New computer store first to feature Linux gear
Opening hailed as historic event
Windows rival grows in popularity
TYLER HAMILTON
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Toronto will become home this weekend to what's being touted as the
first retail computer store devoted exclusively to Linux-based products.
Sub500.com, located at 2930 Dufferin St. near Lawrence Ave., will sell
PCs and laptop computers based on the increasingly popular and
relatively inexpensive open-source operating system, which has emerged
as a serious alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows.
Linux has already grabbed a significant share of the corporate server
market and a growing number of Linux software providers, Red Hat,
Mandrake, Xandros and Lindows among them, are beginning to promote the
operating system for business and home use.
Marc and David Silverman, 32 and 37, respectively, have been selling
Linux products over the Web for 18 months. The brothers also operate a
car wash on Dufferin St. and figured they could use surplus office space
at that location to open a Linux store.
Marc Silverman said many people are tired of having "Microsoft shoved
down their throats" and a store dedicated to Linux gives the average
computer user a chance to test computers and applications based on the
operating system before making a purchase.
The store will have Linux experts to answer questions and a service
centre that can handle repairs and upgrades.
The brothers will initially sell laptops and personal computers based on
Lindow Inc.'s Linspire, a user-friendly Windows-like version of Linux.
PCs will cost from $299 to $979, while laptops will sell for as low as
$1,111.
Linspire add-on software packages containing personal finance, word
processing, spreadsheets and photo-editing applications, as well as
games, will sell for less than $50.
Marc Silverman said Linspire offers "a good way for the average guy to
get out of Windows," though the brothers plan to add other versions of
Linux in the coming months.
"We're going to carry the whole line-up."
Michael Robinson, chief executive officer of Lindows, went so far as to
call the upcoming opening of the new store a "historical event for the
Linux industry." That's because most current Linux users must download
and install the operating system and related applications themselves, as
there are few retailers who sell and service pre-loaded Linux computers.
Marc Silverman said the store is an experimental "one-off" at the moment.
"But if things work well we would definitely expand."
Montreal would likely be the next target city, he added.
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