Dell expands Ubuntu Linux desktop offerings

Temper tantrum?

Oh, I see, Dell is about the only major vendor that sells anything Linux, but because they don't offer Linux everywhere, you are unhappy.

Get a grip on reality. Dell is the only major player in town. Windows owns 90% of the market, but Dell sticks its neck out and offers Linux and you whine.

No, Dell is offering a good selection based on Ubuntu's overall Market Share. Dell is doing the good business thing (at least I hope it's the good business thing)

The only thing whiners like you do is drive off companies that might be willing to take a risk because they don't want to deal with the tantrums.

Perhaps being quiet in the background and praising Dell for their efforts is more constructive? Then again, that's just not your style.

"Oh, I see, Dell is about

"Oh, I see, Dell is about the only major vendor that sells anything Linux, but because they don't offer Linux everywhere, you are unhappy."

Dell is not only one and not first one.

HP, Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM (today Lenovo) does offer computers with Linux. But you need to ask them separated and they might not be available for all countries or for others than companies.

Dell is marketing their offers and it is visible in many western country, nothing strange here.

"The only thing whiners like you do is drive off companies that might be willing to take a risk because they don't want to deal with the tantrums."

Do you really believe that the reason why you can not buy Linux OEM PC from anywhere is because there is risk? Dont be so silly. MS has control to offer deals and it has own demands what OEM can do. MS can even limit what OEM can preinstall by demanding OEM need to make expensive MS testing for every software. Without the testing, MS does not allow OEM to use anywhere "Comes with Windows" or "designed for Windows" stickers or marketing. If OEM sells computer with preinstalled software what has passed the MS tests, MS paids for the OEM about the Windows and Microsoft marketing. It is very big money.

In history, MS has done all kind dirty tricks. This is newest but governments can not stop it as anti-competive what slows downs competitors work because it is legal. Even that governments gets most reports from this action.

OEM workers should start leaking deals to wikileaks to show how dirty MS really is.

Dell has a web based

Dell has a web based configurator where you can select your system components, including an Operating System. They offer several versions of Windows as choices. What would it cost them to quietly slide an "Ubuntu Linux (NOT windows compatible)" option in there and mark it as $0? I know how these things work and I can tell you for sure that there would be zero extra cost... until it comes to support. Support costs might be greater, probably a lot greater, but you can account for that when I get to the support page, surely.

Unlike some posters I don't like Dell, but I would be willing to buy from them on principle if it supports Linux. I am today in the market for a new laptop. I looked at their offerings: Their 15" Linux laptop, the biggest offered, has incredibly weak specs that I just cannot live with. Other, more-or-less fine models don't offer Linux as an option.

This is madness. I'm glad they offer Linux in some form, but you'd have to be nuts to give them props for it. Do you know the impression it gives out if the only computers you can get Linux on are so weak that they're practically useless? It says "Linux is a toy" and it says "Linux isn't good for gaming or multimedia" -- however true or not true these things are the fact is that, far from helping Linux, offering Linux only when it bolsters those impressions is harmful. I know Dell is not in this to be helpful to Linux, but the back-handed way they "support" it is not something which inspires me to offer any kind of praise.

So there you have it. Dell offers Linux only as some kind of joke, which is their option, and I ridicule them for what they offer, which is my option. When they offer Linux as a radio-button in the OS selector for every x86 model I will sing their praises and open my wallet, but until then I will treat this as what it is: a sad joke.

Um, no. Dell has had several

Um, no.

Dell has had several machines over time I, as a consumer, was interested in buying. Of course, there was no option for Linux on the webpage for that PC. Lost sale.

Look, I LIKE Dell as a company, and I get that selling Windows machines is their bread and butter, but they've made it almost difficult to get one of their machines with Ubuntu on it. The options get moved around (and sometimes removed) fairly often on their website. The print ads mention the option not at all. Ask a rep at a Dell kiosk in a mall about Ubuntu and you get a blank stare.

To praise Dell for offering it, sort-of, on a handful of their machines is. . .sad.

You do realize that Linux is

You do realize that Linux is free, right?

Dell is offering Linux preinstalled on some systems for a few reasons that I can imagine:

1. It's cheaper than selling a machine preloaded with Windows, since they don't actually have to pay for the OS.

2. They realize that not everybody is tech-savvy and although some people might want to give an open-source OS a shot, they don't necessarily know how to install it.

3. Linux is becoming much more popular recently and selling systems preloaded with it is a way for the company to say, "Hey, we're hip, and we totally support the underdog". It's a marketing strategy, and a good one.

You don't seem like the kind of person who would fit with #2, so if you want Linux so damn bad, why not just install it yourself? Anybody who knows how to read can figure it out. Now, I know what you're going to say. "Why should I pay for a machine that comes with Windows if I'm just going to erase it?" To which I reply: because you're too lazy to build your own computer. If you're buying from a PC manufacturer, you obviously don't care about cost because it's by-far cheaper to buy the parts separately and assemble it yourself. I know, I know, laptops are a little trickier, you've got me there. Granted, you should have a choice of OS's (even choosing to buy a blank system with no OS installed -- wouldn't that be nice?) when it comes to laptops. But for Desktops, it's all about convenience. Most people don't want to take the time to build a computer from scratch, and that's why Dell makes money.

In summation, quit bitching. It's a minor inconvenience that you're blowing way out of proportion. Just be glad that Ubuntu is getting some commercial recognition at all. The future looks bright for Linux for the first time in, well, ever, and all you can do is complain.

Cheaper than Windows?

>It's cheaper than selling a machine preloaded with Windows, >since they don't actually have to pay for the OS.

Dell gets massive volume discounts on OEM Windows. But the OEM price of the OS is never more than a tiny slice of what it costs to get product on the market.

Dell can pre-load all the "test drive" software its customers will bear -

and it can carve out a big slice of after-market sales in hardware, software and peripherals.

It can sell the Windows PC through ordinary retail channels - with the vendors paying most expenses.

The four color Back-To-School add in the Sunday supplements.

The Ubuntu PC implies a dual inventory, marketing and support structure.

That may not be justified by OEM Linux sales - one of the reasons why Walmart abandoned the market.