Acer will not release Linux-based laptops in the UK due to a lack of demand, despite launching an Ubuntu-based machine in Asia.
The Acer Aspire 5710Z has gone on sale in Singapore pre-loaded with Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows. Ubuntu is currently one of the world's most popular and easiest-to-use Linux distributions.
But a spokesperson for Acer told ZDNet.co.uk on Tuesday that the company — one of the world's top laptop manufacturers — currently had "no plans" to sell any Linux-based systems in the UK. "[Acer models] with Ubuntu pre-loaded are available at the factory level. However, there is no demand for it in the UK. Therefore, those configurations are not an option [for UK customers] at the moment," said the spokesperson.
"If the demand was there, then Acer would sell it," the spokesperson said, adding that such a demand would have to be reported to Acer by its UK resellers.
The only other major manufacturer to include Linux-based systems in its lineup is Dell, which has been offering such systems solely in the US since May. Last week a spokesperson for Dell said there had been a healthy demand for notebooks running on Linux. Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu's main backer, also hinted that Dell could release even more open source-based notebooks, although Dell did not confirm or deny this suggestion.
Dell's Linux-based systems are still not available in the UK, but the company suggested earlier this month that the situation would change soon.
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I am allowed (in principle) to spend £600 of faculty money on a laptop. I need wireless internet capabilities and a bit of memory. I'd appreciate help in starting up...
Before the launch of the Acer Aspire in Singapore, there had been no suggestion that any major manufacturer other than Dell was even considering releasing Ubuntu-based products. However, Acer president Gianfranco Lanci did tell Financial Times Deutschland that "the whole [PC] industry is disappointed with Windows Vista". Lanci claimed that Microsoft's new operating system had not boosted PC sales, due to concerns over its stability and overall maturity.
Microsoft itself has been bullish about sales of Vista, although it has sent confusing signals about exactly how successful the operating system has been.
Talkback
Hey, Acer! I want one!
Perhaps They Want Choice! Maybe They Don't Want Ubuntu!
As much as the current popularity of Unbuntu is making it the flavor of the day, many of us in the Free Software community don't want a commercial core distro. Mark Shuttleworth is a monopoly want-to-be. He has designs on gaining effective ownership and control of the GNU/Linux desktop through the mechanism of market momentum. Apparently, he aspires to be the first OSS Pope. The very name Canonical gives you a hint that this is what he had planned from the get go. Canon means standard, or core, as in the canon of the catholic church or the canon of scripture. His CD give away program was simply leveraging his considerable wealth to buy market share.
The community has been warned about the "market share, effective ownership and control vulnerability" of the GPL and ways to avoid it for years. The GPL can only guarantee actual ownership. Along with a standardized community core distro, they all should share the hardware vendors.
War Installing GNU/Linux: Do We Share The Hardware or Raise A Bridge?
http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2006020702526OPHW
Should Hardware OEM's Be Picking Linux Distribution Winners?
http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2004100900226OPCYHW
I think they asked… Microsoft!
Yet another PR article, with little point except to further discourage people from choosing Linux. “There’s no demand, so why would we use it?” vicious circle crap.
There is demand, no matter how much you try to pull the wool over our eyes.
But if Ubuntu works then it's a safe bet that any other Linux distro will work too. So on the assumption that you're not paying an "Ubuntu Tax" on a preinstalled laptop, there's no harm in zapping Ubuntu and installing what you want instead.
I can't ever see a commercial entity wanting to master every single possible Linux distro in existence. It's far more logical just to pick one.
Me? I'd like to be able to buy a laptop without an OS at all.
Interesting point