HP is business Linux friendly, Jun 18, 2009

HP has long had a love/hate affair with Linux. On the one hand, HP has long supported Linux on servers. For example, they're the one major server company that supports Debian. On the other hand, it took HP forever to finally start shipping pre-installed desktop Linux. Recently, for business users anyway, HP has been making it a lot easier to get Linux on their desktops and servers.

In a pre-emptive strike against the expected onslaught of ARM-based netbooks running Google Inc.'s Android operating system, Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday announced a new Intel Atom netbook that will run HP's custom version of Linux and cost just $279 upon its debut.

HP is reportedly considering building an alternative operating system to Microsoft Windows, based on Linux.

As Hewlett-Packard steps up efforts to make Microsoft's operating system easier to use, some want to devise a rival version with Linux

HP's amazing 2133 Mini-Note is let down by a mediocre processor, but could SuSE Linux turn it into the ultimate travelling companion?

Linux has been enjoying a nice ride for the past 18 months, but the folks at Hewlett-Packard are still content to sit it out.

Seems like everyone's getting into the low-end notebook market these days. Hewlett-Packard is the newest of the bunch to step up to the plate with its VIA-driven HP 2133 Mini-Note, a nifty-looking machine that clocks in at $499 for a Linux edition. A little pricier than the ASUS Eee, but it looks like low-cost computing is one niche for Linux to derive wider market penetration

The full-function, ultra-affordable ultraportable, shipping with Linux or Windows XP, will likely fly off the shelves.

HP, with other pro-open-source companies and organizations, is releasing programs and policies to help enterprises track corporate open-source use.

Hewlett-Packard has launched the FOSSology Project, a tool for tracking and monitoring the use of free and open-source software within an IT environment.

HP today released new Multi-Level Security (MLS) Services for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 in support of the open source OS vendor's government push.

A decade ago, Intel was shipping the Pentium II processor and Linux was a fringe operating system used by a few Internet fanatics. No one at the time would ever have thought the two in combination would be a match for Sun's SPARC/Solaris combination, HP's PA-RISC/HP-UX, IBM's POWER/AIX or SGI's MIPS/IRIX.

Linux is ready to take on a more serious role in enterprises, a senior Hewlett-Packard executive has said.

Late last month, hardware vendor HP announced plans to offer desktop computers in Australia with Red Hat Linux, OpenOffice.org, and Firefox installed. Now the company has confirmed that it is expanding this program to other parts of the world.

Hewlett-Packard's decision last month to sell desktop PCs with Linux installed on them in Australia is giving hope to Linux advocates at the Encompass HP user group that a similar system may be on its way in the US.

HP and Red Hat have started selling a new Linux-based desktop PC targeting small and medium-sized businesses.

Ending months of rumors, Hewlett-Packard appears to have released its first mass-market PC with pre-installed Linux. Specifically, the company will soon be selling RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) Desktop 5 on its HP dx2250 PC to Australian customers.

Hewlett-Packard's ambition to build the "next-generation datacenter" depends on Linux and open source, an HP executive said at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo Wednesday.

The pact allows NASA's procurement department to select from HP desktops, workstations, blade PCs with Linux and Unix capabilities, servers, and printers, among other offerings.

Turns out Oracle CEO Larry Ellison does have a few friends and one of them is HP.

While everyone knows that Linux is now pervasive in IT organizations, the slippery nature of open source software makes it difficult to gauge how deeply it has penetrated into the data centers of the world.

The HP company might start the production of PCs with preinstalled Linux system. However, the vendor's global initiative is not yet relevant in Russia. HP's Russian office said there is not much demand for open source OS in this country.

The good news, according to an HP executive, is that the company sees "the Linux desktop nearing critical mass." The bad news, for would be off-the-shelf Linux desktop buyers, is that it's still not there yet.

Hewlett-Packard is closing custom deals for thousands of desktop PCs running Linux, which has the company assessing the possibility of offering factory-loaded Linux systems, an HP executive said.

HP is making $25 million by supporting the free Debian GNU/Linux distribution in what may ultimately turn out to be a challenge to commercial distributions from Novell and Red Hat.

"Linux is a non supported platform for the DC7700 Series. How can you screw up that? I tried SuSE Linux Enterprise 9, Knoppix and RHEL 8. Couldn't get it past the boot screen."

Hewlett-Packard claimed it is starting to see higher returns from open source contracts.

Somewhat hidden within HP's launch of otherwise Windows-driven consumer products last week was the fact that the HP Media Vault, one of the newly announced entries, uses embedded Linux underneath the covers.

HP-hired investigators searching for the source of boardroom leaks allegedly tried to plant a trojan horse program on a CNET reporter's laptop, but apparently the attempt failed because the reporter was running Linux instead of Windows, according to Groklaw's Pamela Jones.

A proposed patent provision in a revamped General Public License isn't sitting well at Hewlett-Packard, raising concerns that two competing versions of the license could survive.

While Linux is almost in the mainstream, there are a number of pain-points for existing and potential customers that need to be addressed, says Christine Martino, the vice president for HP's open source and Linux organization.

Hewlett-Packard will ensure that the operating system works on several of its notebook models by year-end.

Hewlett-Packard has no plans to preload versions of the upcoming Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 on PCs but will certify the operating system.

Desktop sales played a big role in Hewlett-Packard's recent news-making profit gains. In the future, Linux will figure prominently in HP desktops, says Christine Martino, vice president of HP's Open Source and Linux Organization. She's not predicting an overthrow of Windows desktops anytime soon, though.

TestDrive, is accessed online via the TestDrive Web site. It allows free-of-charge access to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Novell SuSE Linux and other open source operating systems like Debian, FreeBSD and OpenVMS.

Businesses deploying Linux should be driven by long-term planning rather than doing it "because they can", Hewlett Packard vice-president Martin Fink said, during his presentation at the Sydney Linux World Conference and Expo yesterday.

Christine Martino, vice president of Hewlett Packard's Open Source and Linux organization, talks about middleware, Linux on the desktop, and other open source trends.

As HP claims market leadership over IBM, will the real leader in Linux servers step forward?

Hewlett-Packard Co. and Novell Inc. have teamed up to offer a bundling license that they say makes it easier and cheaper to run SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) on HP servers.

HP South Africa is to release a range of Linux-based notebooks at the end of February. In an interview with Tectonic HP's Sean Owen-Jones said the HP 6110 notebooks will sell for R5999-00 and will run the Linspire operating system.

HP is considering selling services designed to ease customer participation in the open source programming community, the company's new open source boss said.

Computer maker Hewlett-Packard plans to sell PCs running Linux across 37 countries in Latin America, and has selected Mandriva to provide the open source operating system.

Hewlett-Packard is considering selling services designed to ease customer participation in the open-source programming community, the company's new open-source boss said.

Pauline Nist, for years a leader of Hewlett-Packard's high-end NonStop server group, has become senior vice president of product development at Penguin Computing, the Linux server maker plans to announce Monday.

...this is my response from HP support. I think the best part is "HP does not recommend using Linux".

HP is seeking to enlarge its footprint in the enterprise Linux space by partnering with Red Hat and Novell, and has chosen Australia as the place to start.

HP's Sean Owen-Jones also said the company would shortly be releasing desktop and notebook PCs running Ubuntu Linux. The NX6110 notebook would be available shortly with Ubuntu and a desktop PC would also be available.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) is now reselling support services for MySQL's open-source database, an HP spokeswoman has confirmed.

Hewlett-Packard this week plans to release Linux versions of its Virus Throttler security technology and ProLiant Essentials Intelligent Networking Pack, the company confirmed Friday.

In a recent review article of SUSE 9.3 Professional, I discussed the advantages of using a common distribution to administer CUPS and more easily share a locally attached printer across a LAN. A reader comment about using a network-ready printer instead made me consider that alternative for multi-OS environments where a common platform is not a possibility. I am now the proud owner of a Deskjet 6840, a color inkjet printer by Hewlett-Packard (HP).

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