> On Sun, Jun 04, 2006 at 06:24:52PM -0400, Austin Denyer wrote:
> > On Sun, 4 Jun 2006 15:44:24 -0600, Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > As excellently as Thinkpads have served for me in the past, I've always
> > > had a fondness for the things. Lately that has been wavering a little,
> > > as I've seen some of what Lenovo is doing with the line and begun to
> > > worry about where this will lead in the future. This announcement
> > > pretty much seals the deal: they're likely to lose a customer in me, and
> > > in anyone that takes my advice for portable Linux computing (which is
> > > probably more than the average for people who give advice to friends
> > > when they're in the market for laptops).
> >
> > It's a shame, because the Lenovos are great for Linux compatibility.
> > One of my colleagues has one, and EVERYTHING works under Linux!
The situation is not as dire as previously reported:
http://techrepublic.com.com/2100-10877_11-6080115.html?tag=nl.e019
Apparently, the Lenovo rep who reported they were dropping Linux support
was wrong, misinformed, lying, or otherwise misstating the facts.
Of course, this piece of backpedaling is a bit confusing:
Kardonski apparently confused Lenovo's stance on providing licenses
for Linux, as opposed to providing preloaded versions of the software
for customers, Godin said. Because different companies use different
configurations of Linux on their ThinkPad notebooks, Lenovo doesn't
provide licenses for the software, he said. Customers are responsible
for acquiring the license on their own, but Lenovo will preinstall the
desired configuration on new ThinkPads once the license has been
obtained.
Obtain licenses? Como se huh? I'm not sure exactly what they mean,
unless they're talking about Enterprise distros bundled with proprietary
software or something along those lines.
I've never bought a Thinkpad with Linux preloaded, and if I did so in
the future it would only be for the purpose of avoiding a Windows
license on a laptop on which I was going to reinstall the OS anyway --
since I'm unlikely to want to use any distro they'd preload anyway. The
concern that arises when I hear reports that someone like Lenovo is
going to stop delivering Linux-loaded systems is that, when they aren't
loading Linux, they aren't going to pay any attention to ensuring their
hardware will work with Linux either. It looks like that concern was
premature at worst. Time will tell.
I'm rather pleased with Red Hat's response to the whole thing, though:
"Everybody here is using Lenovo or IBM ThinkPads," a senior Red Hat
executive told ZDNet UK. "I don't think what Lenovo (is reported to be
doing) would impact our business. Anyway, if it's true, it won't
impact us for much longer."
Lenovo should read that in this way, I think:
"If you won't support Linux, you're going to lose a significant
corporate account. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, and we're
not opposed to throwing you back."
-- CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ] "Real ugliness is not harsh-looking syntax, but having to build programs out of the wrong concepts." - Paul Graham
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