ZaReason Rolls Out First Linux Ultrabook
Running Linux instead of Windows does not necessarily mean that your computer will be cheaper.
ZaReason's UltraLap is a reminder that even Linux will not bring down the price of still-expensive Ultrabooks to a more affordable level.
The UltraLap comes with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, is based on Intel's i3-3217U Ivy Bridge processor, and is priced from $899 with a 32 GB mSATA SSD. Want a 128 GB drive instead? That will lift the price to $1,028. Add a faster processor, upgrade from 4 to 16 GB of memory, upgrade to a 256 SSD as well as throw in second 512 GB SSD, and you are looking at $1,865.
These are very comparable prices and should not be too surprising for those who really want a Linux Ultrabook from the get-go. It may be even surprising that ZaReason can offer the device for this price due to the lack of volume discounts the larger vendors can secure. The best feature may be that that you can choose your Linux distribution and opt also for Kubunutu, Edubuntu, Debian, Mint, Fedora - or any other widely available flavor at no extra charge.
By buying a laptop with pre-installed Linux, you pay for Linux.
Just say that you can't into Archie. >:3
By buying a laptop with pre-installed Linux, you pay for Linux.
You aren't paying for Linux, per se, but rather the effort of having someone else install it for you. Just like if you have Geek Squad install Windows for you, you could do it yourself, but you're paying someone else to do it instead.
If you see a bug, report it, and help the community on solving it. That being said, Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS is rock solid, at least on my experience.
Unity is great, IMO, but you can always try Linux Mint, or Xubuntu, for example. They all benefit of the reliability of Ubuntu, and Xubuntu is an official derivative that is an LTS for 12.04 as well.
I use Xubuntu 12.04 on my eeePC and it is fast and awesome.
Just to make it clear, when my local Ubuntu team used to sell Ubuntu, I purchased Ubuntu discs. Why? Because it's worth it.
I feel sad that Tom's started the article with:
ZaReason's UltraLap is a reminder that even Linux will not bring down the price of still-expensive Ultrabooks to a more affordable level.
I guess the writer's over at Tom's don't favor Linux much. Thanks for updating me on ZaReason's new machine though.
Exactly. I have contacted Dell in the past about the pricing issue between Windows and Linux being the same. Their CS person told me that it is in fact much cheaper to produce the Linux computer OS cost wise. The extra cost is due to them having to pull a Windows computer off of the assembly line and install the different OS - hence the extra cost: labor. Unless there is some first-rate support for from these guys, I prefer doing the same as master_chen and pocket the difference myself.
The issue is the OEMs actually get paid to put bloatware on systems. That's why Windows PCs can be sold so cheap (at or slightly below BOM).
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use.
Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
Just take mentioning Linux positively as a win. No use trolling and reducing your