Wal-Mart Ends Test of Linux in Stores: Not What Customers Sought

Associated Press (excerpt) ^ | March 11, 2008

[HAL9000]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Computers that run the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows didn't attract enough attention from Wal-Mart customers, and the chain has stopped selling them in stores, a spokeswoman said Monday.

"This really wasn't what our customers were looking for," said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien.

To test demand for systems with the open-source operating system, Wal-Mart stocked the $199 "Green gPC," made by Everex of Taiwan, in about 600 stores starting late in October.

Walmart.com, the chain's e-commerce site, had sold Linux-based computers before and will continue selling the gPC.

This was the first time they appeared on retail shelves.

~ snip ~

[kingu]

Not what consumers wanted? They all sold out as fast as they were put on the shelves. Not quite sure what measurement WalMart wanted to use, but perhaps they just wanted to sell them only online, which is shipped to store.

[P-Marlowe]

I suspect that Microsoft gave Wal Mart a helluva deal on its Vista system in exchange for an exclusive contract.

[kittycatonline.com]

Not what consumers wanted? They all sold out as fast as they were put on the shelves.

And I bet most of 'em came back to the "Customer Returns" counter in about a week. I can just see Bubba picking up that cheap PC, then going home and trying to install that copy of MS Office 97 he's still got lying around. Probably didn't even know it was Linux, I bet Bubba said "Boy that Vista looks different..."

Linux just doesn't seem to fit with Wal-Mart.

[Anti-Bubba182]

There is no way Walmart made a big profit on a $199 machines compare to Vista ones. I bet that is the real reason.

[MediaMole]

They would have done much better with a higher quality PC with a more mainstream version of Linux, like Ubuntu, preloaded. gOS is a strange version of Linux and the machine was far too underpowered for most purposes.

Inexperienced computer owners typically buy solely on price and are disappointed when their cheap PC doesn’t do what they want.

[kingu]

If Bubba had a copy of Office 97 laying around, he'd find it very difficult to install as there wasn't a floppy drive on the PCs being sold. But if he tried to use that AOL install disc, there's where Bubba likely had problems.

Out of the 82 systems the local Walmart got, 5 were returned, all for the same problem - power supply.

[Centurion2000]

Off, I was never able to find one considering that every wal mart store was SOLD OUT.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

gOS is based on Ubuntu,...uses different window manager than KDE or Gnome...name is Enlightenment....

[catbertz]

Apparently they still sell them online to the crowd that can really use Linux day to day. I don’t think linux is ready to serve the walmart crowd yet. It takes some effort to manage the Linux experience.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Newegg has it ... 199 plus shipping....in stock:

Everex EVEREX gPC2 TC2512 VIA C7-D 1.5GHz 512MB DDR2 80GB VIA UniChrome Pro Linux gOS V2 - Retail

[Nateman]

Dell offers Ubuntu preloaded. That's how I'm posting this. Sears is still offering a Linux system too.

[Private_Sector_Does_It_Better]

“I suspect that Microsoft gave Wal Mart a helluva deal on its Vista system in exchange for an exclusive contract.”

DING DING DING DING - We have a winner!!!!

[dan1123]

If they included Crossover with it, Bubba would have just seen Office 97 install and work just fine.

I bet the real reason is because Microsoft pushed some legal buttons and WalMart wasn’t going to go to court over $199 computers.

[kittycatonline.com]

Out of the 82 systems the local Walmart got, 5 were returned, all for the same problem - power supply.

That aint' too bad for a $199 PC. That being the case, I wonder if the other 77 PCs actually ended up being used.

OSes are like political parties. There are two that people know about, one is really liberal, one is somewhat conservative, and 99% of the public don't realize or care that there are others besides the big two.

[kittycatonline.com]

I bet the real reason is because Microsoft pushed some legal buttons and WalMart wasn’t going to go to court over $199 computers.

• MSFT mkt cap: $261.06 B
• WMT mkt cap: $197.48 B

Acutally, it would be a pretty fair fight. And unlike Microsoft, Wal-Mart isn't facing competition from free versions of it's products. I'd suspect you're right; PCs just don't make up enough of Wal-Mart's business for them to bother with.

[dayglored]

> I wonder if the other 77 PCs actually ended up being used.

I suspect that after a couple of weeks, at least some of the cheap Linux PCs end up as hosts for old/second copies of Win98 or Win2000. Those older OSes run like a bat outta hell on newer hardware, even bottom-feeder hardware. As long as you can find drivers.

That's not to downplay Linux, just saying that some folks might experiment with Linux and then revert to Windows.

ShadowAce: Tech ping?

[RoadKingSE]

"What's all this talk I hear about Charley Brown's friend Linus not being welcome at WalMart? That is totally unfair and ..what's that? Linux not Linus? Well that's different. Nevermind."

[nina0113]

I don’t think linux is ready to serve the walmart crowd yet.

**I'm** the Walmart crowd and if I'd known I could have gotten a native-Linux machine there for that pittance I'd have pounced on it. I can replace a power supply.

[nina0113]

Thanks! I need a new pc, want to switch to Linux, and haven’t had time to do any research.