Are HP and IBM really marketing Linux-based laptops and desktops in Asia? By "marketing" we mean actively selling PCs pre-loaded with Linux, and backing that effort up on their Web sites. Not just by making "announcements".
On May 12, ZDNet reported that Hewlett Packard had lauched a Linux-based "people's notebook" in Thailand, saying this is "believed to be the first time that the US IT giant has sold a consumer computer with the open-source operating system installed." Sourcing the Bangkok Post and The Nation, the report said "HP custom-made the Linux notebook to support a Thai government drive to increase computer ownership", adding, "The authorities have subsidised the cost of the portable, along with a desktop PC made by a Thai firm. Crowds thronged a Bangkok convention centre on Friday to view and buy the machines". The specs are basic: 800MHz Celeron, 128MP RAM, 20GB HD, no CD-ROM or floppy. No report of weight. The distro is Linux TLE, a Thai-language version of the OS. Searches of the archives of both newspapers yielded no trace of the story.
On June 2, the Times of India reported that "IBM India on Monday announced the launch of its Linux desktop in India targeting the small and medium businesses, home offices in the non-metro cities." According to the story, Alok Ohrie, vice president, Personal Computing Division, IBM India, said "It is for the first time that a commercial desktop vendor has introduced an entry level desktop that is certified on Linux". The product is the NetVista A30, "whch the company said is India's first Linux-certified desktop".
As of June 13, there was no mention of either machine on the English-language versions of either company's national Web sitees. HP's Thailand notebooks page only listed Presarios with Windows installed. IBM's India NetVista series page doesn't mention Linux. All the NetVistas, including the A30, come with Windows XP versions installed.
Here at Linux Journal we are eager to hear reports, either from the companies or from readers, of full-hearted marketing of Linux PCs -- in any country. The proof in the pudding will be the Web site. If a company is said to be "marketing" or "selling" a product, and they don't bother to put that product in a findable place on their Web site, the effort is still only half-hearted at best.
- Doc Searls
Sources:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t285-s2135520,00.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=2218
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2134514,00.html