HP Says Not Quite to Linux Computers

Not quite ready for the masses. That is the general consensus among HP executives regarding computers pre-loaded with a Linux operating system and offered to en-mass to consumers.

According to a post on DesktopLinux, HP says they are hearing a lot of Linux chatter on forums and other Internet sites and that indicates a growing interest on the part of the average consumer in having their next desktop computer or laptop run on a Linux OS. However, this chatter is simply not at the level that would warrant adding this type of machine to the standard HP offering.

HP does offer pre-loaded Linux machines to its enterprise customers already. But most of this type of interest is from businesses outside of the U.S. and North American markets. For example, a company in China recently agreed to purchase several thousand HP laptops pre-loaded with Novell’s SLED 10 (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) and there are other similar deals in the works with other Non-US based companies.

Of course, one can always order an HP computer and install a Linux OS themselves or wait for Dell to make their Linux offering available.