Is Dell Just Testing the Market?

sarig_magik asks: "It seems that Dell is testing the Linux desktop market worldwide, and their choice of desktop is Linspire 4.51. I wonder how Microsoft will view Dell, now? Could this be a real attempt to gain a foothold before any of the other distributors do? We know the hardware vendor, but can anyone comment on the choice of OS?" Although Dell is offering a system with a preloaded Linux Desktop, they aren't doing it here in the US, but through their Italian partner, Questar. While the choice of Linspire as a desktop may leave a few of you underwhelmed, this does seem to be a step in the right direction. Is Dell testing the market? Of course they are. How well do you think they will do?

Methinks not

[Magada]

It ain't no test, just the usual amount of freedom of movement Dell grant to their partners. Don't look for this to propagate in a top-down manner.

Eh, it'll do ok, but not great

[GuyinVA]

Like it or not, MS still has a strong hold on the corporate enviroment. While I think it's a good thing that Dell is going this route, it'll only have marginally decent results.

Not Very Well

[Gumph]

I think Linspire is too unknown/controversial.
If I was buying a new linux distro, I would go with Either Redhat (known and trusted) or Suse (rising star) not some recently name changed article
IMHO of course

the REAL question is...

[Richthofen80]

Because it comes with the Linux distro pre-installed, is the computer $99 less because it hasn't paid the 'microsoft tax'?

its a good marketing move to sell to people who don't want to buy / have Windows XP.

A very interesting game of chicken

[foidulus]

or maybe in this case I should say penguin *rim shot*
Anywho, there is probably no way Dell could survive if it invoked the ire of Microsoft and MS refused to sell them licenses(or at least reduced cost ones). However, I think that Dell is pretty confident that MS will not do this unless they REALLY want the anti-monopolists breathing down their neck...
Maybe then the DOJ could do it's job

Check back in a year

[TopShelf]

Presumably, this is more of a test run to work through operational issues (providing Linux support, drivers, etc.). Look for a more serious effort in a year or so. And don't forget Sun, aren't they pushing a Linux desktop now, too?

I have a question.....

[theJerk242]

Although Dell is offering a system with a preloaded Linux Desktop, they aren't doing it here in the US, but through their Italian partner, Questar

Please go easy on me....but why is Dell not doing it in the US?

Testing the Waters

[pete-classic]

I worked for Dell from '98 to early '00. During that time they went from "testing the waters" to fairly comitted (with an "apliance" that came in two flavors: Linux and Netware). Then sort of back to testing the waters.

Now its '04 and they are testing the waters.

I think that it would be better to say that they are perpetually ready to "go Linux" if and when it makes sense, but MS still pretty much has them by the short hairs.

-Peter

Re:For the second? third? time?

[Otter]

Yeah, I was wondering if I was the only one old enough to remember the 20th century. Remember when every big PC vendor was announcing some partnership with a Linux startup? Dell and Red Hat! HP and Eazel! Compaq and Ximian! Dell and Eazel! HP and Ximian! Pretty much nothing came of it -- so little, in fact, that these new stories are reported with "The unthinkable has happened!"

Anyway, to answer the submitters question: Dell doesn't sit around trying software until they find something they like and want to ship. Partners come to them and pitch deals to them. If Dell (or their hardware partner) is going with Lindows it's because Michael Robertson made them a deal they couldn't refuse. It's that simple.

Re:For the second? third? time?

[Polkyb]

Dell still do offer a RedHat solution here in the UK, but, only for the server market. You cannot get Linux on a desktop, however, they have recently started shipping desktops with FreeDOS, so you don't HAVE to buy Windows

Re:It's a good start

[agraupe]

That's a good point. I didn't think about that. Still, I have linux installed on two dell machines (soon to be a third) and I find they don't use Windows-only hardware. I also ran Knoppix on some *really* old dells at school (before the BIOS were password-protected), and they worked fine. Remember that Dell has been offering linux for servers for a while now.

Re:Good start? Why was RH not?

[chris_mahan]

That's because you were a windows user before.
Now imagine someone who has never had a computer. (6 billion people minus 600 million computers still leaves 5.4 billion people (and that's not taking into account the fact that many americans/europeans use one at work and one at home))

Is that person going to be OK with linspire?

What if there were 600 million linspire users out there? you know, in the same vein as "there are 40 million AOL users out there".

Feedback loops

[Artifakt]

Loop 1
1. Microsoft selected which OEM makers would be allowed steep discounts on its bundled software for about the last decade.
2. This pruned the small, Mom & Pop OEMs, speeding up the process of a few bigger industry members becoming dominant.
3. Even though Microsoft generally did business with all the remaining larger OEMs, raising the threshold startup costs for new competitors entering the market made the competition one limited to the existing ones, which helped trigger and speed up the OEM shakedown that has left Dell in a dominant position.
4. Dell, being number 1, becomes powerful enough to push back at Microsoft, at least a little.
5. Micosoft profits fall as they have to cut a better deal with Dell.

Loop 2
1. Microsoft delays production of Longhorn and other software repeatedly.
2. Newer, faster computers not needed to run newer, bigger programs.
3. Industy wide OEM sales become sluggish, Dell doesn't have the profit margin to push very hard at Microsoft, but Microsoft can't afford to gouge Dell with the whole industry tepid.
4. If Microsoft succeeds in selling bigger, shinyier software that raises OEM sales numbers, Dell gains more power to break away. If Microsoft fails, Dell sales become flat, with no margin to be shaved off to increase MS profits.

Marketing opportunity?

[travail_jgd]

I think the first big vendor[1] to properly commit to shipping Linux-based systems has the opportunity to make a killing.

Anyone can sell a cheap x86 box (Windows or Linux) to Joe Sixpack.

The first big vendor that offers a complete Linux system can really rack up the profits. By system I mean modem, networking, scanner and printer. The vendor would be in a position to (somewhat) honestly claim "if you don't buy from us, good luck getting it to work." Reinvest the MS-tax in Crossover Office, so they can advertise compatibility with Office, Photoshop, etc[2].

[1] Big == national, with an advertising budget to reach non-geeks.

[2] Having Office compatibility makes switching to Linux easier to swallow for Joe Sixpack -- even if he never uses it.

Re:Legal problems

[ePhil_One]

You're right, Dell [dell.com] would never [dell.com] offer Linux [dell.com] in the US.

Testing? Or a clever ploy....

[Fenis-Wolf]

Is this a 'test' run? I doubt it. More than likely I'd guess that this is a clever move by Dell to put some pressure on Microsoft.

Dell is a major PC manufacturer, so by 'offering' Linux as an 'alternative' they could be leaning on Microsoft for some sort of better deal, perhaps a slight lessening of the cost for each copy of Windows they buy? We all know in this day and age 'Cost is King' and every dollar they save will likely help them save loads of new computers.

http://michfilmfestival.com

http://a2tech.us

default root login

[kabloom]

Does Linspire still have the default root login thing I heard so much about? How's their security compared to other distros?

Re:Testing the Waters

[dave420]

Windows XP ships for $200. Dell sells PCs ranging in price up to ten thousand dollars. How are you saying that's MS having Dell by the shorts? I'm not arguing, it's something I can't see. Dell doesn't get commission from Microsoft, which is the only way it can add leverage to its position as sole supplier of the OS. It's not financially possible for MS to cripple dell, short of charging them $8,000 per license, which isn't going to happen ;)

Mozilla, OpenOffice?

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

Vastly more interesting to me would be if a major vendor started shipping all their computers with Mozilla based browser and e-mail, and OpenOffice as an alternative to the very expensive Microsoft Office. Get people used to using the open tools, then the next time you sell a computer you can sell an open OS.

Re:Eh, it'll do ok, but not great

[editingwhiz]

We may be talking semantics here. Questar sells the pre-loaded Linux machines. Dell assembles them in Ireland. They are shipped from the Dell factory to wherever the Questar customer is located. Questar, or the customer, may be paying the shipping bills -- I don't know. But the machines begin life in Dell's factory and are moved from there.

My columns say specifically that you cannot buy one of these machines on a Dell Web site, or in a retail store. That is not a question.

No wires crossed that I can see. Dell media relations office in Round Rock, by the way, has yet to return two very clear and simple calls from me -- one last week, and one today, asking for explanation. This is their full-time job, to respond to journalists. Normally, companies are very responsive in situations like this. Could it be that the company is wary of talking to me, beause I have confirmed information that it cannot refute?

/cp