Sell-through and no hassles.
What Taiwanese OEMs want from Linux, in other words, is just what they get from Microsoft.
- Sell-through. Support that will get the product off the shelf. As I’ve said before there is a price lower than free. Taiwan demands a Linux that will pay that price. Intel can, Ubuntu can’t.
- No Hassles. Asus does not want its gear coming back. The high return rate of last year’s Linux Netbooks not only doomed those distros but any distro from a firm too small to provide enough after-sales support to keep the units in the field.
You can summarize all this in one word — support.
Taiwan OEMs like Asus would love to get out of the Microsoft box, because Microsoft controls the relationship and takes most of the money. But if it can’t get support from the software vendor, on the ground, the effort is not worth it.
The question that must be asked, then, looking at reports from Germany’s Electronista that Asus will deliver a Moblin-based netbook this fall, is whether Intel is going to put serious dollars behind the effort, or just point to the Linux Foundation (the official sponsor of Moblin) when the going gets tough.
Those same questions pertain to the chances of a Google Chrome OS netbook, which Germany’s Network News is discussing this weekend. The netbook wars are being played with money, big money, bigger money with every turn of the wheel. Those software vendors who don’t have the ante don’t get into the game.
Linux’ only hope in cracking the Taiwanese netbook market is with a Linux whose owner is willing to pony up the big bucks for both pre-sales and post-sales support.
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