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- chrono13, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35Windows XP OEM Preinstall ~ $59 USD.
Windows Vista OEM Preinstal ~$60-150
Sell-your-customers-privacy-for-a-nickel spyware -$5
Coolweb -$5
BonziBuddy -$10
Yahoo Toolbar -$5
Google Toolbar -$10
Alexa -$3
Adobe PDF and associated ***** -$15
RealPlayer and associated ***** -$13
MusicMatch Jukebox -$7
Norton system destabilizer, 90 day trail -$20
Terrible Photo software + spyware -$13
Windows comes pre-paid for and Linux is free, so I'm guessing the price for Windows and the Linux systems will probably be about the same. - mahler, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29This could either be the big break for Linux in 2007, or the most elaborate April fools' joke ever :-)
- vraa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24"No word on what distributions will be offered.... yet."
Forget the distribution, just make sure the hardware is Linux compatible. No having to use ndiswrappers or funk hacks and what not. Make things as simple as you can for us, so we can simply buy your hardware. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23:) is it finally time for some designed for linux stickers on the new dells?
- chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Since Dell is so close to Microsoft i'm guessing it'll be Suse.
- diggAddict, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19
Finally when a vendor provides Linux - members of the linux community still bitch and moan? WHAT THE?
Geez guys - wake up, this is a first step - dont shoot it down and be so damned negative - or you never get anywhere and just continue on bitching about Linux for the next 50 years.
Come on, support Dell and make it work - BE POSITIVE! - ubunterd, on 10/12/2007, -5/+20I love the fact that Microsoft is losing a stranglehold on their desktop/laptop pre-installation monopoly, but don't be surprised if the computers aren't considerably cheaper..
Google, AOL, Netzero, etc wont be subsidizing Dell for that valuable space on your desktop and browser toolbar areas. - carl0ski, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Google does produce Picasa and Google Earth for Linux
and Google toolbar which they currently pay numerous companies to bundle with windows does support Firefox on Linux
Adobe pays companies to buyndle Acrobat Reader
Guess what
Acrobat Reader 7 is available for linux
I can assure you if companies are willing to sell Linux Desktops
then Google, Adobe even AOL are willing to pay for their product to be used over a free competitor.
I'm sure Adobe would pay to give you acroread as opposed to using KPDF. - paulmdx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Great idea. So where do I go to build a laptop?
- workingwriter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I'm concerned about the modem business Vaughn-Nichols talks about here, but WiFi should be the solution, no? This is a threshold being crossed, though. I'm excited!
- Fordi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12http://www.System76.com FTW!
- hipnerd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9You don't have to chose one or the other. I'm sure all their laptops come with LAN ports at this point.
- InferiorWang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Yeah! I've been waiting for this announcement. I have a buddy that works for dell tech support and he says that while he doesn't know yet how the tech support for linux will go, it does appear that dell might decide to support up to 3 or 4 different distributions.
So score a tally mark for open source. - Churnd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7If they support it, that means they'll have drivers for all the hardware, which is really what we want anyway. Not that most hardware isn't already recognized by most distros. It'll be interesting to see if they ship the systems pre-installed with the nvidia drivers and adobe acrobat reader. I'm sure they will add Crossover Office to the mix so they can throw in some MS options.
- makario, on 09/03/2009, -0/+7http://system76.com/index.php/cPath/53_64
- wedderburn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6i was gonna grab a dell inspiron 6400 with vista ( do the whole decline the license and get my money back for the windows license) now i think i'll hold on and get one with linux preloaded( even if i don't like the distro).
- vraa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Accccctually the biggest make or break will not just be a OEM company offering linux (assuming it's at a low low price) but also if normal users can understand what Ubuntu (specifically Ubuntu because it's linux for humans) is compared to Microsoft.
I still get questions regarding Mac OS X where people ask "and all my files will work? what about my applications?"
Many many people know nothing but Microsoft Windows -- that's what they grew up on. It'll be a while (and even longer if the geeks don't accelerate the process) so people (especially kids) learn that there are alternatives out there... *viable* alternatives. - chrono13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6http://www.google.com
Adobe releases software for Linux (Flash, PDF reader, etc). Video game makers have made many main-stream titles installable on Linux. Google Earth and tons of other proprietary, non-GPL, non-copyleft softwares run on Linux as well. The GPL, LGPL, BSD and other copyleft licenses do not prohibit this. - crapbox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This is great because you don't have to research what hardware works with linux. They do all the work, just turn up with your money.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Since there were several DELL related commits from SUSE employees to HAL I'd bet on SLED.
- Fordi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"* Majority of survey respondents said that existing community-based support forums would meet their technical support needs for a tested and validated Linux operating system on a Dell system.
* Survey respondents indicated that improved hardware support for Linux is as important as the distribution(s) offered."
Which they could have figured out from one of the oldest axioms on Linux: "It's a bitch to set up, but once you have, it's wonderfully easy and rock-solid stable". In short: Get the hardware running and well integrated, and hand us the system. Most of us will then hit the forums to do anything out-of-the-ordinary. - lionslair, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I wonder how much this will drop the price of there system not having to buy a copy of windows.
- mercurysquad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"it was a deliberate con job by some Linux users"
..who are obviously getting paid for it, unlike Microsoft, which has gotten Dell to pre-bundle Windows for purely the benefit of humanity. - standalonematt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Some people still want modems on laptops. When traveling it gives you one more way to get online. While its true that more and more hotels, restaurants, etc have wi-fi or ethernet connections - it always isn't so. My AT&T DSL comes with a dial-up connection that I have used a few times. Now a USB modem might be a better option for those people.
- idonthack, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Then STFU, GTFO and don't ever come back.
- digitalarcanum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4open-source broadcom drivers for wireless networking that actually work would be lovely. I would think that among the distros that dell would support. Suse would be one, RHEL another (as they already support this on their workstation and server end), and perhaps Fedora Core as yet another option. Maybe ubuntu to appease the ubuntu fans.. but I dunno. at this point it's just wild speculation.
- diggsIt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4A Linux-Dell machine makes sense for a new linux user, but it will most likely be cheaper to buy the Windows machine and wipe the drive - which defeats the purpose. I'd buy a Dell if they would offer the Windows machine, sans Windows, and deduct the cost of the OS.
- JrGhoull, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5finally all the uber hardcore linux users who have been saying for years that "this year is the year of linux" might actually have a chance at being right for once
i might be getting one of these things just for xgl/beryl - baalzebub, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5OEMs better grow some balls and tell microsoft to stick it where the sun don't shine, if i owned a business i sure as hell wont let another business tell me what i can include or not include in & on my products...
- hipnerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3They've taken some good steps here, but they didn't build these systems from the ground up for Linux compatibility. I think this is reasonable, and ultimately, not very important for most users. I think that if the business is successful, they will look at including hardware modems in the next generation, or better yet, build some Linux drivers to run a software modem.
- TheShad0w, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3We aren't bitching, we are cautious. I don't really care for SuSe, never have. It seems very coincidental that DELL is all of a sudden interested in the Linux market when we have been asking for it for the last few years. Where it looks bad is that Microsoft attempted to punish DELL when they first tried to sell machines with just Linux compatible hardware. Then MS gets in bed with Novell and now DELL is offering up desktops with Linux. If it is SuSe then that raises concern that the only reason they are doing it is cause MS can provide them with a distro they can control. If you don't see the problems with that then you must be blind.
- mercurysquad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I got my "Powered by Ubuntu" sticker at CeBIT 2007 last week :D
Stuck it over the "Designed for WinXP" logo, to commemorate getting rid of XP altogether. - chrono13, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"I wouldn't mind if my gnome/kde theme changed to an advertisers colorscheme and wallpaper every once in a while. "
I would.
But I think you are confusing advertising with fiostware. Take, for example "Terrible photo software". It will have a hard time competing on the Linux desktop, even if it is included as foistware with no other photo software pre-installed.
With a central add/remove repository, users don't have to search for alternatives or worry about demo time, price, malware, and the other pitfalls of testing alternative software in Windows. They will have the alternatives already, free, trusted, categorized, arranged by popularity and a click away. - baalzebub, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@ crono13 i build my own PCs, but if i had to buy an OEM machine i rather pay an extra 50 dollars for a desktop with a clean Linux pre-install without any of the spamware that comes with your average Windows OEM install, time is money and if i have to spend time fdisking a machine and re-installing my preferred OS/distro then that is time that could have been better spent doing something more productive...
- inotocracy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Brad Burns seems to be working his magic :P
- weijie90, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4That would be hugely inapporpriate. Anyway, I'm looking forward to 1st April. I wonder what Digg will come up with.
- InferiorWang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2or a modem on a PC card like people used to use, or like people use for wireless cards.
I actually still have a 56k PCMCIA card floating around my misc cables box. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=3438&iTestingId=7847
Yeah, Wine works really well (rolling eyes)...... Notice that BF2 is rated Gold. No internet, no Punkbuster, mouse curser not working. Graphical artifacts etc. But it's rated GOLD! WTF!
I'll stick to XP for my games thank you. - bmartin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That makes sense to me. Of course, you run the risk of having incompatible hardware. Most people who want Linux are capable of installing a distribution. If it's cheaper, buy a Windows computer and wipe the drive; it's unreasonable to expect people to "pay more for Linux to avoid the Microsoft tax."
My laptop came with XP. When I put Ubuntu on there, I had a non-working wireless chipset and web cam. Considering the Chinese web cam was a gift, it was a battle to get it to work. The wireless never worked and I ended up buying a USB stick, which also required a lot of effort to get working. - Krechet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is very good news. Not because I'd love to have what Dell thinks is a good linux distro, but because this means that the hardware has to be 100% supported by linux (or some proprietary modules that are bad but still make the system work). Now there will be two safe bets for buying a laptop - lenovo and dell. And since dell is cheaper this will hopefully mean that we'll have some good products on the market to choose from.
- weijie90, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2High five, I'm using the 6400 too. Its is very value-for-money, but the ac adapter is very loose if unsecured.
- underthelinux, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Does anyone know what this means for warranties? I think your warrranty on dell equipment is voided if you were to wipe your MS box and put linux on it, right? How does that tie in, here? That's one of the biggest reasons i'd want to buy a dell - if something failed, i could just send it right back to them. (I'm quite prone to hardware failure, for some ridiculous reason).
- CAPSLOCKISCOOL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"Great idea. So where do I go to build a laptop?"
http://www.google.com/search?q=barebone+notebook&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a - generalloy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"
Well, the 'especially kids' part is a problem. Most high school kids want to cam on msn, for example. They power on their Ubuntu machine and log on to Gaim, and find there is no voice or cam. Then they install aMSN only to find the cam not working half of the time.. yahoo photo sharing doesn't work, no doodle imvironment, etc etc.
"
True, Gaim is idiotic for not including cam support in 2007. They're apparently working on it, but a gaim-vv (voice/video) fork actually WORKED a while ago and they chose not to integrate it.
So it's AMSN or Kopete for MSN peeps who want to cam. - mntpng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm in kinda similar boat as you. I find it unethical action for me to buy a product from Microsoft and therefore Dell's laptops were out of the question. My options for getting a decent laptop without paying Microsoft tax was to either get a Macbook or Macbook Pro from Apple at a premium price or from a few small vendors that sell linux preinstalled laptops. When Dell does roll out their line of Linux laptops, I'll definitely have to evaluate their offering seriously.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2well they'd better release some drivers etc for my precision m90 if they expect me to look twice
- Quadduc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You can sell free software too.
You could charge a fee for distribution (but you can't stop anyone from redistributing copies for no charge). You could offer a subscription service or paid support, warranty...
By the way, BSD is not copyleft. It's a free software license, but it's not a copyleft one, like GPL. - Quadduc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I hope that if they offer the Suse distribution, they will at least offer other alternatives too. I'm having a huge trust problem with Novell after their software patent deal, because it shows that Novell doesn't really care about the philosophy behind Free Software. Software patents can essentially make free software non-free.
- Jcink, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very Cool. B)
- Zovix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2When talking about the price of these Linux install systems, the last time a company offered pre-installed Linux the systems I believe they ended up costing more then there Windows counterparts. I don't remember who offered these systems though. I just remember a lot of people "wtf'ing?" over the price. Anyone remember this?
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