GNU/Linux system sales/support

[ArcRiley]

Moved from RPG discussion:

How about a computer store selling GNU/Linux systems?

I'd buy this service.   Many people are interested in the security and stability of GNU/Linux without the frustration of getting the OS fully functional.  (Ubuntu is pretty... but frustrating.  Configuration hell awaits neophytes.  (crippled DVD playback, kludgey interpretation of IDE tags for MP3s... getting the the out-of-the-box media apps to work with camcorders, bluetooth cellphones, ipods, printers, etc.) 

This can be done.  The problem is not the software, it's the hardware.  Since the hardware manufacturers don't create GNU/Linux drivers and have not standardized it's a constant challenge to support all the hundreds of thousands of different products on the market which an OEM may put into any system.

The solution is much like Apple, a standard set of hardware which is "certified" to work and, when you buy something elsewhere which doesn't work, having someone to pay for the service of getting it to work (often cheaper just to purchase from the store).

I'm interested in doing this, running a small store (w/o storefront to start) which stocks "certified to work" hardware and can build complete systems which are 100% GNU/Linux compatible and which can be easily maintained.

If there are porcupine investors who would like to see such a thing happen contact me.

[Rifkinn]

Perhaps it would be possible to sell mythtv boxes already setup as well? http://www.mythtv.org/

[ArcRiley]

Perhaps it would be possible to sell mythtv boxes already setup as well?

That's a great idea, more people off of Tivo the better.  Ditto with OpenWRT routers and OpenMoko phones.

[PowerPenguin]

The problem w/ OpenWRT is that it can't run on the last few versions of Linksys routers. They moved back to a proprietary design that so far hasn't been reverse engineered afaik.

[ArcRiley]

From market demand they have made available an "L" version for OpenWRT users.

Also Cisco (aka Linksys) isn't the only company making OpenWRT compatible routers, many are less expensive or more useful.

[dalebert]

Are laptops an option here or is it just not practical to build custom laptops from component parts? Or maybe we could get a deal on the hardware somehow avoiding the Windows tax and just image them.

[ArcRiley]

Laptops wouldn't be built custom but compatible laptops could be sold.

Problem with them is they're one-piece units which devalue as a whole, whereas desktop components devalue as pieces.  If a laptop sits on a shelf for a few months it's becomes a business loss, whereas only the desktop's CPU does that to a large extent.

[Rifkinn]

whereas only the desktop's CPU does that to a large extent.

thats why I bought the best cpu I could afford with my budget back when I last updated my system.
If you get this started I would love to help out, mainly hw side until I learned more about the software side.  (when I get to NH anyway.)  Having a job offer would help convince my gf, thats a new problem I found out.

[dalebert]

I'm very interested in pursuing this business idea. It's actually one of the things I almost bought into a franchise to do but I think it would be better to start a local one from scratch and go this Linux route. Please keep me in the loop. This WILL happen.

[ArcRiley]

Yea I've been looking into it further.  I think it would be profitable given us plus the regional geeks.

Seriously - there isn't a store in 200 miles (that I could find) specializing in GNU/Linux.  We'd have MIT geeks driving up for no sales tax on their computer and know it's compatible.  There's another whole marketing edge right there.

LinuxBIOS compatible motherboards, pre-loaded with a nice bootsplash that appears moments after the system is turned on.. nice login screen, default desktop, and provided they always purchase hardware from us they're guaranteed that it will work.

My previous experience with computer sales says consumers, ok well non-geeks at least, care more about the appearance of the desktop and the peripherals than the speed or quality of the internal components.  I'd like to have enough investment cash for some custom printed keyboards (the windows key replaced) - costs about $3/keyboard extra (I've done this before) at qty 1000, nice case, nice optical mouse, nice looking LCD monitor, all matching and tastefully branded.  Save for the monitors these things don't cost much, it's not a big deal to have a stock on hand.

[Ron Helwig]

LinuxBIOS compatible motherboards, pre-loaded with a nice bootsplash that appears moments after the system is turned on.. nice login screen, default desktop, and provided they always purchase hardware from us they're guaranteed that it will work.

If you can make your own BIOS splash, we could have one with a pic of a penguin and porcupine shaking hands or something like that. That would be super geeky cool. 

I'd love to see something like a small Linux tablet PC that I could use a bluetooth keyboard with. Probably the same issues as with laptops, but...

I don't know why anyone even bothers with desktops anymore.

[J’raxis 270145]

LinuxBIOS compatible motherboards, pre-loaded with a nice bootsplash that appears moments after the system is turned on.. nice login screen, default desktop, and provided they always purchase hardware from us they're guaranteed that it will work.

If you can make your own BIOS splash, we could have one with a pic of a penguin and porcupine shaking hands or something like that. That would be super geeky cool. 

Most BIOSes support that nowadays. But if not the BIOS splash, the bootloader can display custom images, which would come up a few seconds after the BIOS goes through the boot-up POST sequence.

[ArcRiley]

I'd love to see something like a small Linux tablet PC that I could use a bluetooth keyboard with.

Tablet PCs are cool aren't they?  These days they're nothing more than laptops whos screens can be turned around, though.  The industry likes to bloat things.

The PDA market is gone to cellphones, the OpenMoko is the perfect solution to that.  For $450 you get a phone plus wifi and full GNU/Linux system under the hood running most apps.  If using a bluetooth keyboard and working from a 2.8" 640x480 screen is enough for you this is by far the most affordable solution.

I don't know why anyone even bothers with desktops anymore.

Cost and speed.  You're right most regular users would prefer a mobile computer, but the cost is prohibitive or it just can't deliver the kind of speed they need (say, for my studio, where I use many desktop systems at once).

Honestly though, most people don't need that sort of speed.  Most people don't need the sort of speed modern laptops have, either, but they're convinced they do in order to justify the expense.

There's a market opening up for low cost, low speed laptops.  A bit more beefy than the OLPC for say $300.  Perhaps something which integrated well with the OpenMoko.

Most BIOSes support that nowadays. But if not the BIOS splash, the bootloader can display custom images, which would come up a few seconds after the BIOS goes through the boot-up POST sequence.

The reason to use LinuxBIOS is boot speed, not the bootsplash.  The BIOS + GRUB sequence can easily consume 30 seconds, booting is much faster without it.

The clean bootsplash transition, where they turn their computer on and there's an image on the screen which remains until the login screen which is only seconds later has a "polished" feel, not to mention being far faster, whereas the BIOS -> GRUB -> Bootsplash has the "hacked together" feel.

[J’raxis 270145]

Most BIOSes support that nowadays. But if not the BIOS splash, the bootloader can display custom images, which would come up a few seconds after the BIOS goes through the boot-up POST sequence.

The reason to use LinuxBIOS is boot speed, not the bootsplash.  The BIOS + GRUB sequence can easily consume 30 seconds, booting is much faster without it.

The clean bootsplash transition, where they turn their computer on and there's an image on the screen which remains until the login screen which is only seconds later has a "polished" feel, not to mention being far faster, whereas the BIOS -> GRUB -> Bootsplash has the "hacked together" feel.

Nice. This isn't something I've played around with a lot. Hasn't been too important to me since I've only booted my computer once since I moved three months ago...

[Dan]

I had a few BX motherboards with linuxbios.  The WOW factor is when you eliminate the slow hard drive and host root over NFS.

X terminal up and running in seconds.  I think you can run rdesktop and vnc on nothing but a frame buffer, ie without X.  That allows nearly painless thick client terminals.

As for the store:  How much do we need to pool to open a Fry's?

As for the laptop: Intel chipsets including discreet graphics and wireless are all 100% in-kernel nowadays.  Linux on Duo's are pretty painless.