This is Why Lenovo Sucks at Linux

[Mark76]

I think Ms Schroeder makes some fair points

I had to read this story Lenovo analyst: Linux on netbooks is doomed" several times because I couldn't quite believe what I was reading. Was this really Lenovo's Worldwide Competitive Analyst saying things like "You have to know how to decompile codes and upload data"? Really?

I wrote to both the interview author, John Pospisil, and to Matt Kohut, Lenovo's Worldwide Competitive Analyst, asking if Mr. Kohut had been accurately quoted. I haven't heard back yet, but then it's just been a couple of hours. So I searched for other articles about Mr. Kohut, and found some interesting nuggets. Here is his Lenovo bio:

"Matt knows a few things about computers and technology...For several years, Matt has traveled around the world helping customers, sales reps, and business partners understand the Lenovo product lines."

Sounds like a fun job. I think this bio would be more accurate if it said "...knows a few things about Lenovo computers and Windows software."

His Lenovo blog has a lot of interesting information on Lenovo hardware, and some insights into why they make certain design and product decisions. For example, the move to the 16:9 widescreen format has been dictated by LCD panel manufacturers because they cost less to produce. Never mind that many computer users prefer more vertical space, like the old 4:3 format, because it's better for documents. Lenovo crunched numbers and decided that supporting multiple display ratios wasn't worth it.

Again, software seems to be his weak spot:

"I'm tired of losing vertical space, and I am about to make a drastic change to the way I run Windows. Starting later this year when I run Windows 7, I'm going to start positioning my Task Bar on the left hand side of my screen."

Drastic? Mmkay.

More on Windows 7 + In Flight Netbooks and Windows 7 and Lenovo ThinkVantage Technologies are fascinating glimpses into the tail-wagging-the-dog world world of Microsoft partners:

"When creating our ThinkVantage Technologies (programs like Access Connections, ImageUltra Builder, and Rescue and Recovery), we've used an "embrace and extend" methodology. In other words, we would take a basic function present in Windows and add our own additional capabilities and features on top of it...

"...our dilemma is clear -- at what point does Windows offer "good enough" functionality that we should abandon our own tools and focus on something else?"

Lenovo is willing to invest all kinds of resources into mitigating Windows' deficiencies, and tailoring its hardware to hobble along in step with Windows. And yet Linux is too hard:

"Since the market seems to be asking for more, we announced a ThinkPad T61 with a Linux preload a few weeks ago. Other than a few developers and hobbyists, I don’t expect us to really sell all that many. There's no value proposition for it. Yeah, you'll avoid the Microsoft tax, but if you’re a business your IT shop will spend far more in support costs, lost user productivity, and sleepless nights."

Lenovo's Linux strategy to date has been:

1. Issue some press releases on how Lenovo loves Linux, no really
2. Offer a few token Linux preloads
3. Hide them so cunningly no customer can find them
4. For the persistent customers that do find them, make sure to include some entertaining defects
5. Issue more press releases on how Linux doesn't sell and give up

When someone makes such giant mountains out of such tiny molehills it makes me wonder. How is it that ordinary Linux users can download and install Linux on Thinkpads, Ideapads, EeePCs, Mini Notes, and all kinds of computer brands and models without it being a big hairy failure? What special knowledge do they possess that Lenovo is unable to grasp? How can anyone in tech these days get away with not having broad knowledge of multiple operating systems, applications, and trends in development? You don't have to be a total elite expert in every detail, but I think anyone who isn't informed enough to avoid spouting pure nonsense should not have a job in tech.

[Lunx]

Matt knows a few things about computers and technology

Think I've spotted a typo in that

Matt knows few things about computers and technology

Yep, that fixed it.

The story from first link is interesting with a comment about it apparently being Linus's fault that driver support is somewhat problematic.

“Linus needs to get to the point where if you want to plug something in, Linux loads the driver and it just works".

Hmmm....

[NightwishFan]

Has anyone ever installed Windows fresh from a CD? Driver support? Windows not only has support for nothing by default, it is an annoying big deal to gather driver support.

Funny, my live CD seems to have 1440x900 resolution, sound support, working ethernet card, etc.

Windows by default uses 640x480, no sound, no internet.

If there was no driver CD, how would I get drivers?

[Icehuck]

Has anyone ever installed Windows fresh from a CD? Driver support? Windows not only has support for nothing by default, it is an annoying big deal to gather driver support.

Funny, my live CD seems to have 1440x900 resolution, sound support, working ethernet card, etc.

Windows by default uses 640x480, no sound, no internet.

If there was no driver CD, how would I get drivers?

Here is the brilliance of Microsoft. Why should they write or supply all the drivers for the 1000000s of pieces of hardware made for Windows? It seems logical that the manufacturer should be responsible for supplying the drivers for their hardware if they want it used.

[Npl]

If there was no driver CD, how would I get drivers?

The same way you downloaded your Linux-CD?

[NightwishFan]

Don't get cheeky. If I have a Windows Xp install CD and an Ubuntu install CD, Ubuntu will be able to gather other software, as there is a good chance your ethernet card will work, and possibly even wireless.

I AGREE that Microsoft should not write drivers, but perhaps they could have included better generic ones.

On Linux All of my hardware except my Nvidia card work flawlessly, including my memory card readers.

On Vista, default support is better than Xp of course. As well as downloading an updating drivers is sometime integrated with Windows Update. Before, it wasn't. You had to find 10 or so drivers manually. Sometimes more.

[karellen]

Don't get cheeky. If I have a Windows Xp install CD and an Ubuntu install CD, Ubuntu will be able to gather other software, as there is a good chance your ethernet card will work, and possibly even wireless.

I AGREE that Microsoft should not write drivers, but perhaps they could have included better generic ones.

On Linux All of my hardware except my Nvidia card work flawlessly, including my memory card readers.

On Vista, default support is better than Xp of course. As well as downloading an updating drivers is sometime integrated with Windows Update. Before, it wasn't. You had to find 10 or so drivers manually. Sometimes more.

at least Windows started to improve its default driver support. My Toshiba Satellite wasn't well supported out of the box by Vista, I had to install drivers for the graphic card, ethernet card, wireless adapter and so on. in Windows 7, all of the above components worked by default in the fresh install

[Npl]

Don't get cheeky. If I have a Windows Xp install CD and an Ubuntu install CD, Ubuntu will be able to gather other software, as there is a good chance your ethernet card will work, and possibly even wireless.

Has it ever occured to you that MS can only put drivers on the CD that were already released?
XP supported practically everything out-of-the-box on its release, as did Vista (and still does to a good extent).
Lets get a Linux-Distro from 2001 and see how much Hardware will work.

Seriously - want everything working? Get a prebuild CD and you typically will get a customized Windows CD with all drivers included.
Build yourself? Use the driver on the CD or google up the name on the box.

I agree that the Repos in Linux are great if you want to setup a PC and let updates go though it. But then I dont understand why every little change in the kernel needs new drivers (kernel-modules) - figuring out a stable binary interface aint that hard.
If you download a binary driver for eg. WindowsXP it will work for any version of it. On Linux you need to download or compile a kernelmodule each time the kernel gets patched.

[abyssius]

Linux, even if you’ve got a great distribution and you can argue which one is better or not, still requires a lot more hands-on than somebody who is using Windows. You have to know how to decompile codes and upload data, stuff that the average person, well, they just want a computer.

I don't think this is true at all. (a) You don't have to necessarily "decompile codes" to use Ubuntu.. (b) What data is he talking about uploading? I not aware of any data I've had to upload (c) If he meant to say 'downloading', well you have to know how to download data such as virus / spyware definitions almost on a daily basis to use Windows effectively. I've found Ubuntu to be much less maintenance than Windows.

“From a vendor perspective, Linux is very hard to support because there are so many different versions out there: do we have Eudora, do we have SUSE, do we have Turbo Max?"

Here he has a definite point. This is the core weakness of Linux. Too many cooks spoil the broth. However, Ubuntu has a real chance of reversing this, with marketing and branding. I'd much rather see Ubuntu-branded netbooks, laptops, and desktops with fully-certified hardware and and the superior support structure enjoyed on this forum - rather than a vendor like Lenovo or Asus offering a "Linux" version, which could be Ubuntu or Red Hat, or... etc.etc.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

He says "decompile codes" and "upload stuff", which only kind of makes sense backwards (compiling code and downloading stuff). That tells me this guy is either clueless or fooling us all by speaking in opposites. If the latter is the case, he must also be saying that Linux is good for these traits...