends, this would be just one more reason to do so.
I installed the package called Enlightenment in Ubuntu Gutsy. It's quick, but the menus are kind of screwed up. When I open a longish menu, it won't stay open. But it is quick.
It just doesn't work as well as Fluxbox.
It does allow apps to load much quicker than in GNOME, and that makes a lot of difference on low-spec hardware.
But I agree that an Enlightenment-specific distro would probably be better configured.
It just doesn't work as well as Fluxbox.
It does allow apps to load much quicker than in GNOME, and that makes a lot of difference on low-spec hardware.
But I agree that an Enlightenment-specific distro would probably be better configured.
techiem2:
I made an article which linked to your story on LXer frontpage;
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/ext_link.php?rid=96025
I made an article which linked to your story on LXer frontpage;
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/ext_link.php?rid=96025
techiem2:
I made an article which linked to your story on LXer frontpage;
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/ext_link.php?rid=96025
Well, that's exactly what the webpage
http://www.getgnulinux.org/
is all about, except there's no corporate backing (at the moment). Actually, our own LXer editor Sander is involved with it, since we met the initiator at T-Dose NL, and Sander interviewed him. There are things going on behind the scenes to do more marketing, but indeed it's sad to see WalMart doesn't help. Probably they don't care or it's not their core-business.
I made an article which linked to your story on LXer frontpage;
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/ext_link.php?rid=96025
Quoting:If big retailers like Wal-Mart can somehow explain what Linux is all about to a huge, nationwide marketplace, that will go a long way toward showing people that there is a viable alternative to Windows and proprietary software.
Well, that's exactly what the webpage
http://www.getgnulinux.org/
is all about, except there's no corporate backing (at the moment). Actually, our own LXer editor Sander is involved with it, since we met the initiator at T-Dose NL, and Sander interviewed him. There are things going on behind the scenes to do more marketing, but indeed it's sad to see WalMart doesn't help. Probably they don't care or it's not their core-business.
eek I've been newswired. :)
Will be interesting to see my stats after this month... lol.
I'll have to give E17 a go and see how it's doing...
Will be interesting to see my stats after this month... lol.
I'll have to give E17 a go and see how it's doing...
Good article. well thought out and a very coherent rebuttal.
Thanks. I tried to keep it fairly simple and straightforward.
More rational and coherent than the article he's responding to, that's for sure. Though that is darning with faint praise. :) Nice work, techiem.
Quoting:Maybe that is a reason to give Mandriva 2008 a try. I'm a Debian user, but do recommend Mandriva to friends, this would be just one more reason to do so.
Look TC, some one is filling in for me.
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Given that you're always playing with old hardware, I'm surprised to hear that. It was amazing to me just how responsive an old system becomes with enlightenment, even compared to xfce.
I've tried to install E17, which is what gOS uses, but that is not trivial and it is not stable. E16 should be available in the repositories for most distros. You probably should try elive if you want to test E17.