Dell To Offer Linux Pre-installed

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»Dell To Offer Linux Pre-installed

This is a huge move for open source software. <a href="http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/ideastorm/ideasinaction?c=us&l=en&s=gen">Dell will begin offering Linux pre-installed on its computers</a>. This is for home use even!

Quote

Dell has heard you and we will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and Precision workstation line. Our first step in this effort is offering Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems. We will provide an update in the coming weeks that includes detailed information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available. The countdown begins today.

You know what this means. Throwing out the garbage Broadcom chipset for wireless that has no open source support at all.

Please add your comments below.

uhh...ABOUT FREAKIN TIME! screw windows.

Said By Bomb

uhh...ABOUT FREAKIN TIME! screw windows.

Quote for truth.

Now only if they can start getting game manufacturers and other software developers to write some popular programs for Linux.........

what's next, dell offers APPLE, heheheh.

Dell also did this in 1996, 1999 and 2001. Unless there's some sweet deal, maybe including Cedega and Crossover Office, but at least one other major company, we'll be hearing in 3 quarters time that there was not enough interest in Linux systems.

In the past year, I've put 8 people on it, and two are very well tempted, but I doubt they'll be calling Dell and asking about Linux. Linux is well enough known that I get asked about it enough, but no one understands that it's a capable alternative to Windows, not something that requires Windows to run (people still equate PC = x86 = Windows). In honesty, because Cedega isn't thought of first by many companies (whom, if they cared, would write cross-platform to begin with) as a worth while immediate investment, so, I only make the recommendation to those who do the basic tasks (office / internet / common games) and those who are interested in learning more technical information (one in particular making the switch to learn financial database management, perhaps I should send her to Aron).

There is a sweet deal and it is called Ubuntu. Ubuntu has media power that previous distros didn't have. I think moves like this will push Linux on the desktop very very far. I believe we are seeing a tipping point.

Ubuntu is more notable than most distros to everyday Linux users, but it rarely comes up independently outside of more technical forums. It's backer may be more aggressive and coordinated than either the community or commercially managed distributions, but to someone following mediums like PC World, it's appears less on the radar than the generic reference to "Linux."

I just popped in and saw only the article about Silverlight/Mono reference to Linux (How many average PC users even know what Mono is?). The top article when I search for Linux is an Ubuntu Fiesty review. If you were now just considering trying Linux, despite the positive review, I think it would throw you off altogether. "Hey, if you want it to look cool, you only have to...."

I'm just not convinced this is the moment in time where the transition will occur. I remember saying in 2002 that it would be about 2007 that you might have the option, as an inexperienced user, to select Linux, but I'll bet it'll remain by-request-only for people in the know. Before, I thought with the then growth of Transmeta and Crossover, someone would take the opportunity to vendorise some distribution. Redmond Linux was going toward Lycoris and was about to compete head on with the then Lindows (now Linspire) distribution for the average first time user, it made sense to believe it.

Based on my 6 months of Gateway-WinMe experience, I could see it being real easy for a vendor to go all out on this system, but I really don't think there's going to be any effort here to do something to push this idea on people. It would be easy for every vendor to twist Linux into inherent support contracts and recurring business (and only a 3-4 years for most people to realise how to make their systems independent of us1.deb.dell.com/dimension/9200/ archive). However, there has been no solid attempt to do anything like this to date.

These are just my experience, and I got there first :oP