Thanks to Brian Keay for this
link.
“EBIZ Enterprises thinks so. It’s marketing a $199 Linux
computer aimed at newbies”
“How do you build a computer that appeals to both the high-end
power user and the low-end, entry-level laymen? And retails for
less than $200? That’s the question the developers at EBIZ
Enterprises asked themselves, and the answer they came up with may
surprise you. In mid-August EBIZ will launch the Pia, the ‘Personal
Internet Appliance,’ a user-friendly desktop machine that retails
for $199 and runs pure, unadulterated Linux.”
“Linux, as you may or may not know, is an operating system for
the PC that was invented in 1991 by the Finnish programmer Linus
Torvalds while he was still a student. Since then it’s developed a
cult following, partly because of its reputation for speed,
flexibility and stability, and partly because Torvalds has chosen
to give it away for free. This latter is the major reason why EBIZ
chose Linux for the Pia. By choosing not to use Windows, says EBIZ
CEO Jeffrey Rassas, ‘we’re taking away the computer’s single most
expensive component.'”