Comments on: Wal-Mart Giving Up on Linux Too Soon

By: pfwd.tech

pfwd.tech — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:03:49 +0000

it would be nice to get some comments from WM as to why they dropped it from their shelves.
From the horses mouth.

By: InTheLoop

InTheLoop — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:16:01 +0000

Robert -
Alan - I agree. It does seem strange. Also, your bottom line is exactly what I am thinking.
Todd - Yes, I said that in the article. “although they will continue to sell them on their website”
James - They did sell out, so I agree it is strange. Perhaps what William said explains it, but it still does not explain why they gave up on Linux before trying the Eee PC.

By: James

James — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:27:19 +0000

Now, I can only speak as an observer, reading about the sale of these pc’s on-line, but I got the impression that these units sold out and there was a problem of lack of stock, even Everex stated that they sold all the stock.

I find it a very strange way of doing business when an Item of stock sells out completely is dropped, it would be interesting if Wal-Mart could give a reason to justify this bizarr action.

By: William "Papa" Meloney

William "Papa" Meloney — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:43:21 +0000

As curious as this might seem Wal-Mart does not enjoy the luxury of space. Wal-Mart has become very sensitive to ROSF (Return On Square Foot). If a product, any product, is not moving then it is dropped from the shelves. W-M has found that it cannot afford to ‘warehouse’ merchandise on the sales floor.

It is entirely possible that we will see a “new” merchandising paradigm appear … Wal-Mart as the local fulfillment center. You place your order on-line and with in few hours to a couple of days your order is ready to pick up… at you local neighborhood store.

By: Todd

Todd — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:41:17 +0000

They will still be selling them on their website!

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:59:59 +0000

Seems like a lot of these linux pc’s that are hitting the stores are using some kind of ad-hoc distro that nobody has ever heard of. gOS? Why not stick something established on it, like Ubuntu, Fedora, or Suse?

Seems like a lot of these little made-for-the-product distros also focus on being a platform for web 2.0, rather than leveraging the functionality of Linux.

Bottom line: this is a failure of a product, not a platform. It’s like someone going bust selling Yugos and claiming that compact cars are a failure.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:26:02 +0000

Perhaps they backed out due to pressure and/or bribery from Microsoft.