by I have been keeping a list of "Mail Order Linux Workstation Vendors"
which I post from time to time in this and other newsgroups.
None of the three major mail order companies (AMBRA, Dell and Gateway)
that I contacted was willing to install Linux on any of the machines
that they sell so it is unclear which (if any) of their machines will
run Linux and the X Window System. All of the vendors listed below
will install Linux on the machines that they sell but provide varying
amounts of support for it. I have not dealt with any of these vendors
except 20/20 Technologies so I cannot recommend them to you.
But I have received numerous glowing testimonials for some of them
so perhaps people who have dealt with them will post a followup
to this article and tell us more about them.
Three vendors (20/20 Technologies, SW Technology and Fintronic USA, Inc.)
sell 486 based workstations which run Linux and the X Window System.
In order to get a feel for the prices these vendors were charging,
I asked each vendor to give me a quote for the following configuration:
* 66 MHz 486DX/2 with 3 VESA Local Bus slots
* 8 MB 70 ns System Memory
* 16 bit IDE Hard/Floppy Controller and I/O card
* 425 MB 3.5" 12 ms. Hard Disk Drive
* 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
* 32 bit VESA Local Bus, 1280x1024, 1 MB Super VGA graphics card
* 15" 0.28 mm dot pitch Non-Interlaced color monitor
* Mini-tower case and power supply
* 101 key Keyboard
* 3 button high resolution serial mouse
* Linux, X, Open Windows, LaTeX, TeX, C++, etc.
* Two Year warrantee
20/20 Technologies
1786 Westwood Boulevard
West Los Angeles, CA 90024
Tel: (310) 441-8855
(800) 486-2020
Fax: (310) 441-8869
Price: $1669
Contact: Kurt Costen
SW Technology
251 West Renner Suite 229
Richardson, TX 75080
Tel: (214) 907-0871
Price: $1685
Contact: Marvin Wu
Fintronic USA, Inc.
1360 Willow Rd., Suite 205
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel: (415) 325-4474
Fax: (415) 325-4908
Price: $2130.59
Contact: Larry M. Augustin