laptops w/linux

[warlord at MIT.EDU (Derek Atkins)]

nmeyers at javalinux.net writes:

> If there were a serious market for Linux on laptops, companies the size
> of HP and IBM would figure out how to sell them. The only Linux market
> big enough to get major hardware vendors' attention is on servers -
> that's why you'll find them selling servers preconfigured with Linux,
> but not workstations (last I checked, anyway) or laptops.

Actually, IBM _used_ to sell Thinkpads pre-installed with Linux (Red
Hat 5 or 6, IIRC).  They stopped doing that because:
        a) there wasn't a large market
        b) it was a support nightmare
        c) every linux geek wanted it configured differently (e.g. different Distros)

So, in the end they gave up because it just wasn't worth their time
and effort.

-derek
-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available