One major obstacle to the growth of Linux on the desktop is the lack of easy availability of pre-installed Linux PCs and laptops.

You can go to Staples or Best Buy and pick up a Windows PC or Chromebook (at Best Buy only) and be out of the store in under 10-minutes.

If you want a Mac, you can walk into an Apple store or Best buy and pick up an iMac or MacBook Air.

Of course, you can also go online and buy Windows PCs, Chromebooks or Mac with just a few clicks and the benefit of free shipping.

But try buying a pre-installed Linux PC. No, you won’t find them at Best Buy or Staples.

Now if you ask me, installing Linux on an old PC or laptop is child’s play.

But some folks are sill uneasy about the whole process of downloading and burning Linux Mint or Fedora or Ubuntu to a USB drive or disc and then installing it on their PCs and notebooks.

Fret not, my poppets.

All’s not lost for you scared folks.

I have found a bunch of vendors who sell pre-installed Linux computers at reasonable prices. Let’s take a deko at a few of them:

1. Symple – The brainchild of Phoenix entrepreneur Jason Spisak, Symple takes off-lease computers, recycles them into $89 Linux computers with Ubuntu pre-installed and sells them online.

Here’s what Symple is promising on its Ubuntu Linux PCs:

* Made in USA from recycled & re-manufactured materials
* At least 2GB of RAM (DDR2 or better)
* At least 2.8GHz single core or better (Intel or AMD processor)
* At least 80GB SATA HD
* At least 10/100 Ethernet or better
* At least VGA port (Integrated)
* At least 2 USB Ports or more
* At least 1 audio out port
* 1 Year Advanced Replacement Warranty (provided you ship us the old unit to be recycled after you receive your replacement)

One caveat though – Symple will not provide support for the Ubuntu operating system. You’re on your own on all software issues.

But I don’t see that as a big negative if you know how to move the mouse and type google in the address bar of your browser. Plus, there’re various online support resources like Ubuntu Forums.

Where to Buy: Symple

2. Current Build – You can buy pre-installed Linux mini-PCs and desktop PCs at prices starting at $289.

Current Build will pre-install Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mageia, OpenSUSE or Debian for you.

Current Build is based in Santa Monica, California.

Where to buy – Current Build

3. Amazon.com – You really aren’t surprised to find Amazon on the list, are you?

Of course, you can find Linux computers at biggest e-tailer. To be sure, there are not many Linux computers on Amazon but a few.

These systems are usually sold by third-parties who leverage Amazon’s web site to peddle their wares.

While I was writing this post (in early March 2015), I found a Dell Optiplex with Ubuntu for $176 (specs: small form factor,3.0Ghz, Core 2 Duo,250Gb Sata HDD, 4Gb Ram, DVDRW, Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS). Although the hardware is decent, I consider the $176 price tag steep.

Where to buy – Amazon.com

4. Free I.T. Athens – You can get used desktops and laptops with Linux Mint pre-installed at insane prices at Free I.T. Athens.

If you have a weak heart, I suggest you close this browser because the prices will knock you off your chair. A PC with single core processor, 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive (or greater) and Linux Mint costs $25.00. For an additional ten bucks, you will get a keyboard, mouse and CRT monitor as well.

Computers with higher specifications (Dual core processor, 2GB RAM, 80GB hard drive (or greater) and Linux Mint OS go for $50.

There’s a 90-day warranty on the desktops but laptops are sold as-is.

Where to buy – Visit the store in Athens, GA during their open hours. Continue reading »

Raspberry Pi enthusiasts keen on uniting Linux with their spanking new quad-core Pi 2 toy will be pleased to know that Snappy Ubuntu Core will run on it.

The new $35 Raspberry Pi 2 single board computer is a drool worthy device for developers, innovators and hackers who no longer have to fret about resource constraints.

Raspberry Pi 2 – A Steal at $35

“Ubuntu has been a key missing piece on our operating system support for the Raspberry Pi. We are looking forward to seeing what new things people are able to do with Snappy Ubuntu Core on the Raspberry Pi 2,” says Eben Upton, Founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Still in beta, Snappy Ubuntu Core offers a minimal server image for clouds and devices. In the Snappy iteration of Ubuntu, the OS and application files are kept completely separate, as a set of distinct read-only images enhancing overall security and stability.

Just in case you’ve arrived lately from Mars, Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that you can hook up to a regular monitor or TV. The cool little marvel works with a standard keyboard and mouse and whatever you can do on a PC (browse the net, watch videos, play games etc) you should be able to do without sweat on the Raspberry Pi 2.

Until today, the Raspberry Pi device was constrained by the processor and memory. But with a quad-core processor and 1GB memory, a lot more can be accomplished with it now.

Raspberry Pi 2 Features:
* 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU (~6x performance)
* 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM (2x memory)
* Compatibility with Raspberry Pi 1

Raspberry Pi 2 is available at element14 and RS Components. I’ll pick up a unit when it hits Amazon.com in the U.S.

Ever since the Firefox people started talking about inserting ads in the browser, my agony has known no bounds.

Is there no hope for ordinary folks to go about their daily online lives without being molested (tracked) by giant corporations like Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Google (Chrome) or Apple (Safari) or bombarded by ads as some idiots with cockamamie ideas want to.

So it was with great delight I stumbled upon reports of a new browser exclusively for Linux called Fifth.

The new browser is the work of Finnish developer Lauri Kasanen.

Based on information provided by Kasanen, Fifth browser seems to do well on memory use (less compared to other browsers)  but badly on cold startup.

Fifth – Details

Borrowing the best features from Opera browser, Fifth is based on a custom Webkit port to FLTK and licensed under GPLv3.

Here are other key features of Fifth:

* Supports best features of Opera like speed dial, content blocking and per-site settings

* SSL certificates are handled in a SSH-like way and Certificate Authorities are ignored because of “rogue CAs and governments”

* Provides users the ability to spoof several items routinely used by web sites and tracking companies to profile visitors

* Absence of support for ‘misfeatures’ like WebGL, WebCL, plugins, audio and video that degrade user experience and/or expose a huge attack surface, and instead video is replaced with download and stream buttons

Visit Sourceforge to download Fifth.

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Read the details about Fifth