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Print E-mail del.icio.us 84 comment(s) - last by Spivonious.. on Mar 13 at 10:49 AM

The previous model Everex gPC, no longer in stores due to "poor sales."

The second-generation gPC2 - available online only, and selling quite well there.
The Everex gPC2 and Cloudbook will only be avaiable online, due to lackluster brick-and-mortar sales

While consumer-oriented Linux has been on a rise of late due to healthy sales of the ASUS Eee PC, and Dell which offers a range of notebooks and desktops preloaded with Ubuntu on their website, the store shelves don't quite seem ready for the March of the Penguins to reach their desktops.

Wal-Mart, the sole brick-and-mortar retailer of Everex's $199 gPC, has effectively pulled the Linux-based machine off its store shelves, citing a lack of demand. Oddly enough, the in-store supplies of the gPC were sold out across the approximately 600 stores that received shipments -- but Wal-Mart spokesperson Melissa O'Brien stated that "This really wasn't what our customers were looking for."

Online buyers didn't appear to share these feelings, and the Wal-Mart.com site is now offering the second-generation gPC2 for sale, in addition to Everex's CloudBook, an ultraportable Linux laptop aiming to cut into the Eee PC's market.

With competition in the low-budget PC market heating up in 2008, the lack of licensing fees could mean that Linux will be found on many more desktops and laptops -- but if the sales of the gPC are any indication, it may still be some time before it gains a serious foothold in the mainstream retail market.

According to Net Applications, Linux held on to only 0.67% market share in January 2008. This figure pales in comparison to OS X which commanded 7.57% of the market and Windows which continues to outshine all with 91.46% of the OS market.

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Linux is not a consumer OS
By Spivonious on 3/12/2008 1:38:11 PM , Rating: 5
No matter which distro is installed, Linux will never be a consumer OS. Why? It doesn't run any of the programs you can buy in the store. Before the Linux crowd comes in and says you can download everything you need, the average consumer doesn't know that. They say "I need MS Office" not "I need a word processor and spreadsheet app." Their grandparent buys the latest Hannah Montana game but whoops, it won't install on the new gPC.

The only place Linux could work is a stripped-down ultra-mobile machine ala EeePC, where the basic functions are already installed and there is no need for anything else.




RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By Chris Peredun on 3/12/2008 1:43:55 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
No matter which distro is installed, Linux will never be a consumer OS. Why? It doesn't run any of the programs you can buy in the store.


And there will never be any programs that you can buy in the store for Linux, because it will never be a popular consumer OS.

Anyone for a vicious circle?


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By tastyratz on 3/12/08, Rating: -1
RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By kattanna on 3/12/2008 2:02:26 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
If MS were to disappear off the face of the earth today most likely we would see


80%+ of the people will still be using XP 10 years from now.

there.. that is more correct. The biggest problem with either linux or OSX is that they do not run most of the software made in this world.

a perfect example is this.. who brags about their LEET linux/OSX gaming rig?


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By drzoo2 on 3/12/2008 3:38:41 PM , Rating: 2
To say that an operating system doesn't run most of the software out there is not the fault of the OS. It's the fault of the software vendors for not providing support. You should see what impact not running antivirus, spyware, bloatware programs have on UT2004. Which by the way has a native Linux port. If every game developer would provide support I would blow away my XP partition in a second....not like M$ is going to allow that.

z


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By TomZ on 3/12/08, Rating: 0
RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By Omega215D on 3/12/2008 8:33:57 PM , Rating: 2
After running a Mac OSX Leopard machine I tried installing stuff that can be installed on both Mac and Windows and they won't install because they require Classic Environment. I couldn't run stuff like Guitar Method Intermediate and some software that came with my text books. When I installed Vista I had no problem installing the very same programs and they run as well as they did in XP and 98 SE.

Just food for thought.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By tastyratz on 3/12/2008 5:12:45 PM , Rating: 2
Just like we had a lot of people using 98 for awhile.
I'm sure they would still have a bunch of old licenses kicking around but new machines would have to be sold with something.
My point was that ms currently dominates the market but even if they didn't Linux would not just take over and dominate. The worse the microsoft product is made linux gets a larger share but its still dwarfed by the alternatives. If there was no choice people would buy new machines with osx before they went with a *nix install.

Note when I said osx would gain more market than ms I meant to say vs Linux.
I prefer Linux myself but its a far cry away from mentally incompetent compatibility


By murphyslabrat on 3/12/2008 5:41:54 PM , Rating: 2
Omigosh, I was doing some research into it, and guess what? There are a handfull of mods for Windows 98 SE that turn it into a livable platform (not good, but definitely livable).
http://www.msfn.org/board/Installation-Guide-Win98...


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By mindless1 on 3/12/2008 10:27:32 PM , Rating: 2
You might be right in the very short term but in the longer term that isn't a safe assumption to make.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By bearxor on 3/12/08, Rating: -1
RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By mcmilljb on 3/12/2008 2:24:10 PM , Rating: 1
They still need a 2 button mouse on everything. It's kind of silly to people just want to change how they do everything just to switch from a PC to Mac. I think it's cool how Apple wants to improve how you do things, but not everyone will want the change or appreciate it.

2 button >> 1 button
Some people might actually want a mouse with more than 2 buttons.


By murphyslabrat on 3/12/2008 5:47:47 PM , Rating: 2
It's like the people who pay a monthly fee to play games on Linux (via Cedega).

Wine-doors is not nearly complete, but it not only looks quite promising but is also quite free.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By omnicronx on 3/12/2008 2:24:50 PM , Rating: 3
He is an idiot, but ergonomically speaking, a one button mouse does not really make sense. They are only doing to to distinguish themselves from PC, nothing more. You can give really any argument you want, but two buttons two fingers will always be easier on your brain and fingers.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By Omega215D on 3/12/2008 8:38:48 PM , Rating: 1
I find the two finger tap for right click on my MacBook quite good to use. Instead of reaching for the second button on a laptop I just tap two fingers and swipe down with two fingers should I want to scroll.

Now in saying that I still keep a Logitech V400 around should I want to use a mouse that works well with both OSX and Vista (which one mouse button or two finger tap doesn't work) since it contains both physical right and left clicks.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By TomZ on 3/12/2008 2:43:23 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Anything you can do with a two button mouse you can do with a one button mouse in OS X.

True, but it's about efficiency. Right-click context menus, a mainstay of GUI design, are very useful and helpful. Sure, you could select an item by clicking it and then navigating to and clicking again to open a menu, but the single right-click is much nicer.

Besides, what's the harm done in having two buttons? There's no disadvantage, except for a few pennies of cost.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By darkpaw on 3/12/2008 3:16:34 PM , Rating: 2
Personally, I hate any mouse with less then the primary 5 buttons. Sure you can perform any of those features using other methods, but it really is easier, faster, and much easier to have separate buttons.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS
By omnicronx on 3/12/2008 5:26:32 PM , Rating: 2
There is still a learning curve compared to a two button mouse. Two buttons Two fingers, no extra thinking or moving required.


By murphyslabrat on 3/12/2008 5:52:58 PM , Rating: 2
But the buttons don't have to be used:

1. For learning, you have the two huge buttons.

2. For the mildly adventurous, or the aclimated; there is a wheel in the middle of the mouse, and the wheel can be used to do some specific tasks.


RE: Linux is not a consumer OS