Wal-Mart stores have stopped selling computers that run the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows because customers weren't interested, a spokeswoman said Monday.
"This really wasn't what our customers were looking for," said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien.
To test demand for systems with the open-source operating system, Wal-Mart stocked the 199 U.S. dollar "Green gPC," made by Everex of Taiwan, in about 600 stores starting late in October.
Walmart.com, the chain's e-commerce site, had sold Linux-based computers before and will continue selling the gPC. This was the first time they appeared on retail shelves.
Wal-Mart sold out the in-store gPC inventory but decided not to restock, O'Brien said. The company does not reveal sales figures for individual items.
Walmart.com now carries an updated version, the gPC2, also for 199 dollars, without a monitor. The site also sells a tiny Linux-driven laptop, the Everex CloudBook, for 399 dollars.
Linux software is maintained and developed by individuals and companies around the world on an "open source" basis, meaning that everyone has access to the software's blueprints and can modify them.
Linux is in widespread use in server computers, but it hasn't made a dent in the desktop market. Surveys usually put its share of that market around 1 percent, far behind Windows and Apple Inc.'s OS X.
Source: Xinhua/Agencies
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