HP Indonesia ready to support new Linux-based PCs<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Hewlett-Packard (HP) Indonesia says that it is prepared to
\nsupport the recent plan of its parent company to globally expand
\nits line of desktop personal computers (PC) based on the
\nGNU\/Linux operating system (OS).<\/p>\n
However, HP Indonesia will, for the time being, only offer the
\nLinux-based PCs to corporate customers, and not yet to the
\npublic, who are mostly still unfamiliar with the OS.<\/p>\n
\"We have actually been offering Linux-based PCs since 2002,\"
\ncompany president Elisa Lumbantoruan told The Jakarta Post
\nrecently, adding that monthly sales of such PCs had reached a
\nmaximum of 2,000 units.<\/p>\n
The managing director of HP Indonesia, Andreas R. Diantoro,
\nmeanwhile, said that the company currently has about 50 corporate
\ncustomers of mainly banks, governmental agencies and small and
\nmedium enterprises (SME), which are already using HP's GNU\/Linux-
\nbased lines of computers.<\/p>\n
\"Providing Linux-based systems is part of HP's efforts to
\nsatisfy our customers' various needs and anticipate the market
\ntrend,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Popularly known by its kernel created by Finnish programmer
\nLinus Torvalds, GNU\/Linux also comprises essential GNU Not Unix
\n(GNU) programs from the Free Software Foundation (FSF), among
\nother things, all of which are worldwide collaborative works by
\nvolunteer hackers, as well as paid programmers. The GNU\/Linux was
\ncreated to compete with various closed OS available on the
\nmarket, including Microsoft.<\/p>\n
Due to its free and open nature, the OS is available in
\nvarious distributions, such as Debian, RedHat, Mandrake,
\nTurbolinux and SUSE Linux.<\/p>\n
Many computer experts are predicting that Linux's recent 2.6
\nversion, which has addressed many of the current home-computing
\nneeds that its previous version had not, will boost GNU\/Linux'
\nposition in the desktop PC segment, aside from its already
\nincreasing status in the server computer niche.<\/p>\n
HP recently struck a deal with software company Novell to make
\nSUSE Linux the official GNU\/Linux distribution for HP's latest
\nline of business PCs for corporate customers -- the dx2000 and
\nthe dc5000 series -- by the second half of 2004.<\/p>\n
The Palo Alto, California-based computer vendor had also
\npreviously used SUSE Linux for its line of server computers, as
\nwell as RedHat Linux, Mandrake Linux and Turbolinux for its
\ncurrent d220, d330 and d530 series of business PCs.<\/p>\n
Andreas, who is in charge of HP Indonesia's GNU\/Linux
\ndivision, said that the d220 series was indeed the most popular
\namong the company's current corporate customers already using
\nGNU\/Linux-based desktop PCs.<\/p>\n
Prices for the d220 series, pre-installed with Mandrake Linux
\nor Turbolinux, both of which already include the OpenOffice.org
\nsoftware suite, start at US$349. Prices for the same series with
\nMicrosoft Windows XP, start at $429. Prices for the new,
\nGNU\/Linux-based dx2000 series, meanwhile, start at $389.<\/p>\n
\"Most of our customers are those who have already been using
\nLinux-based HP server computers, and then want an integrated
\ncomputer networking environment from the server level to the
\ndesktop level,\" Andreas said.<\/p>\n
Andreas also explained that the Tokyo-based Turbolinux
\ndistribution was particularly popular in the Asia-Pacific region,
\nincluding among HP's customers in Indonesia, as it was developed
\nso that it would be capable of displaying Chinese characters and
\nothers used in Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n
\"SUSE Linux should also be developed to be able to display
\nsuch characters, if HP wants it to be the worldwide, official
\ndistribution for its Linux-based systems,\" Andreas said, adding
\nthat HP Indonesia would continue to support its current customers
\nregardless of the GNU\/Linux distribution that they used.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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