Lenovo preloads SUSE on ThinkPad

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:17 pm

"Lenovo Group is planning a full embrace for Linux.

The PC maker, at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo beginning Aug. 14 , will announce a plan to pre-load Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 on one of its ThinkPad notebooks, sources familiar with the two company's plans said."

All I can say is this: YEEEEEHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO LENOVO!!!!!!

Post by **Patrick** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:27 pm

Hopefully this is worldwide. My next laptop might have to be a stinkpad with SLED!!

jsusanka · Post by **jsusanka** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:20 pm

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Wally Balljacker · Post by **Wally Balljacker** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 7:47 pm

Maybe if this happens, and the T60p becomes a success, Lenovo will roll out more distros on their entire line of laptops. Seems like Dell, IBM, and HP have been flirting with Linux on the desktop for a long time now, and because Microsoft has them by the balls, they're afraid to commit to Linux. I wonder what Microsoft is thinking right now.

Post by **Patrick** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:52 am

The official unveiling will happen at next weeks LWE in San Francisco. I'd really like to check these out.

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:55 am

Wally Balljacker wrote:Maybe if this happens, and the T60p becomes a success, Lenovo will roll out more distros on their entire line of laptops. Seems like Dell, IBM, and HP have been flirting with Linux on the desktop for a long time now, and because Microsoft has them by the balls, they're afraid to commit to Linux. I wonder what Microsoft is thinking right now.

The thing you say about Dell and HP is a very good point (IBM sold it's PC division to Lenovo), but Lenovo is in China, and if they WANTED to say "Screw You Bill Gates" because Microsoft tried pressuring them to not make their own decisions, they could easily promote Linux in China.

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:00 am

A little update on the subject: http://news.com.com/2100-1005_3-6105543 ... &subj=news

"Lenovo and Novell plan to announce at the LinuxWorld conference Tuesday that the ThinkPad T60p will ship with Novell's new Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED). The Linux laptops will be geared toward engineers and other high-end users, but they will be available for purchase by anyone on Lenovo's Web site, said Bill Iori, worldwide segment manager for ThinkPad T Series."

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:51 am

According to this it will NOT be preinstalled but just a blank harddrive:
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/newss/6298/1/

Now on the site:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/notebooks/thin ... e_Innov_us

Sales page does not list Linux as an option yet:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/notebooks/thin ... _t60p.html

Why would cost it cost more than the Windows version? Is Linux support that expensive? Take a look at the same system from Emperor Linux:
http://www.emperorlinux.com/mfgr/lenovo/toucan/

jsusanka · Post by **jsusanka** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:16 am

Patrick wrote:Now on the site:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/notebooks/thin ... e_Innov_us

Sales page does not list Linux as an option yet:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/notebooks/thin ... _t60p.html

And apparently they will cost $3099!!:
http://news.com.com/ThinkPad-now+with+S ... 05543.html

Why would cost it cost more than the Windows version? Is Linux support that expensive? Take a look at the same system from Emperor Linux:
http://www.emperorlinux.com/mfgr/lenovo/toucan/

Ya I saw the price and wondered the same thing.

next in about 3 to six months we'll see announcement that they are dropping linux as an option because it didn't sell - well ya if it is twice the price of a similiar notebook with windows then ya it isn't going to sell.

HP pulled the same stunt with their recent announcement of supporting debian -
we won't preinstall - customer has to install themselves - won't ceritify hardware - so just what are they supporting? although their printing support is above average.

got a love these companies that say they will support linux and yet they have "we recommend windows xp professional" on their website. wonder how much money they get for having that on their website.

it is nothing but spin - plain and simple. marketing lies.

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:22 am

jsusanka wrote:Ya I saw the price and wondered the same thing.

got a love these companies that say they will support linux and yet they have "we recommend windows xp professional" on their website. wonder how much money they get for having that on their website.

it is nothing but spin - plain and simple. marketing lies.

And I read this that says no OS will come pre-installed with the machine:
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/newss/6298/1/

So basically we pay more for no OS and have to install it ourselves. WTF!?!

I'd rather pay Emperer Linux and know I'm supporting a Linux company.

The press release always sounds better than the reality.

All the way down at the bottom of the page:
* Only Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 is supported. The ThinkPad T60p Mobile Workstation does not come preloaded with SUSE Linux. Users must obtain SUSE Linux licenses from Novell. The ThinkPad T60p comes with DOS entitlement only and ships with a blank hard disk drive. SUSE Linux OS will be supported by Novell, while Lenovo will support Hardware, ThinkVantage Technologies, and drivers.

Chess · Post by **Chess** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:33 am

Patrick wrote: So basically we pay more for no OS and have to install it ourselves. WTF!?!

I'd rather pay Emperer Linux and know I'm supporting a Linux company.

The press release always sounds better than the reality.

Very true. This is disappointing. I was hoping things would be different this time.

I too will put my money with Linux vendors. LXer had a good forum thread on Linux vendors here:
http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:28 am

Chess wrote:Very true. This is disappointing. I was hoping things would be different this time.

I second that Chess, oh man, big big bummer!!

Oh well, at least it's now possible to buy a laptop, albeit a very expensive one, and know that everything is gonna work, even the god damn modem.

So at least we got a little out of it, plus Lenovo has some support stuff that I havn't previously seen from a tier-1 OEM for desktop Linux, so at least it's a small step in the right direction.