Can the masses be wooed by Linux ? Second - level PC maker Everex teamed up with a startup called gOS to build the gPC TC2502 , a $ 199 VIA - powered Ubuntu 7.10 Linux arrangement with an Enlightenment E17 port . Although they ensure us that the “ g ” does n’t stand for Google , the PC ’s productivity will be almost alone deduce from Google apps accessed through Firefox : Mail , Calendar , News , Maps and Documents & Spreadsheets . It will also come up with OpenOffice.org 2.2 and some other freeware Linux faves . But again , the question is , will the Wal - Mart crowd burn the bait ?
It turn out , 5 % of people buy a microcomputer at Wal - Mart are buy one for the first time , yes , in 2007 . That means that for them , there ’s no brand loyalty , there ’s no OS that they are already comfortable with , there ’s nothing but functionality ( “ Does it have the e - mail and the pretty ma’am on the World Wide net ? ” ) and damage ( “ I ’m not gon na compensate no $ 300 for no damn computer ! ” ) . This meets both , and front enough like some sort of Macindows crossbreed for the more estimator savvy relatives to help out the new buyer .
There are some omissions in the former stages : Picasa did n’t quite work right , so it ’s not there yet . ( GIMP is there , but not a fortune of hoi polloi like GIMP . ) There ’s Skype , but I do n’t think it can do video yet . There are apps for work with iPods , but I am worried that mass who want to use an iPod will be torment with the lack of iTunes .
The funniest thing is that Everex deliberately built a large box , even though there ’s not much under the goon . This is a pure psychological play to woo the pickup truck set , who conceive a Chevy S10 is a sure sign of intimate insufficiency . The scheme will tamp down a 1.5GHz low - electric power VIA C7 - five hundred processor ( pitched as a “ unripe ” political machine ) . It will have 512 MB of RAM and an 80 GB HDD . It wo n’t even have a DVD burner , though they are now much liberal . And as for the monitor you ’ve come to look in a package , it ’s gon na be you extra . ( Speakers , mouse and keyboard are include . )
All in all , though , I wish to see thing get shaken up . This is ostensibly replacing a Windows model at that terms spot or slightly higher , and the approaching is unlike , and belike voguish , than the teeny tiny subscription - free-base Zonbu ( of which Everex is also a manufacturing married person ) .
The whole FOSS ( spare opened - source software ) social movement really should be aimed at newbies and non - power users . After all , the generalist can do all that they can dream up on any motorcar out there , whereas the specialists are the I who are really locked to one OS or another . And they do n’t buy their PCs at Wal - Mart . [ Wal - Mart ]
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