The FLOSS four, then and now.

“Okay, so now that you’ve downloaded the brand-spanking-new
version of Ubuntu, what are you going to run it on?

“A similar question faced Linux users more than a decade ago.
Desktop Linux distributions have always run on commodity hardware,
but late in the last century a quartet of computer makers went a
little bit further:

“HP, IBM, Dell and Compaq formed the principal group of hardware
vendors that made high-profile statements of support for GNU/Linux
in 1999…

“– Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution

“Granted, the support of which they spoke was really about the
deployment of Red Hat Linux in business environments — but
even this was a huge deal at the time, and gave both Linux and the
FLOSS movement in general some much-needed credibility in the wider
world.”

Complete
Story