10.06.09
Gemini version available ♊︎1st, 3rd, and 4th Top-selling Laptops in Amazon Germany Come with GNU/Linux
Summary: Steve Ballmer was probably right about GNU/Linux exceeding Apple on the desktop (globally)
Notice the ratings too.
[Source, thanks to our reader amd-linux]
Steve Ballmer’s presentation slide
from 2009 shows GNU/Linux as bigger than Apple on the desktop
Dennis Murczak said,
October 6, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Sadly, 80% of the product comments deal with how to install various versions of Windows
As a German I can tell you that no one will give you a blank stare when you mention Linux (Mac most likely will), but also that everyone has a pirated Windows CD within arm’s reach or at least a buddy phone call away. Burning 20000€ worth of warez onto a single DVD and sharing with as many friends as possible seems to be a kind of questionable leisure sport, and has been the doom of *every* Linux installation (over 60 so far) I did on computers other than my own ones.
Dennis Murczak said,
October 6, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Further reading into the comments, it seems the Asus notebooks are preinstalled with Red Flag Linux configured to boot straightly into … bash. An Ubuntu user wrote he could make X start up, but just that; no window manager came up.
Yeah, way to go, Asus.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Think of it as Dell’s old FreeDOS machines, which were bought by people who installed their distro of choice. The important thing is that these laptops are Linux (kernel) compatible.
Dennis Murczak Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Sorry for my rant above there.
I see the long descriptions have been updated since I lasted dropped by on Amazon a month ago. For the Asus notebooks it mentions the non-graphical nature of the preinstalled OS more explicitly now. These are definitely machines for price-conscious geeks, and it’s good to have them even with only a minority continuing to run Linux.
Mikko said,
October 6, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Can’t buy a linux laptop here in microsoft land