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Dell's Linux desktop line keeps expanding

desktoplinux.com — When Dell first announced that it would be releasing Ubuntu Linux-powered consumer desktops and laptops, some people saw it as more of a stunt than a serious business move. They were wrong. Dell has already expanded its consumer Linux line, and now it has announced that it will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux systems outside of the United States...

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  • TheWiseNoob, on 10/11/2007, -1/+26Dell has done a good job in supporting what they started and if it continues, they will play a key role in the predicted "Year of the Linux Desktop" in 2008.
    • ganjadude4391, on 10/11/2007, -6/+13not to be too skeptical, because i wish it will be, however i have heard that 20XX was gonna be the year of linux for the past 7 years now
    • weizbox, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Driver support and the ability to run Windows applications will make Linux a more friendly Desktop to the average user, not so much Dell... but they are getting the word out, which is great :)

      Once devices can truly be as plug-n-play as Windows has it, and once people can run the software they are used to from within Linux, that's when I think it will take off. Right now I dual boot since Linux can't run other programs that work in Windows, such as Photoshop and defiantly a lot of games. I know you can run a virtual os on top of Linux, etc etc... but truly it's a pain, and the programs do not run nearly as fast., (as expected by the nature of how it works).

      Dell is helping to make Linux more well known, but in no way will that be a key role in making Linux ready for the general public.
      • sacherjj, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3The biggest think about Dell selling compatible hardware is that driver support is a less issue. It will work out of the box. This means that Dell might start making purchasing decisions on Linux compatibility. This might make hardware companies take more notice that little Billy who decided to buy nVidia over ATI.
      • shadowspawn, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2See you both are right, but it's more of a chicken-and-egg argument, which will come first? One already did... software developers created drivers, hardware manufacturers kept legacy drivers in operation by not *****(tm).

        I think this is a great move by Dell.

        Has anyone wondered how Microsoft is taking all of this?
  • schestowitz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+19They are coming to the expo in London. Excellent! Won't be long before they start selling Linux in the UK where many people crave for Linux PCs (eSys and others are among the few distributors that have Linux preinstalled).
  • TJATL, on 10/11/2007, -28/+2The only reason they are even fooling around with the Linux line is Apple won't let them use OS X.
    • stimpack, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Or maybe it's because after a troubled time, Michael Dell came back and kicked the company back into shape and introduced things like IdeaStorm, you know, giving the customer what he wants? its a radical idea I know..
    • mrsteveman1, on 10/11/2007, -9/+0I agree, people obviously might not like it, but Dell desperately wanted to ship OS X on their boxes before any of this talk of Linux ever got started. Dell is basically forced to handle the majority of Microsofts screw-ups and has little ability to change things without going to another OS, and OS X was a much better proposition for a user friendly OS, but Apple is committed at this point to their one source model.

      As an OEM, Dell would have had much less work supporting OS X for a number of reasons, for instance driver support would have been easier since OS X has a stable KPI for drivers. The kernel can change and drivers from previous kernel versions will still work, so Dell wouldn't have had to repeatedly work on and support drivers for the same hardware simply because the kernel changed.
      • daftman, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4your head is so far up steve's ass that your monologue sounds alot like his *****.
        Dell sells much more computers than Apple could ever can
      • Ssullivan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I hate apple fanboys
    • 35263526, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Wanting to ship OS X != Not wanting to ship anything other than OS X
  • linksus, on 10/11/2007, -7/+13Freaking sweet!

    I just would hate being on the "Linux Support" team...

    Ahh so Mr Bloggs i hear you cant connect to the internet... Can you please open up a terminal and root up for me?
    • longbow486, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1the whatchamajigger, and the whomajacallsits?
  • linksus, on 10/11/2007, -17/+6Sweet

    I would hate to be on the " Linux Support team "

    So Mr Bloggs . I hear you cannot gain internet access? Can you just open up a terminal and root up for me.
    • afx1, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1dugg up, this comment just gets better each time
      • naich, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Send it back 5 years in time and it'll start getting more accurate too.
  • infiniphonic, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8While Dell has declined to announce any sales figures for its new Linux laptops and desktops, sources indicate that the sales have exceeded expectations.

    People really do want something other than M$ crapola.
    Next up Windows marginalized by seamless VM integration.
    It's just around the corner.
    • Spr0k3t, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5It's already happening... just gotta know where to look.
      • TechCF, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Do you have any inside info from VMWare or Parallels?
    • mrsteveman1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0You can already set VMware to this mode just like Parallels.
      • 35263526, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Really? How? Seamless Virtualization using Ubuntu's RDP method isn't good enough to run Photopshop (at least, for me), so I'd really like something like Fusion for Linux...
  • FreakyPhil31, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8What's great about Dell offering Ubuntu is better hardware integration. You can be sure that the software will be optimized so that all hardware components(graphics cards, wireless cards) will work right out of the box so neophytes won't have any major gripes with Linux as an OS.
    • Waterrat, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1
      All the 'puters I've owned,except one have been built on a kitchen table...With Dell doing the Linux thing..That trend may stop.
  • ninja0, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8come to canada, yes! I avoid windows at all costs now... ubuntus been good to me. :D
  • coolfactor, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1No doubt this is becoming viable as a result of consumers becoming more tech-savvy and comfortable with technology. Once Linux is a main player on the consumer desktop, as is quickly becoming the case, there will no longer be a stranglehold between MS and Apple. It'll be a threesome, and Apple will excel on the user experience side of things, where as MS will continue to excel on the corporate side of things for some time to come.
    • mcmlxxii, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Quite so, Nostradamus. And the winning lottery numbers this week?
    • ilobmirt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I think most servers run Linux. I doubt Ms can run the corporate world on its own.
  • jellygraph, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5hurray, hopefully i can buy one of their colorful laptops soon :)
  • FreakyPhil31, on 10/11/2007, -9/+0Hey, I'm just thinking of the average Joe wanting to try out Linux. Trust me, there's nothing more frustrating than trying to install the latest Linux distro only to find out that X won't start because you haven't installed the proprietary drivers for your Nvidia card and those are only available through Synaptic or the web and you don't have a GUI!
    • marx2k, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3*cough*TestFirstWithLiveCD*cough*
    • daftman, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Hmm, could the fact that buying a Dellbuntu means that Linux is already installed and setup for you?
      May be you are posting in the wrong story.
    • yenster, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Not nearly as frustrating as wanting to move from Win2K to 64-bit XP or Vista and finding that your wireless network card maker has absolutely no plans whatsoever to make 64-bit drivers for your card. Same for your scanner manufacturer.
      • shadowspawn, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@yenster

        HEAR HEAR!

        That's why I don't dual boot on one machine.
        Not enough 64-bit machines out there :/
  • AndyCool, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11"and now it has announced that it will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux systems outside of the United States..."

    thats the best part......sweet!
  • IceZZ, on 10/11/2007, -17/+2How to remove these annoying Linux-Is-Here articles from your Digg.com news feed:

    1) Click on your Profile
    2) Click on the Managed Topics Tab
    3) Uncheck Linux from the Technology column.
    4) Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

    Viola, no more "This year is the year of the Linux Desktop!" and "Ubuntu saves small child from raging river!"
    • Sairgem, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9How to prevent IceZZ's posts from offending your eyes:

      1) Click the digg down button.
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    • stimpack, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8You seem to have failed in applying your 4 steps.
    • Spr0k3t, on 10/11/2007, -8/+1I've got to digg up IceZZ... I just wish more Windows and Mac fanbois would do this. Sick of seeing them groan about inaccurate crap. I mean, for ***** sake... if these fanbois are interested in Linux then just use it for crying out loud... otherwise smeg off the lot of em.
    • aiten, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7How to prove that IceZZ is an idiot in two easy steps.

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      2. Note spelling of Voila is Viola.

      Spr0k3t - Microsoft have done nothing noteworthy in the last 15 years. That's why there is no news.
    • shadow9939, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1@ IceZZ

      ...and yet, here you are.

      If I don't like a particular digg topic, I tend not to read articles from said particular digg topic.
  • basacis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Dell getting involved with linux on a larger level is going to help with the development of linux. The problem is still going to be plug and play hardware with drivers from the hardware companies.
  • potp, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2I have no clue why dell is getting all the credit. Acer has been selling their laptops with linux for more then 3 years now. Dell is not a pioneer of linux.
    • ahthrift, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Maybe because Dell make much better machines than Acer.
  • LeeSoong, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5It is in the Interests of ALL Hardware Manufacturers to Support GPL Open Source -
    Less costs for Software equal More Profit Margin for Hardware,
    and without all the binding contracts and restrictive EULA that impedes hardware developers.
  • SoulMaster2, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1This is great news, cheaper computers means that I can get it and install pirated Windows and save some bux!
  • b00n, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2After reading the tile i was thinking they started to offer other Linuxes besides Ubuntu , i was hoping for Suse =(...
  • slapthemonkey, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Thats wonderful!
  • TechCF, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Great! I hope Europe is next
  •  

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