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Linux Business Hardware

Dell to Sell Machines with Ubuntu Pre-Loaded 562

Posted by Zonk from the a-decision-is-made dept.
kotj.mf writes "Cnet is reporting that Dell will shortly announce a partnership with Canonical to offer Ubuntu pre-loaded on certain consumer-oriented desktops and notebooks. The announcement comes after a groundswell of support for pre-installed Linux on Dell's IdeaStorm site. 'The company is starting its business by trying to appeal to users of desktop computers. From there, Canonical Chief Executive Mark Shuttleworth has said, the company plans to head to the server market, where the real Linux bread and butter can be found. [Dell spokesman Kent] Cook wouldn't comment on whether Dell plans to offer Ubuntu on its servers as well.'."
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Dell to Sell Machines with Ubuntu Pre-Loaded More

Dell to Sell Machines with Ubuntu Pre-Loaded

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  • Vista (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rhennigan ( 833589 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @08:57AM (#18940027)
    I think we owe this to Microsoft. This would never have happened were it not for Vista.

    • Re:Vista (Score:5, Informative)

      by borizz ( 1023175 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:01AM (#18940087)
      I don't agree. What has Vista got to do with it? Linux (and Ubuntu) gained a user base large enough to gather some attention.

      • Re:Vista (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jkrise ( 535370 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @10:41AM (#18941675) Journal
        What has Vista got to do with it? Linux (and Ubuntu) gained a user base large enough to gather some attention.

        For the first time, the learning curve, legacy hardware and software compatibility and cost of adoption for the latest Windows operating system (Vista) is greater than a well-known Linux distribution. Microsoft must be congratulated for this stupendous engineering effort.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by deviceb ( 958415 )
        give me a break. it has everything to do with it... kick em when there down. You do not think Dell is looking constantly for alternatives to MS?? They do not want a piece of the image MAC is generating? Did you think of how many people are complaining about there new Dell computers that are not functioning correctly. Add that to the growing fuzzy glow Ubuntu is generating.. as well as people watching MAC commercials. It's a great idea for Dell, I hope HP jumps on board. My HP notebook kicks ass with

    • Re:Vista (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:09AM (#18940227)
      It is because of Microsoft, but not in the way slashies hope.

      Dell just created a bargaining chip in pricing negotiations Windows licenses for their bread and butter business.

      • Re:Vista (Score:5, Insightful)

        by dAzED1 ( 33635 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:43AM (#18940723) Journal
        also, the CIA was behind 9/11 - as we could see in Oakland this last weekend, concrete and steel don't melt and become unstable.

        It could be, and I know this is crazy, but it could be that what lots of people have requested (or several people have requested many times each, depending), Dell is simply providing. There is a potential demand, but no supply. Dell knows they did a piss-poor attempt with their previous Linux offerings, so they can't really count that failure against Linux on the Desktop as a paradigm. Additionally, it has been a few years, and Linux has matured in the desktop world a bit more.

        What Ubuntu brings in to all this is an integrated role-based system with handy tools and such. This means Dell can sleep a little better at night not thinking everyone is logged in as root on their boxes, surfing the web. RedHat doesn't do this, and Ubuntu has this huge silly grassroots thing right now (a grassroots movement that will feel the sting of betrayal in about 18 months, by my guess).

        There are actual reasons to do this, sans some silly bargaining chip for negotiations with MS. Sometimes a cigar is, indeed, just a cigar.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Chris Burke ( 6130 )
          The idea of a Dell using the threat of introducing a competitor's product to their mix so as to get preferential pricing from a monopoly vendor is not really a conspiracy theory. It's what Dell was doing with Intel for the better part of a decade. They would constantly mention the possibility of using AMD parts, and invite AMD reps over to sign the guestbook, so Intel would stay on its toes. Dell isn't a monopoly, but they are huge and their being exclusively Intel was a major help to Intel maintaining t

    • Drivers, Drivers, Drivers, Drivers! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ibi ( 61235 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @10:42AM (#18941683)
      [Cue monkey boy dance]. The biggest benefit that could come out of this for *all* Linux users would be better hardware support. If manufactures think that "Hey, no Linux driver means we're not supporting part of Dell's consumer line" they might get serious about writing (open?) drivers or at least making it easier for the community to support their stuff.

      And if Linux can end up being 5% of Dell's consumer sales (though even that might be optimistic) it's going to have a huge effect - because Dell is more likely to bundle stuff that will work with their entire line, not just 95% of it. Supporting one type of hardware is cheaper than two. (Though, of course, so it supporting only one kind of OS, which is how we got here :-) It would be so great if you could just assume that any random printer would totally work with Linux...

  • Yep. (Score:2)

    by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
    A friend I know that works for Dell found a time line for selling selling systems with Ubuntu a few weeks ago. I would have rather seen OpenSuse but such is life.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by stinerman ( 812158 )
      Yeah, openSUSE. And then there'd be a flamewar about how Dell is still in bed with Microsoft.

      Really, I expected it to be openSUSE for just that reason. Now, the question is how much Microsoft will retaliate with respect to Vista licences in the future.

      Seeing as I don't buy computers (I buy parts and then assemble them), this doesn't affect me much, but all the same it's good that people are getting more choices.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by towsonu2003 ( 928663 )

      I would have rather seen OpenSuse but such is life.
      For god's sake, STFU. They're selling Linux desktops...

    • Re:Yep. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by porkThreeWays ( 895269 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:20AM (#18940367)
      Sometimes you just have to take leadership and make a choice. It may not be the perfect choice, but it's a final decision that will get things rolling forward. I already know there will be a billion posts arguing why another distribution is better than another, but the point is moot. Ubuntu is a great distro. There are other distros out there that are great too. Distrowatch ranks it at #1 in popularity. Also, the choice of Ubuntu will make many in the community happy as Ubuntu isn't controversial with its licensing. A high quality, popular, FOSS distro. They could have made other choices, but I think Ubuntu will make the most amount of people happy, is an extremely safe decision, and they only have to support a single distro.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jimstapleton ( 999106 )
      And I'd have prefered FreeBSD.

      The fact of the matter is, at least they are moving in a right direction, and as far as non-windows operating systems go, Ubuntu is probably their best best to gain popularity.

      And if it works on Ubuntu, you can believe it'll work on FreeBSD within a month - the drivers will be much easier to make/port, and it'll be a good target for the FreeBSD devs.

      Actually, that can be said for many OSS operating systems, for that matter.

  • So who's going to buy them? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eln ( 21727 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @08:59AM (#18940051)
    People on the Internet (places like Slashdot in particular) have been begging Dell for this for years. Now, it's time to see how many of those people were doing it just on principle or to be part of the crowd, and how many did it because they actually were planning on purchasing such a box.

    Dell may offer this, but I guarantee they won't be advertising it as heavily as they do their Windows boxes, so the only real way for it to work, at least to start off, is for all these people that were begging for Dells with Ubuntu loaded on them to go out and buy a Dell with Ubuntu loaded on it. Joe Blow won't be buying these yet, not until there are enough early adopters out there to generate a buzz.
    • I for one look forward to my heater running ubuntu

      Did I say heater? I meant computer...

    • Re:So who's going to buy them? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Billosaur ( 927319 ) * <wgrother@optonline. n e t> on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:06AM (#18940165) Journal

      Personally, I have resisted the siren call of Dell for a long time. This changes my mind. I need a new machine and this could be just the ticket -- it was either that or refurb an old HP with a new HD and a copy of Feisty Fawn. I like the idea of it pre-loaded.

  • Will people buy it?? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Hokie06 ( 986634 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:00AM (#18940059)
    Now lets see if half of those people that voted for Linux on the ideastorm site actually buy a machine. Because if this flops it will seriously hurt Linux in the mainstream market.

    • Re:Will people buy it?? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Hercynium ( 237328 ) <Hercynium@gm a i l .com> on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:43AM (#18940729) Homepage Journal
      Bingo.

      Of course... I'm about to purchase two new machines for friends who A. Need new computers and B. Are really frustrated with Windows.

      I gave one an Edgy Eft Live CD and the other a Feisty Fawn Live CD to see if they felt they could use Linux instead... *both* had the same, very minor, complaints - Websites with Flash and Java don't work (drop-dead easy to fix, esp. in Feisty) and they felt it was kinda slow, running from the CD (duh) Of course, the sad part is that their Windows installations were actually *slower* because of poor maintenance.

      If Dell does it right and includes Flash, Java, DVD-playback and other common video codecs, and charges the same as or less than the Windows-based systems, I'll jump. I'm assuming that proper driver support is a given.

      Granted, this also puts a challenge to Canonical - STOP BREAKING DRIVERS!!! Every new release seems to have a spate of driver-compatibility regressions. I know this is due to the nature of upstream maintenance vs. distro maintenance, but it's time for them to step up to the plate and make it a non-issue.

      Again - all players will have to do it right for this to be a win-win.

  • What? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by OECD ( 639690 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:00AM (#18940081) Journal

    The company is starting its business by trying to appeal to users of desktop computers. From there, Canonical Chief Executive Mark Shuttleworth has said, the company plans to head to the server market, where the real Linux bread and butter can be found...

    What? If servers are where the money is, why not start there? If I was a stockholder I'd be concerned about that approach.

    • Re:What? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by eln ( 21727 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:03AM (#18940123)
      It's kind of silly to say that Dell isn't already making tons of money on the Linux server market. After all, Dell sells tons of server hardware with no OS pre-loaded. Quite a lot of those servers end up with Linux on them. Most companies will have their own images of Linux that they use for their servers, so preloading it is a waste of time. Any pre-loaded image will just get blown away anyway.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jdunn14 ( 455930 )
      Well, just a guess, but I'd say customers who want to buy Linux are likely geeks willing to tinker. On the other hand, a business may have higher demands that things work out of the box. If this is the case then testing compatibility through desktop systems might make more sense.
    • 'What? If servers are where the money is, why not start there? If I was a stockholder I'd be concerned about that approach'

      A Dell/Ubuntu desktop gets higher visibility. What would really allow it to take off is when the average users can walk into the high street computer shop and buy one. Dell should create franchises around 'Dell shops' something like the Apple stores and sell a total stack from the desktop to the server. They should also consider getting into the Digital Multimedia market.

      was Re:Wh

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Ed Avis ( 5917 )
      Er, Mark Shuttleworth is the stockholder...

    • Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Kjella ( 173770 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:30AM (#18940521) Homepage
      CIO: "Let's see now, you're a startup incorporated two months ago, with no past experience building a Linux distro and no track record of reliability or usability. I've asked my tech people about you, but you're generally unknown to them. You want us to trust our enterprise servers to you?" *hysterical laughter* "No."

      as opposed to:
      CIO: "I see you've for the last few years have built a generally acclaimed Linux distribution focused on the desktop and usability. and fairly stably as desktop distributions go. Those of my techs that have tried it gives it high prise. Now you're telling me you'd like to expand on this to provide more server-oriented solutions? Of course I expect a good price and tight follow-up from your support since your new in this market, but you've got your foot in the door."
  • I would have bet a bunch that they would only support Suse. Part of an embrace and extinguish campaign. This is good news.

  • Linux needs no Windows Tax (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rayde ( 738949 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:03AM (#18940125) Homepage
    i remember seeing dell machines that offered linux instead of windows in the past.. but the prices were the same or HIGHER for linux! Dell will need to address this, and offer these dellbuntu boxes at lower price. the OS is free! if they need to include a price to cover support costs, it should still not be equal to or greater than the cost of including Vista!

    • Re:Linux needs no Windows Tax (Score:5, Insightful)

      by physicsnick ( 1031656 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:13AM (#18940267)
      The problem with Windows machines is that you don't just get Windows; you get Windows and a pile of craplets, which companies are paying Dell to supply to you. Windows can have a negative price tag on low-end computers because the cost is offset by all the garbage your computer comes filled with.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by katani ( 1090285 )
      It has to do with the AOL trials, demo programs, etc. that Dell loads on the Windows PCs. The companies that publish the software pays Dell to load their crappy software on new consumer PCs. I suspect part of this goes to subsidize the price of the computer. Linux currently has no companies pushing crapware on it, so it will be more expensive. When/if Linux goes mainstream, though, you'll have commercial companies paying Dell and others to install their crappy linux software demos. When this happens, the pr

    • Dell will need to address this, and offer these dellbuntu boxes at lower price.

      Agreed. Moreover, if Dell is REALLY interested in sparking the interest of "Joe Sixpack" in test driving Linux, I'd recommend they offer an option to have a desktop/laptop preconfigured to Dual Boot for the same price as a Windows Only machine. I agree with some of the other posters in that it's unlikely that your average user is going to be terribly interested in Linux preinstalled (unless there's a considerable price diffe

    • I have a Dell not 10 feet from me that is from one of the "Linux Compatible" lines that had the option of coming with Linux pre-installed. If you ordered it with Linux pre-installed, yeah, it cost about as much as it did with Windows. That was with RHEL or SuSE Enterprise, the expensive ass support package, etc. You also had the option of ordering it with no OS installed, which is what we did, at a discount of a couple hundred dollars (I don't remember the exact cost) that you're not spending on either a

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by suv4x4 ( 956391 )
      i remember seeing dell machines that offered linux instead of windows in the past.. but the prices were the same or HIGHER for linux! Dell will need to address this, and offer these dellbuntu boxes at lower price. the OS is free! if they need to include a price to cover support costs, it should still not be equal to or greater than the cost of including Vista!

      That's just a bunch of wishful thinking up there. Dell will charge whatever is costs them, not whatever you want. There's no free lunch.

      Facts that cau
  • If others like Dell had better business sense, they'd look to stray away from MS or at least offer an alternative to it. They'd save from having to purchase (even via partnership sweetheart deals) MS' product line. What I could end envisioning though, is a slew of botnets and bruteforcing ssh hosts [infiltrated.net] because of things like this though.

    • What I could end envisioning though, is a slew of botnets and bruteforcing ssh hosts because of things like this though.
      As opposed to the situation we have now?
      • I actually have 50+ machines monitoring brute forcers... Rates have fluctuated give or take 2% for the past three months which means things aren't getting better, but they aren't getting worse.
    • If others like Dell had better business sense, they'd look to stray away from MS or at least offer an alternative to it.

      Because OEM Linux was a big win for Walmart in retail...

  • Call me crazy.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by foodnugget ( 663749 ) <eric-slashdot@@@ericfeldman...com> on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:06AM (#18940175)
    So we're expecting a flood of people complaining about how they are offering one specific distro, and none others. The big worry here was that few people would be happy with whatever 1 distro was picked, and picking many, and subsequently supporting them, would be a problem.
    so my question: As I feel about it - I was under the impression that the idea behind getting linux pre-loaded was that you simply aren't paying for an OS you don't want. IIRC, it has been awhile, or it has never been possible, to get a blank HD with your system from dell. Personally, I think this would be the best option. Linux, configured totally-not-the-way-I-want -it would be one step better, as I'm not shelling out the $235345 for windows, which I'm just going to delete anyway.
    Don't get me started on how when a relative or co-worker buys one of these things, you have to format the computer just to get rid of all of the annoyware that comes with it. (Mcafee! Musicmatch jukebox? Qualcomm service agreement? WTF is this agreement that comes pre-installed and pre-agreed to? )
    Am I under the wrong impression here, or can we be happy just to not have windows pre-loaded, and not be paying for something that is going to get deleted?
    Do we really have to argue about whether or not Ubuntu was the way to go? I can't imagine a single person in this crowd who would be happy with the way dell will set it up, and if the argument is that it will introduce linux to the masses, well, I just don't see that happening. The only people who don't already know what they're doing who wind up ordering a dell box with linux already on it are only going to order it because of the cost discount.
    Then they'll do one of two things:
    Ask you to show them how to use it (ugh)
    pirate/buy windows.
    So, my original question: We're happy because this primarily means not paying for windows when we're not using it, right? What other benefits are there?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      I was under the impression that the idea behind getting linux pre-loaded was that you simply aren't paying for an OS you don't want. [...] We're happy because this primarily means not paying for windows when we're not using it, right? What other benefits are there?

      Biggest benefit to Linux users: knowing all your hardware will work. A much bigger deal than having the software preinstalled.

      Additional benefit: not paying for Windows, and not supporting Microsoft's sales numbers etc at the same time.

      It may n

  • Drivers (Score:4, Funny)

    by WED Fan ( 911325 ) <akahige@t r a s h mail.net> on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:06AM (#18940179) Homepage Journal
    Do they plan to sell this on less capable machines because the drivers just aren't available for the latest and greatest of options? Or, will they still sell you a machine with the hottest hardware, but no ability to use it?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by waxapple ( 1011943 )
      I'm running Ubuntu Feisty Fawn at the moment on a Dell Inspiron 6400 with an ATi x1300 graphics card, and it works (almost) perfectly. The only thing no working is the card reader, I imagine Dell will use a different brand of card reader, or the company will eventually make drivers for it on linux.
      Fair enough, it took a bit of configuring to get the wireless card and the 3D graphics functioning correctly, but Dell will do that at the factory as part of their automated install proccess. I'm sure they'll ha

  • ...is a hardware platform that consumers are guaranteed will work with a particular distribution of Linux. It doesn't even matter which one it is as long as it comes, out of the box, ready for use. That's the only thing that, so far, Windows has always had up on any distro of Linux.

  • But perhaps..... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 8127972 ( 73495 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:12AM (#18940249)
    .... this is more about painting Microsoft into a corner by first flipping back to selling XP on some of their systems, and now this. I suspect that Dell is going to be in a very interesting position when they go to re-negotiate their OEM agreement with Microsoft where they can try and dictate the terms that they want.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF ( 813746 )

      this is more about painting Microsoft into a corner by first flipping back to selling XP on some of their systems, and now this. I suspect that Dell is going to be in a very interesting position when they go to re-negotiate their OEM agreement with Microsoft where they can try and dictate the terms that they want.

      I suspect MS will play hardball with them. Dell is no longer the number one Windows reseller it once was. Dell is hoping for lower OEM pricing, but they may end up getting their throat cut ala MS deciding not to relicense XP to them removing it from the price list, and setting a very high price on Vista and office for Dell in order to make an example of them. Dell will be making concessions (although it is hard to say what those will be). We all have to see if they've gone too far.

  • Dude, you got Ubuntu. (Score:4, Funny)

    by EveryNickIsTaken ( 1054794 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:12AM (#18940251)
    Sorry, but it just doesn't have the same ring to it.

  • Why not both? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by kanweg ( 771128 )
    HDs are big these days. Why not sell both Windows and Linux on it? I think it would be commercially way more attractive to customers. And if Window's license doesn't allow that, EU pay notice and start your investigation!

    Bert
    I'm happy with the Ubuntu, although I'd rather have it as a laptop (space!)

  • Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)

    by eosp ( 885380 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:20AM (#18940375) Homepage
    Does it run Li...ooh, it does!
  • Because let's face it I'm cheap. These machines will come at a premium compared to the pre-loaded bloatware boxes because that bloatware and windows itself subsidies much of the cost of the hardware itself. I will continue to buy bloatware boxes and wipe them clean and install Linux afterword because I'm going to do what's right by me. Thank you Microsoft and friends for helping pay for my new hardware, now get lost.
  • I keep having this recurring dream. It's about seeing this post over and over and over again.

  • Thanks you Dell (Score:4, Funny)

    by jshriverWVU ( 810740 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:25AM (#18940459)
    Now I can buy my first Dell w/ Ubuntu loaded already for me *tears up* it's a beautiful day :)

  • Linux on Dell (Score:5, Funny)

    by oneandoneis2 ( 777721 ) * on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:27AM (#18940495) Homepage
    http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/index.php/2007/03 /29/linux_on_dell [oneandoneis2.org]

    (To the tune of "Road to Hell")

    Well I'm here to place an order
    But there's a choice I don't know
    It's weathered every crisis you can think of
    And I came here to buy Vista
    But the Windows joy I know
    Is priced beyond belief way down in the shadows
    And the need for anti-virus
    Chokes the smile on every face
    And common sense is screaming, "What the Hell!?"
    This ain't no technological breakdown
    Oh no, this is Linux on Dell

    And I don't need to ask for credit
    And there's nothing they can do
    But watch the E.U.L.A.s, flying away from you
    Oh look out world, take a good look
    What goes down here
    You must learn not to have fear of the G.P.L.
    This ain't no vendor lock-in-forced upgrade
    Oh no!
    This is Linux
    This is Linux
    This is Linux on Dell

  • And to think... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by i.r.id10t ( 595143 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @09:28AM (#18940497)
    ... I just spent $800 on a laptop for the wife (from Dell with XP on it)... had this been out a week earlier, I woulda gone Ubuntu (planning on it anyway...)

  • Why Ubuntu? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by future assassin ( 639396 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @10:13AM (#18941243)
    Was Ubuntu chosen because of one distros community being more vocal then others or was it because it has the best compatibility with hardware. Sure Ubunty might be the most popular distro atm but seems like with Linux this changes quite often and I always see the "flavor of the month" distros appear and loose their ground quite often.

    What will Dell do if another distro takes the number one spot?

  • Dual Boot Please (Pre-loaded) (Score:4, Insightful)

    by HighOrbit ( 631451 ) * on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @10:41AM (#18941659)
    I can happily use Linux for most desktop stuff, but I still "need" Windows to play my games. I want to get the Linux certified hardware, but I also want OEM pricing on my Vista license. I don't want to have to go buy Vi$ta Ultimate retail.

    So here is the dilemma: - I want the linux hardware and they will probably only offer it with Linux OS. But I want the Vista OS too at OEM pricing. If I buy the Vista box, that is a lost sale for Linux. If I buy the Linux box, I have to go spend extra money for Vista.

    Hopefully Dell will offer pre-loaded dual boot or a Linux-ready box with Vista that will count as a "Linux" sale

  • Will Pay $99 for Ubuntu/Vista Dual Boot Preinstall (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Doug Dante ( 22218 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @11:23AM (#18942337)
    I have a new Dell laptop with Windows Vista. I give it to my wife, and her first comment is that it's slow. (It has the new Pentium core duo!) And I find that I'm running into the IP connection limit all of the time in Vista home basic. However, there are just a few things for which I need Windows, and I can't emulate it because it doesn't like that (e.g. playing DVDs). I will soon attempt to dual boot Ubuntu Linux or Fedora Linux and Windows Vista, but I would really LOVE it if Dell would have installed it in dual boot mode for me. I would have paid up to $99 for it. I'm actually using my old laptop now, because I'm afraid of destroying the recovery partition and getting into warranty trouble.

  • I'll buy one. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Animats ( 122034 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @11:40AM (#18942627) Homepage

    I want one. I need a low-end laptop with Linux. Nothing all that elaborate, just something for remote use, OpenOffice Impress, and stuff like that. Something with a price tag in the $600-$700 range, not the $2000 range.

    And WiFi that works out of the box. That's the important thing. If you have to edit files in /etc, they've failed.

  • Why this is good for Linux users of other distros (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Skapare ( 16644 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2007 @11:56AM (#18942897) Homepage

    This is a good thing for all of the Linux community, even those who use other distributions. Dell will now have to be sure its hardware works with the Linux kernel. Computers with components that won't work in Linux will likely not be on the select list that Linux is offered for. Hardware manufacturers will then have a tiny bit more pressure on them to make sure their chips and cards and stuff will work with at least some Linux driver, even if that happens to be a binary-only driver. And as this helps increase the percentages of people using Firefox, more web site developers will have to shift away from making Explorer-only pages and start following web standards. As more people use OpenOffice, more documents can be released in an open standards format, and those who release them in proprietary formats will face more criticism.

    So even if you intend to install some other Linux distribution on your Dell computer, or even if you use a non-Dell computer, this is good for you. Even if you prefer Windows, you'll benefit by competitive pressure on Microsoft forcing them to have to do better next time.

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