The Wal-Mart Lindows PC and Red Hat 8

By Andy Patrizio

February 24, 2003

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Welcome back for this month's installment. I'm going to shift gears and take a dip into the Linux pool. As I write this, the Internet is getting smacked by a worm that specifically attacks Microsoft software, particularly SQL Server. Frustration with Microsoft has become the primary motivator for people to consider Linux, and while that's not the best motivator in the world, it's good enough.

Linux has been the domain of techno geeks since the beginning, and it's not hard to see why. For the longest time, Linux was very geared toward the shell, and if you've ever seen a person raised on Windows try to operate in a DOS prompt, imagine what would happen if they have to operate in a BASH environment.

The Linux GUI has made a lot of progress in a short time, and borrowed more than a few ideas from the Windows world, but unless you're Xerox PARC, no one has the corner or bragging rights on innovation.

Likewise, Linux is getting friendlier. Software installs easier thanks to the RPM Package Manager. Just a few years ago, the only way to get Linux software was to download the source code and do a compile. Like I'd trust a computer novice with something like that. Installers have become more simplified, hiding the complexity of the Unix file system.

But are Wal-Mart.com, Lindows.com and Microtel Computer Systems pushing their luck with the Wal-Mart Linux computers? Well, if they try to sell it to the average Wal-Mart customer, I'd say so, but the product itself isn't a bad little business product.

The Microtel computer is a $199 PC being sold through Wal-Mart.com that comes loaded with LindowsOS 2.0, a Linux variant with the WINE Windows emulator. Microsoft was not amused at the name and is suing Lindows.com, which was started by Michael Robertson, who created MP3.com. Boy, if I was his lawyer, I could retire.

This is not a high performance computer. For $199, what were you expecting? It comes with an 800Mhz VIA C3 processor, integrated graphics, sound and networking and 128MB of memory.

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