HP to ship Ubuntu PCs, serious about Linux

[newbie2]

"HP's Sean Owen-Jones also said the company would shortly be releasing desktop and notebook PCs running Ubuntu Linux. The NX6110 notebook would be available shortly with Ubuntu and a desktop PC would also be available. "
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=595

[weasel fierce]

Why do I feel my future computer money going towards HP ?

[macgyver2]

Hmm...I'm somewhat fuzzy on this...but what about HP and DRM? They're part of that whole consortium, aren't they? So if I understand correctly, if they want to enforce DRM stuff they're going to have to monkey around with the Ubuntu that they put on their computers...

Can someone clarify this for me?

[Donshyoku]

I wonder too about this as said just above me. The same goes for IBM. HP and IBM have declared support for TCPA (Trusted Computing Platform Alliance) that inflicts DRM to a hardware level. Microsoft is developing this in Vista and Apple currently has it running on test x86 machines. For those that don't know, this means that if you want to use that video card, it has to be supported by the OS and has to support the restrictions to OS places on it. Same for monitors, CPUs, etc.

So IBM and HP, the two biggest Linux-pushers in the retail market are doing this with MS. I doubt they will completely restructure thier hardware for their Linux versions. I certainly don't want to see heavy DRM software and hardware applications in my Ubuntu.

That being said, if they do this right, it could be my next PC. There is just something tempting about a Linux system that comes with a warranty and preconfigured for my hardware.

[drizek]

well find out soon enough.

the important thing is that

HP IS SELLING UBUNTU SYSTEMS!!!

[GeneralZod]

Hmm...I'm somewhat fuzzy on this...but what about HP and DRM? They're part of that whole consortium, aren't they?

Sadly, there's barely a chip/ hardware manufacturer who isn't.

[newbie2]

i found an older article about this ( from May 23, 2005) ...i do not know if there are changes since then ? -->

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/05/23/21OPopenent_1.html

[drizek]

i found an older article about this ( from May 23, 2005) ...i do not know if there are changes since then ? -->

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/05/23/21OPopenent_1.html

I think the difference is that now they want to have ubuntu preinstalled instead of just shipping a cd with it.

[aysiu]

i found an older article about this ( from May 23, 2005) ...i do not know if there are changes since then ? -->

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/05/23/21OPopenent_1.html From what I can tell, the change is that in May they weren't going to actually ship the notebooks with Ubuntu installed. They were going to design the notebooks for Ubuntu and also work with Ubuntu to create a special version of Ubuntu designed for the notebook, but you'd have to get Ubuntu separately and install it yourself.

The newer article seems to suggest HP will actually ship notebooks and desktops with Ubuntu preinstalled.

I just hope they do it in the US as well...

[bob_c_b]

Sadly, there's barely a chip/ hardware manufacturer who isn't.

Exactly true, and it still isn't clear if this will be on every chipset and configuration or just high end stuff and what parts of it can be turned on/off in the BIOS. There are so many unanswered questions in this area, and as the platform is made more public I expect some public outcry; anyone recall the outcry over the embedded serial #s in Pentium III chips?

Then again, most people have invited DRM in their front door via stuff like iTunes and Steam, so maybe the public just doesn't care? Of course, they still have a reasonable sembelnace of fair use at this point, but if this next gen platform is employed in a draconian way maybe people will get fired up? All I know is that I have a little stash of cash and when I see the last of non-TCMP hardware availabe at Newegg I'll grab myself one last CPU and mobo to ride out the early part of the storm.

[xequence]

I just have to wonder if my e-mail to them asking them to do this a week or so ago had any effect on this :P

One big mistake would be to price the Ubuntu and Windows systems at the same price... Make the ubuntu one 100$ cheaper, or however much HP pays for windows.

[aysiu]

I just have to wonder if my e-mail to them asking them to do this a week or so ago had any effect on this :P Considering they were already working with Ubuntu in May, I doubt it. Maybe your email pushed them over the edge, though...



One big mistake would be to price the Ubuntu and Windows systems at the same price... Or, worse yet, make the Ubuntu systems' specs low-end, as WalMart does with its 128 MB RAM Linspire computers...

[xequence]

Considering they were already working with Ubuntu in May, I doubt it. Maybe your email pushed them over the edge, though...
Yea, maybe the second one :P


Or, worse yet, make the Ubuntu systems' specs low-end, as WalMart does with its 128 MB RAM Linspire computers...

128 mb RAM ubuntu computer? Eeeek! Gnome is a little slow in 192!

HP needs one of those things where you chance the parts and the price changes in real time. Ubuntu would be default and choosing windows would put it up higher :)

[drizek]

Yea, maybe the second one :P



128 mb RAM ubuntu computer? Eeeek! Gnome is a little slow in 192!

HP needs one of those things where you chance the parts and the price changes in real time. Ubuntu would be default and choosing windows would put it up higher :)
linspire computers use KDE, so its a little less ram hungry.

and if both ubuntu and xp are the same price, they will get very few ubuntu orders. even if someone wants to run ubuntu, they would just install ubuntu on their own later and dual boot with windows. ubuntu would have to be at least 100 dollars cheaper. more actually because hp saves money with support.

[Qrk]

Does anyone know if they will sell these in the US?

[Brunellus]

Does anyone know if they will sell these in the US?
as I recall, Thomas Schellner (sp?), the HP guy in charge of this project, used to lurk on this forum....and at the time he was last here, the HP linux laptop project was restricted to the EMENA (europe, middle east, north africa) market

[aysiu]

128 mb RAM ubuntu computer? Eeeek! Gnome is a little slow in 192! Actually, I just went back to the WalMart website, and they've bumped up the memory! Desktops now ship with Xandros (instead of Linspire) and have 256 MB RAM. The notebook has Linspire and 512 MB RAM. Much better.

[poofyhairguy]

I just hope they do it in the US as well...

They can't. They would lose their OEM Windows licence prices.

[aysiu]

They can't. They would lose their OEM Windows licence prices. Argh! Oh, well. At least other countries will benefit...

[Kvark]

Then again, most people have invited DRM in their front door via stuff like iTunes and Steam, so maybe the public just doesn't care? Of course, they still have a reasonable sembelnace of fair use at this point, but if this next gen platform is employed in a draconian way maybe people will get fired up?
Well, people don't know of any alternatives. They think that if they want to use computer software then they have to fill in CD keys, switch CD every time they start a game, do online registrations and have max 3 computers. People think the only alternatives would be to pirate or have no computer at all.

When people get exposed to FOSS as a fully viable legal alternative and realize the huge difference between 'DRMed up the rear' and 'Free software' then they will start to care.

[Donshyoku]

They can't. They would lose their OEM Windows licence prices.

Good thing I am moving to Japan after college! I am really getting irked with the stuff that the US government lets slip by in the computer industry! :mad:

[Brunellus]

Good thing I am moving to Japan after college! I am really getting irked with the stuff that the US government lets slip by in the computer industry! :mad:
if anything, Japan is even less friendly to competition. Their 'managed capitalism" model is more "managed" than "capitalist" sometimes...

[Donshyoku]

I am no genius on Japanese politics to be honest, but I see a lot going around the web about their computer industry. Currently, all government computers in Japan run Linux. This has been recently passed. The Japanese FTC has also cracked down a lot on both Microsoft and Intel's sway in the country. That said, outside of the computer industry, I don't know much about their management, so I can't comment there.

[poofyhairguy]

When people get exposed to FOSS as a fully viable legal alternative and realize the huge difference between 'DRMed up the rear' and 'Free software' then they will start to care.

I personally believe that most people will only care about DRM when they can't use Limewire or other P2P apps for infringing copyright.

By then it will be too late.

[xequence]

I personally believe that most people will only care about DRM when they can't use Limewire or other P2P apps for infringing copyright.

By then it will be too late.

I aggree. Most users wont know anything about DRM until it affects them directly. If I ever get a computer preinstalled with vista, which has ALOT of DRM, (I think thats why the system requirements are so high) I will just delete it fully and use ubuntu... No dual booting. I would never use an OS if it had all the DRM people say vista will have. By then I might have VMware working and I could run the windows programs in windows 98 in vmware. No bloat at all, do drm at all (I dont think), and it works in really low system requirements. (I think it will go in 16 MB RAM minimum, 24 recomended, 32-64 for power users.)

[MetalMusicAddict]

Why do I feel my future computer money going towards HP ?
Totally. My wife needs a new laptop. :)

[bob_c_b]

I personally believe that most people will only care about DRM when they can't use Limewire or other P2P apps for infringing copyright.

By then it will be too late.

I think you are dead on correct; by time people wake up DRM will be all over Windows/Mac OS and the next generation of hardware. Having just shelled out at least several hundred dollars for their spiffy new PC most people will be loathe to do much about it and eventually just accept it.

Gamers welcomed Steam into their PCs just so they could play a game. I was part of several lengthy debates on this topic, and the idea of bypassing the content in order to show and active protest against DRM was generally laughed at. The market has shown it will tolerate DRM if the price is right and the content desirable, but it appears that the tech industry is on verge of testing that tolerance pretty quickly. Time will tell but I fear most people are too lazy and have far too short of attention spans to really do anything about it. I suspect we are in for a lot of "if you aren't pirating you have nothing to worry about" type arguments.

[drizek]

thats different. steam actually adds functionality, and it only makes sense that you need cd keys and stuff to use it. like it or not, it is commercial software.

but unlike steam, this drm crap is going to be nothing more than a performance killer and a pain in the ass.

Its kinda like with windows activation. all the people that actually bought windows had to go through the whole activation process crap, but the people that pirated it did not have to worry about it. im sure that we will have a lot of situations with this stuff where it would be easier and more effective to just pirate a song than it would be to have to go through all this drm stuff.