The continued dominance of the Windows operating system (OS) has been considerably strengthened this week by American retail giant Wal-Mart, which has announced that it is abandoning sales of Linux-equipped computer hardware.
Lack of consumer interest in open-source operating systems sees Wal-Mart drop retail support for the Linux-equipped Everex gPC. Credit: Everex.
Claiming that the Linux system “really wasn’t what our customers were looking for,” Wal-Mart offers that its decision to drop the open-source OS was based on Linux simply not attracting enough attention from in-store consumers.
The move won’t come as a particularly significant blow for Wal-Mart however, not least because the chain only began offering Linux in October of 2007 as a way of assessing demand. Availability was limited to the Everex Green gPC and saw around 600 of Wal-Mart’s stores stocking the $200 USD computer.
Other Everex computers equipped with Linux and available via the Wal-Mart online store include the updated gPC2, which sells at the same $200 USD price point as its predecessor (although it does not come with a monitor), and the diminutive Everex Cloudbook, which is priced at $400 USD.
The advantage of the Linux OS, and open-source applications in general, is that manufacturers such as Everex can keep hardware prices down as they are not required to pay a licensing fee (as with Microsoft’s proprietary Windows OS) for adding all sorts of open-source creations to their systems.
The removal of Linux-based Everex hardware from Wal-Mart stores doesn’t appear to have unsettled Everex either, with the manufacturer outlining in an AP report that selling its gPC computer through an Internet store was “significantly more effective” than physically placing it on the shelf.
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