Dell Chooses Ubuntu

[Jimmy 2004]

It’s been no secret that Dell has been planning to offer Linux as an option of some of its PCs to please customers, but until now there’s been no strong indication of which distribution it is likely to choose. Red Hat and SUSE were strong contenders because Dell already certifies some of its models to work with those distributions, but now it seems the PC manufacturer has opted to go with Ubuntu Linux. ‘Feisty Fawn’ (the newest version of Ubuntu) should be available to Dell customers from the end of May on both desktop and notebook models, although Dell has not specified which systems will and won’t offer Linux as an extra. Buyers will also be able to chose to purchase optional support if they wish, although Dell has not revealed whether Linux itself will be free or require a charge (it is possible the basic models will be shipped with Ubuntu by default and customers may have to pay to upgrade to Windows).

Source: CNET

[WarEagleAU]

Nice Linux choice there. I was given like 50 cds for free from them and I Didnt even have to pay shipping. Gave them out to friends, stores, etc. Nice choice Dell.

[overcast]

..and the type of people (besides corporate), that buy through Dell, will not be interested in Linux or even know what it is for that matter. All of the suggestions, and complaints that Dell didn't offer it, were from all the people who build and play with their own custom stuff anyhow. I guess corporate side this could be a big deal though.

[GJSNeptune]

Originally Posted by WarEagleAU

Nice Linux choice there. I was given like 50 cds for free from them and I Didnt even have to pay shipping. Gave them out to friends, stores, etc. Nice choice Dell.

Yep. I still have ten CDs of an older version somewhere.

[Jimmy 2004]

Originally Posted by overcast

..and the type of people (besides corporate), that buy through Dell, will not be interested in Linux or even know what it is for that matter. All of the suggestions, and complaints that Dell didn't offer it, were from all the people who build and play with their own custom stuff anyhow. I guess corporate side this could be a big deal though.

I don't know - I can understand that most people won't be able to adapt to Linux as a main OS (after all, it doesn't do as much as Windows for the standard home user) but IIRC this was very high on the list of what people wanted from Dell, and it it were offered as a free extra then quite a few people may give it a go just to see what it's like (I doubt they would be allowed to charge much for it), which will give Linux a bit more attention.

[overcast]

Originally Posted by Jimmy 2004

I don't know - I can understand that most people won't be able to adapt to Linux as a main OS (after all, it doesn't do as much as Windows for the standard home user) but IIRC this was very high on the list of what people wanted from Dell, and it it were offered as a free extra then quite a few people may give it a go just to see what it's like (I doubt they would be allowed to charge much for it), which will give Linux a bit more attention.

You might not be charged for the software, but Dell is absolutely working fees in there for support. Training , staffing etc is going to be very high for Linux.

[Solaris17]

im,glad because now over the phone someone dumb is gonna say yes to linux and even if they format it will become more mainstream and alot more ppl will experiance it.

[GJSNeptune]

Originally Posted by overcast

..and the type of people (besides corporate), that buy through Dell, will not be interested in Linux or even know what it is for that matter. All of the suggestions, and complaints that Dell didn't offer it, were from all the people who build and play with their own custom stuff anyhow. I guess corporate side this could be a big deal though.

Wait, what? Big corporations have Windows-biased IT people? I highly doubt that these IT departments are filled with nerds who don't know what Linux is, and I'd bet a lot of them dabble in it.

[overcast]

Originally Posted by GJSNeptune

Wait, what? Big corporations have Windows-biased IT people? I highly doubt that these IT departments are filled with nerds who don't know what Linux is, and I'd bet a lot of them dabble in it.

What are you talking about, did I not state TWICE in my response that I was excluding corporations? Regardless if the IT departments are filled with nerds who use Linux for personal and server usage, the desktops are all going to be Windows based. End of story. Mark my words, Dell will ditch this big Linux push by years end.

[GJSNeptune]

Oh, heh. I thought you said corporations. My bad.

[Easy Rhino]

that is good news for the good folks over at ubuntu. fiesty is by far the most complete linux release to date for the desktop user. it is easy to use and install and has plenty of software to download including support through an active forum system. heck i even switched from freebsd on my laptop (still have it on my home network server) to kubuntu because of a few nice options that havnt been ported yet to freebsd. although it may hog more resources than freebsd running kde it is still far superior to running windows 2000 (it is an old laptop 900mhz 256 megs ram.)

[jydie]

I bet that a lot of people buy a computer so that they can get on the internet, write and print documents, and play simple games like Bejeweled... and Ubuntu can do those very well. My parents would be just as happy with a Linux system as they would be with a Windows system. Now, my nephews would be better off with Windows, because they want to play the latest games. If World of Warcraft was directly compatible with Linux, then I would hardly need to use Windows at all.

Anyway, this is great news for Linux! I love Ubuntu and as others have said, this will get the operating system on a lot of systems. A lot of people may try it and decide that they want Windows... but even if 15% decide Ubuntu is good enough for them, then that would be a little more competition for Microsoft!!

I do agree with Overcast... I have a hunch that Dell will drop this by years end. But, I would love to see it catch on and stick around much longer.

[lpfreak]

I will laugh if it eventually gives you windows as a base and you have to pay to upgrade to linux

[PVTCaboose1337]

Great idea. Love ubuntu.

[Easy Rhino]

let me go off for a moment...the only reason to run windows is for games IMO. vista is bloatware but is a neccesary evil for dx 10 games. if im going to surf the net/play music or watch movies or heck even write a paper i can do it with linux on a very cheap system. if i need to photoshop or do video editing or really anything artistic ill do it on a mac. now if i wasnt a pc snob i would do all my gaming on a console but alas i enjoy pc gaming so i must use vista.