Wal-Mart dumps Linux. Much ado about...Microsoft
Wal-Mart has ended its experiment with selling Linux-based computers in its stores, suggesting that "This really wasn't what our customers were looking for."
Oh, really?
My experience (albeit limited - I can't stand Wal-Mart) with Wal-Mart is generally that cost is king for its customers, and that volume is king for Wal-Mart. I can understand Wal-Mart dropping Linux for the latter reason (though early reports suggest that the machine repeatedly sold out), but I'm surprised that its customers wouldn't have glommed onto dirt-cheap PCs with all the functionality of a Windows PC.
But maybe the decision was much more personal. There is a strong executive tie between Microsoft and Wal-Mart.
Remember Microsoft's COO, Kevin Turner? He's a former Wal-Mart executive. Turner used to run Wal-Mart's Sam's Club business unit and before that was Microsoft's chief information officer.
Even when Wal-Mart has made motions toward Linux and open source, Microsoft (no doubt inspired by Turner) has been there to help it see the light. It was likely Turner who pushed Wal-Mart to go on the record as adopting SUSE Linux for its Linux deployments because of patent protection. Wal-Mart never goes on the record for anything related to IT purchases. The fact that it did in this case says a lot about the exeuctive sleepovers that happen between the two companies.
Indeed, the more successful this retail Linux PC experiment by Wal-Mart, the less likely it was to continue. Had the PCs sat on the shelves Microsoft would have been gleeful to let it continue.
It may well be that Wal-Mart simply didn't push enough units to make the grade. Many great products simply don't sell for Wal-Mart, and it dumps them. But in this case, it could well be that Linux's success paved the way for its downfall due to a too-cozy relationship between the world's largest retailer and the world's largest software vendor.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
but you also have to remember another thing - if walmart can't keep something in stock (as in the distributer can't get them to the stores fast enough they don't see any reason to restock them.
It has nothing to do with any grand Microsoft-Wal-Mart conspiracy.
Like it or not, anything that's built HAS TO 1. be able to interact with Microsoft users (ie. share document formats), and 2. be as usable as Microsoft products due to Microsoft's 90+% market share.
Apple (finally) saw the light and now allows OS X users to use Boot Camp or Parallels to cover the gaps in its software offerings (like no OS X-native Visio or Project, for starters). Now, folks are willing to pay the premium prices for Apple's hardware and (I think) superior user experience. Superior user experience meaning 1. drag-and-drop software/hardware installations and 2. nearly bulletproof reliability.
Likewise, Linux is well on its way in terms of making it more usable out of the box and supporting files across platforms, but as it stands today, Linux OSes STILL require too much user command-line "intervention" to install or fix things and too much reliance on precious few Linux experts in "the community" for support.
I don't mind tinkering and working with user groups, etc. for support, but I wouldn't subject relatives that aren't very tech savvy to it. Many Wal Mart customers looking to purchase computers don't want to buy a PC that they're going to have to use a bunch of "work arounds" and command-line modifications to make it work. They'll get a PC running WinXP/Vista instead and be done with it.
"But maybe the decision was much more personal. There is a strong executive tie between Microsoft and Wal-Mart." Really?? Wal-Mart is all about making money and this is the second time it gave Linux a fair shot unlike any any other major retailer, so that alone should rule out the "ties" argument. Chances are that a majority of customers must have returned it after realizing that their favorite apps/games wouldn't work, have trouble getting around with the unfamilier UI and most of there hardware wouldn't run. Wal-mart lost money, they gave it the boot. Or may be MS secretly brought Wal-mart to get them to stop selling this great product, you decide what makes more sense.
As for the article, it is clear that Microsoft had something to do with it. I haven't heard of anything wrong with these systems.
Not an issue getting them of the shelves people. Read article, then reply.
- by rarchimedes March 18, 2008 4:18 PM PDT
- With all the speculation here, no one has indicated that there were excessive returns or any particular problems with the linux PC's at all, only that they have consistently sold out. Now, I am sure that there is manufacturing capacity around the globe to produce enough such units to keep them on the shelves. And, I have never had any problem hooking linux up to the internet. Wireless units used to be a problem, but are less so at the moment. Since as far as I know, these were desktop units, there would be little reason for them to hook up wirelessly. Now if you are buying special gear to hook this thing up, you are defeating the whole purpose of the unit. There are lists of compatible equipment, so if you buy something that is not compatible, you aren't too bright. In any case, you would not be part of the target market for this box. If you use something in a different manner than it was designed for, then the problem is yours, not the OS or the box. The Wal-Mart gPC was meant to be used by people who need to do basic functions like accessing the internet, doing email, instant messaging, basic documents, and so on. If you are trying to make a cheap addon to your home network to be used in ways not contemplated in the design of the box, you are likely to have some problems, regardless of what OS is on a box. I have had wireless problems with all sorts of PC's running Microsoft of almost any flavor, and Intel ships a standard set of applications with Intel motherboard/processor combos, about half of which will cripple your PC if you install them. To put a blunt point on it, such problems in inexpensive PC's are not limited to those that run linux. Try doing much of anything that you care about on Vista Basic. Because of my business, I am largely a user of XP on my machines, but I play with various flavors of linux. Many of them are actually easier to use than most XP boxes, and that is when booted from a CD. Certainly, they are cleaner and more useful than Vista of any flavor. Almost nobody in the commercial world is really fond of Vista, and most are holding off for whatever will replace it, even after SP1. On the other side Microsoft has apparently made a hit with most people on Server 2008, and if they tie functionality in it closely enough to Vista, they may actually get a few more Vista sales, but that remains to be seen. So, outside of tying, for the basic user, I can see no problem with cheap linux boxes. The OLPC is a wonder, light years ahead of any Windows PC for wireless and almost anything else. So, this appears to be another one of those cases where corporate relationships had more to do with a decision than the interests of the customer. Since Wal-Mart isn't known for being particularly sensitive to customer wishes, that is not surprising.
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