Wal-Mart back in the Linux business

Say what you will about retail's looming giant, but Wal-Mart's got stones.

It's doing what no other mass-market retailer dares to do: offering low-cost PCs with Linux instead of Windows.

The company, which has sold Linspire-powered Linux PCs in the past, has gotten back in the Linux-box game with an Everex system that includes the PC itself, along with mouse and keyboard (but no monitor) for $198, as I read in a report from DesktopLinux.com:

The Everex Green gPC TC2502 includes popular applications from Google, Mozilla, Skype and OpenOffice.org. It runs gOS Initial G, which in turn is based on Ubuntu Linux 7.10 The gOS operating system features a simple and intuitive Linux Enlightenment E17 desktop interface with a Google-centric theme. The system comes with a lifetime of free updates and revisions.

The company opted to use Enlightenment, rather than the more popular KDE or GNOME, because Enlightenment requires minimal hardware resources for its interface.

At the heart of the gPC TC2502 is an energy-efficient 1.5GHz, VIA C7-D processor. This CPU draws less than 2W on average (with a maximum of 20W). Operating at a mere 28dB, the gPC also ranks as the quietest Everex desktop computer ever produced. It also includes 512MB of system memory, 80GB hard disk drive and DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical drive. The system also comes with six USB 2.0 ports; an RJ45 Ethernet port; an RJ11 port; and a serial and parallel port.

Wal-Mart plans to begin selling the system at stores and online sometime early this month. According to the DesktopLinux.com article, the operating system is based on Ubuntu but has many elements that differ from that distribution that are added by the Everex people. In my view, using the Enlightenment window manager instead of GNOME is a key move. The gain in graphical snappiness should make using the Everex box a much more pleasant experience.

Like I said, kick Wal-Mart all you want, but the only other giant retailer offering a PC with a full complement of software -- stuff that's the equivalent of MS Office and more -- is Dell, and it's sure not pumping it out at $198 a box -- and through America's largest retailer either (although there is an agreement by which Dell will sell through Wal-Mart stores -- just not a non-Windows product).

In this case, the Everex PC -- if it delivers as promised -- brings the kind of value to customers that Wal-Mart always says its committed to.

This just in: Wal-Mart is selling a very similar Everex PC, not currently available online, for $298. This model has 1 GB of memory (instead of 512 MB for the Linux model) and includes Windows Vista Home Basic and ... OpenOffice 2.2. Microsoft can't be happy with that -- they're putting OpenOffice on the box, making a purchase of MS Office unnecessary, AND now the same company isn't even going to put Windows on the same hardware?

And ... at $298, less the cost of 512 MB of DDR2 RAM, currently retailing for about $20 at TigerDirect.com, that makes the Microsoft tax for this box $80.

And on a $298 item, $100 is real money -- especially to a retailer like Wal-Mart.

And thus a consumer Linux box is born ...

Note:
(Images from DesktopLinux.com)