Dell Opens a Poll On Linux Options

narramissic writes "In response to overwhelming user demand for Linux, Dell has posted a survey on a company blog that asks 'PC users to choose between Linux flavors such as Fedora and Ubuntu, and to pick more general choices such as notebooks versus desktops, high-end models versus value models and telephone-based support versus community-based support.' Votes will be collected through March 23, and Dell plans to use the feedback to begin selling Linux-based consumer PCs." The poll is pretty minimal. Wonder how much it will really guide Dell's choices.

Re:None Please (or DOS if you must)

[Anonymous Coward]

I mostly agree with you, but I also want hardware that can be supported by Linux without pulling out my hair. No winmodems, for example. For that reason, I'd be happy with any version of Linux installed which I can then replace.

Survey Contents

[pavon]

The page loaded for me (but wouldn't submit). Here are the questions, for the curious. And yes the first line was really at the top of the page - an unexpected joy of automation :)

Dell recommends Windows Vista(TM) Business.

Linux Learnings: We're Listening

Thanks for visiting the Dell Linux Survey webpage. Please answer the following questions to help us determine how to best prioritize our resources for this effort.
(Survey will be open March 13-March 23)

1) Would your Dell system with Linux factory installed be for home or office use?
        Home Use
        Office Use
        Both

2) Which systems should we prioritize on for Linux factory installation? (Rank Order: 1=highest, 6=lowest)
        Inspiron notebooks
        Dimension desktops
        XPS notebooks
        XPS desktops
        Latitude business notebooks
        OptiPlex business desktops

3) What types of activities will you perform on your Dell system with Linux factory installed? (Rank order: 1=highest, 9=lowest if not using for specific listed purpose, leave blank)
        Basic productivity
        Email
        Web browsing
        Photo editing and management
        Gaming
        Music
        Video editing
        Software development
        Other:

4) Which languages should we prioritize on?
        English
        Japanese
        French
        German
        Spanish
        Mandarin
        Other:

5) For a tested & validated Linux install, what type of software support would you require?
        Existing community support structures for Linux that already exist with Dell participating more
        Email and online support forums through Dell
        Fee-based OS phone support
        Other:

6) Which Linux distribution should Dell prioritize on?
        Commercial: Novell/SuSE Linux Desktop
        Commercial: Red Hat Enterprise Desktop
        Community Supported: Fedora
        Community Supported: OpenSUSE
        Community Supported: Ubuntu
        Other:

For those of you who want to fill this out

[randolph]

Here's a summary of the computers they list:

Inspiron
    consumer laptop
Dimension
    consumer desktop
XPS
    high-end consumer systems. Also good systems for serious artists.
support is thin
Latitude business notebooks
    just what the name says
OptiPlex business desktops
    just what the name says

The survey falls under the Dell small business marketing category

Re:Doh! It's the servers, stupid!

[MP3Chuck]

Their servers are already available with Windows, RHEL, SUSE, or without an OS at all.

Re:No Poll?

[VP]

It's working now...

Re:Take the easy way - dump it on Linus.

[dhasenan]

If you have a decent partition scheme, you can have Dell's rescue disk wipe out /boot and /, but leave /home intact. Then you'd have to reset all your passwords, but other than that you'd be fine -- no lost data, just applications (and most of them easy enough to reinstall).

Re:I think what he means

[PitaBred]

I just bought a notebook, so I'm not in the market, but if Dell had had a performance notebook that shipped with Linux when I was shopping, I'd have bought it. Does that mean my vote doesn't count?

Re:Dell?

[mrchaotica]

Most of the people who say this haven't actually looked at the price situation recently.

I'm one of the people who have, and I'll tell you he's right. I bought a Thinkpad X60 tablet directly from Lenovo back in December (and got it in February -- Lenovo's supply problems suck). Before doing so, I also checked Emperor Linux, Inc. [emperorlinux.com], which is the only one I've heard of that sells X60s with Linux. The specific configuration (high-res screen but otherwise low-end) I ordered is not available from them, but even their cheapest configuration is several hundred dollars more than I spent ($2300 vs. ~$2000). And if I had bought the SXGA version from them I would have had to spend $3500, which is a whopping fifteen hundred dollar markup!

I like Linux and want to support it, but I can't afford to support it that much!

Re:Smells like a trap.

[poopdeville]

Because if you know that a Linux distro works on the hardware, they all will in a short span of time.