Thinking about buying a new Linux-based home PC? Happy hunting.
While for years mainstream computer makers such as IBM, HP and Dell have been professing their love for alternatives to Microsoft Windows, the overwhelming majority of open-source-powered machines are business servers and high-priced workstations.
Finding an entry-level home PC that doesn't have a Windows XP sticker on it requires consumers to search through a maze of Web sites. If they try calling a major PC maker, the agent is likely to have a hard time steering them toward a Linux-based or bare-bones system.
"There is no champion for Linux clients among the major vendors," PC industry analyst Roger Kay said.
Red Hat Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said open-source software hasn't caught on in the industry as much as he'd like. Red Hat itself only has a modest Linux product aimed at a relatively narrow set of customers such as those manning the phones at call centers.
"The (Linux) desktop is like teenage sex. Everybody's talking about it, but nobody's doing it," Szulik said during his keynote speech at the Vortex conference in San Francisco last week.
Consumers can always buy a copy of Linux and install it themselves. Best Buy offers Novell's Suse Linux version 10.0 in a box for US$59.95. Linspire is offering its shrink-wrapped software for US$99.99 online and in stores. Wal-Mart sells Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES v.3.0 Basic Edition for Intel processors online for US$348. And as always, downloading an open-source operating system is also an option. However, you need an OS like Windows to connect to the Internet first, unless you've gotten a copy from a co-worker or friend.
Clearly, Windows continues to dominate the computing world. About 94.4 percent of all the PCs and other handheld devices shipped in 2003 run Windows, according to the latest stats published by research firm IDC. Apple Computer's Macintosh OS ranked second, with 3.2 percent of the total operating system market, while Linux placed third with 1.4 percent. Other software, such as DOS, made up the final 1 percent.
About 828.5 million desktops have shipped in the last 10 years, research firm IDC said. The overwhelming majority have some type of Microsoft Windows client running on them.
That's not to say Linux will sit on the sidelines. The operating system in various forms will continue to take a bite out of Windows over the next few years, IDC expects. Sales of PCs running the Linux operating system will reach US$10 billion by 2008, according to a 2004 IDC study of the Linux ecosystem. The firm also predicts that the overall Linux ecosystem will grow 25.9 percent annually to reach US$35.7 billion in 2008. Of that, IDC estimates US$14 billion will be packaged software, US$10 billion PCs and US$11 billion servers.
Even though the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco two years ago saw a considerable amount of buzz about breaking the Windows stronghold, talk about Linux on the desktop has all but faded, leaving vendors to fend for themselves.
"It's no surprise that there are only a handful of non-Microsoft offerings out there for consumers today. Desktop Linux only makes up between 1 and 3 percent of the market, depending on which way you look at the data," IDC analyst Al Gillen said.
Gillen did offer a ray of light to Linux fans. "I would argue that at least the PC vendors are making an effort to meet demand to offer alternatives to Microsoft," he said.
Linux is not an impulse buy that consumers just stumble across and purchase, Gillen noted. Most buyers of PCs loaded with Linux or open-source operating systems are technically savvy customers who have a very good idea what they are looking for.
Nevertheless, finding an alternative to Windows from a mainstream vendor can be an arduous process.
After Dell's announcement earlier this month of its Dimension E510n--which ships without an operating system installed--CNET News.com attempted to find out how difficult it would
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