Will the first Linux carwash clean up?

Trading has started slowly at the world's first Linux-only computer shop and carwash. The pioneering retail concept has only been open a week, and is selling "a few systems a day", says co-founder David Silverman. Plus lots of carwashes. Sub500.com is the brainchild of Marc (32) and David Silverman (37), carwash owners, computer parts brokers and online retailers. They have opened a small Linux-only computer store in a room at the front of their carwash on Dufferin Street, in the northern suburbs of Toronto, a neighbourhood of large malls and offices cheered only by a few friendly Italian restaurants and cafes.

It has been hailed as the world's first Linux store, though some posters on Slashdot mentioned a store in Australia and defunct outlets in Georgia and Texas. The new Toronto shop is a spin-off from their online Linux shops, Canada-focused Sub500.com and Sub300.com, a US-focused site that accounts for 90 per cent of their trade.

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