MSI Considers Dumping Novell's Ballnux in Favour of a Real GNU/Linux Distribution
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2008-10-07 00:52:23 UTC
- Modified: 2008-10-07 00:52:23 UTC
New model, better distribution?
There is far too much coverage of uninteresting news details from MSI. Just like H-P, which foolishly chose the Microsoft-taxed SLED for its low-end notebooks, it experiences some issues.
Henry Kingman is
not so easily deceived by articles that wrongly attribute the issue to some thing called "Linux". Well, Ballnux is not GNU/Linux and there are varieties of Free software distributions, many of which are specially-tailored for sub-notebooks. Here is what he writes.
[T]he quote may say more about MSI's SUSE Linux implementation than the suitability of Linux as a netbook OS.
here is the specific
quote which indicates they explore distributions other than Novell's SUSE.
We plan to bring the Linux version to the U.S by the end of the year. But we are working on some of the issues with the SUSE Linux and even continue to explore other flavors of Linux. We have discussed Ubuntu with a Mac OS type of look and feel. We are talking to different suppliers to figure out the best user experience.
Choosing SUSE was not the right strategy. We wrote about this a year ago. Novell sure has a marketing department and staff that presents GNU/Linux as an attractive product, but this is not required for a derivative distribution that can be maintained in-house and developed independently from Microsoft-imposed costs and patent/practical poison like Mono.
MSI's future with GNU/Linux will be much brighter once it departs from the 'Microsoft-approved' distribution of "Linux". Other OEMs are existing proof of this.
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Comments
pcole
2008-10-07 04:36:46
pcole
2008-10-07 04:47:01
Economical times are getting tough. Need the most bang for the buck.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-07 07:19:58
Published very recently by Bruce Perens, a former HP employee:
"[J]ust about every PR firm offers to help "manage the perception of your company in online communities" these days. What do you think that means? Astroturfing Slashdot, Youtube, etc. In my various manangement positions it's been offered to me. Indeed, some of the companies offer to create negative publicity for your competition that way - HP had a publicity firm for its Linux activities that told us it would do that when we wanted. I never asked them to do so and hope nobody else did either.
"This stuff is just standard these days. You've got to expect it".
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=985543&cid=25267133
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-07 10:18:15
Linux is not Linux is not Linux
"Clearly, Tung's statement may reflect his subjective impression, rather than actual return figures. Still, it is worth noting that early netbook vendors do often rush to market with hasty Linux implementations. And unfortunately, the smaller screens and lower CPU power of netbooks means that "normal" Linux distributions like SUSE may not work very well on them.
"Compounding the problem, netbook vendors often see Linux as a "low-end" option, and thus offer a reduced hardware spec on Linux models. For example, the Linux version of the MSI Wind U100 comes with only a 3-cell battery, with 512MB of RAM instead of 1GB, and no bluetooth.
"Some netbook vendors, though -- notably Asus and Acer -- have worked closely with Linux software partners to produce well-integrated, highly usable products. The pioneering Asus Eee PC uses the Windows-like Xandros distribution, while the popular Acer Aspire One uses Linpus Linux Lite, a distribution specifically designed for netbooks. Dell's Dell Inspiron Mini 9, meanwhile, uses a version of Ubuntu specifically designed for netbooks."
AlexH
2008-10-07 10:54:07
RyanT
2008-10-12 18:05:00
Carr stressed that, in these cases, it doesn’t even matter how good or bad the Linux OS is. These customers just don’t want to try something new. “We said a long time ago, we didn’t want to make a Windows clone. It has a different interface especially with the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. We think it’s a better way but it’s not the same way people are used to. That unfamiliarity can take a while to learn and there is an education that has to be stressed.”"
It's little to do with any deficiencies in the distros (although it seems widely accepted that MSI made a bad choice), more to do with bad marketing.
There's plenty of positive reviews across the net of non-windows netbooks. It's very much down to lack of knowledge before hand, varying degrees of success in which distros chosen and the interfaces used, and fringe idiots who can't handle anything different.
The Asus that started all this came with a custom Linux distro (with custom interface too) remember.