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106 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+76I say Ubuntu. That way Dell would replace Apple as Digg's favorite brand.
- statix, on 10/12/2007, -5/+61Ubuntu AOL-15-day-free-trial Edition
- ropers, on 10/12/2007, -2/+49Dell Dude: Oh, we got both kinds. We got Ubuntu *and* Kubuntu.
- Ademan, on 10/12/2007, -7/+43yes lets all bitch about his wierd quotation style and totally ignore the information he's offering.
- ZippidyDoo, on 10/12/2007, -18/+48What the hell is wrong with people not using simple Quotation marks. They do have a purpose.
- jus1haz2, on 10/12/2007, -11/+31I think it will be ubunutu or suse
- TheLoneWolf071, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22Ubuntu is a very solid choice. I've used most distro's and in my personal opinion, ubuntu has what it takes to make it mainstream. Sad to say, it is the most window'd version of linux out their :)
Digg me down, IDC - trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14@herreisenheim
Ubuntu offers Commercial support too.
http://www.ubuntu.com/support/paid - SirNuke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15@Noctem
The Ubuntu support you linked to is NOT included with the Microsoft license. This is additional IT support for businesses.
Microsoft's equivalent to this is extremely expensive, their base support checks in at $8,299.00 ( https://buysupport.microsoft.com/ ). Ouch. - cdmarcus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14How is Ubuntu the most "window'd"? I'm just curious... I use it and I find the interface completely different, but definitely much better, than Windows.
- greatcaffeine, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15@t3soro
Most people have no idea what they're doing, can't search Google, and can't find useful forums to help fix problems. - londubh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Dude, you're gettin' an Ubuntu!
- sexycommando, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14For those digging down jus1haz2, any particular reason you disagree with him? I'm no linux guru, but my first thought was also "Ubuntu or SLED". Ubuntu because it is so damn popular and Michael Dell runs it on one of his machines, and SLED because of the enterprise-level support and because they are protected from potential MS patent lawsuits. If you guys disagree I'd love to know why.
- M0nk3yM4n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9What do you mean Windows'd? What does it matter that it looks like Windows? No kid, businessman, student, teacher, aspiring photographer, family, 99% of computer users want to use a command line all the f'ing time. A good GUI is necessary for an operating system that can be used by all demographics and not just geeky "frodos" out there.
- sinembarg0, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@speed
You must be in the wrong forums, or not asking your question correctly (most likely the former). Anywhere you go, if you ask stupid questions, you will be made fun of, but if you come back and ask an intelligent question, you might be able to redeem yourself.
Ex. (from openWRT IRC):
Me:~Whenever I try to install a package with ipkg, it returns a wget error. I can connect to the internet though the router just fine. What could cause this?
Other:~ can the router access the internet? it doesn't matter if you can get online _through_ the router, only if you can get online _with_ the router.
Me: How would I test that?
Other: Maybe you should go back to stock firmware.
Me: I can ping google just fine.
Other: Can you ping the download site?
...
You get the picture. I asked a stupid question, but kinda redeemed myself with the right response (and ignoring the insult). - dimension128, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@m0nk3ym4n,
I'm really having a hard time understanding this lately. Please explain to me what exactly gives you this idea that your gaming experience only reaches its alleged 'full potential' when running on Windows. I use Ubuntu, and I play Counterstrike Source, UT2k4, Doom3, starcraft, and second life. Although I could sit here and name drop many others, the point is that I'm not really aware of any major game that is worth playing that wont work on my Ubuntu based system.
Only 2 of those 5 games require wine, the others all have native Linux binaries.
Wine is not that hard to use.
I don't see ANY worthwhile difference in performance, graphics, sound, or control in any of these games with linux vs windows.
And where I do see a small difference, it is usually just a small frame rate increase, but its different for each game. UT runs faster on Linux, but css is faster on windows. And to be even more specific, load times are faster under Linux on all of the games, the ONLY area where windows beats Linux, is fps in css, and were talking about a ~2 fps difference. That is hardly something to complain about when your fps is good enough already.
Another thing I have found pretty interesting, but haven't been able to explain is, under Linux, my ping always seems to be better than when I play the same game on the same server under Windows.
Anyway, I understand that some time ago the whole "windows is for gamers" stereotype was actually true, but I have been using Linux for 2.5 years now, and I can say with complete confidence that it is no longer true whatsoever. So please explain, what exactly makes you think Linux still wont give you an equal or greater gaming experience than that of windows? - melat0nin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@cypher
As correct as you are, moving over to a more user-friendly parlance can only help Linux be more successful with ordinary consumers. - t3soro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Noctem, thats for enterprise support, hence the title of the section, "Enterprise-class support across the globe."
Plus, there really is no need for personal support so long as you aren't an idiot, can read forums, and can use Google well. - Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@lobster
Puppy Linux should only be used on PCs so old they can't run something better (like the slightly less lightweight Xubuntu).
Ubuntu (or even Xubuntu) is an order of magnitude better than Puppy on any modern system; Dell aren't selling systems with 64MB of RAM, so it makes no sense to go for Puppy.
Also, the idea of expecting people to live-boot for their main OS is retarded. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Kubuntu would be more window'd than Ubuntu since KDE is more like windows layout and Gnome more like OSX, but I wouldn't consider either to be window'd.
http://www.linux-xp.com/ would be more window'd
Ive also seen a desktop theming look exactly like xp with icons/backgrounds/borders/widgets.
It would be interesting to modify a version of Ubuntu with that and splashscreens then distribute it over bittorrent. - trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5There are ( and have been for a while ) open source drivers for all broadcom cards, if you are using Feisty just:
sudo apt-get install bcm43xx-fwcutter
or get it through the GUI with synaptic either way it will ask you if you want it to automatically download and extract the firmware for your card, choose yes.
That's it. The bcm43xx driver will be automatically loaded when you boot but if you don't want to reboot simply
sudo modprobe bcm43xx - Giga, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Oh dear god no! Won't someone think of the children?
- trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Dell already does this with their n-series ( minus the coupon )
- M0nk3yM4n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Actually this isn't just about saving time with deleting the copy of XP that came with the computer and installing the distro you just burned. It's about expanding the community. People will order the cheap OS and expand the numbers that are dependent on it. This will create higher demand for customer service and options for users. Necessity is the mother of invention, and Ubuntu, Suse, or whatnot will soar to new heights.
Just look at Firefox, the more popular it got (Even just 1% of the market share increase made a difference) and the cooler it got exponentially. - Giga, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@meopameopa
And none running SuSe. Where did he say that Michael Dell only had one computer? He specified which machine in particular runs Ubuntu. - Starks, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Evidence?
Besides, Mikey Dell personally uses Ubuntu on his M90. - noamsml, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Heh. The RHEL configuration still lets you have the option of buying MS Office 2003.
- noamsml, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3My guess: probably not Ubuntu. They'd want a more "business-friendly" supplier such as Red Hat, Novell, et cetera. My guess is that they will go with with Red Hat, SLED, or Linspire 5-0.
- h0dg3s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Why do people keep modding me down for showing proof? Are you too dumb to accept the truth? Look here dumb-dumbs
Buy a Precision 390n with Red Hat® Linux® Now!
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/reftopic.aspx/pub/products/precn_kat?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&~section=390
NOT Ubuntu - greatcaffeine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Doubt it. It would be too much of a hassle for Dell to have to install a bunch of different distros. Not only that, but it would make it even harder to offer support to customers, which is one of the main reasons people stick with PC builders like Dell anyway.
- filipf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Actually, there is only limited time support on Vista. I think it's like 90 days phone support. After that you have to pay for each call.
- pyite, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Please let it be Ubuntu.
However, the choice of distro is irrelevant - as long as there is full hardware support with no binary drivers (ok i won't freak out if they require NVidia or ATI). The confidence of knowing that mainstream drivers will support everything easily is worth paying a bit extra for.
This means wireless in particular - the broadcom piece of ***** in my D800 laptop sucks hard. ndiswrapper is simply not acceptable (and doesn't even work on this one). - Karmalary, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It's really a moot point for me, since I'm building my own machines. I'd like to see major companys start selling powerful, low-cost machines with blank hard disks. Maybe throw in an Ubuntu CD and a discount coupon for Windows.
- ISurfTooMuch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The distro is irrelevant. What matters is sales. If these boxes gain traction, it will not only boost Linux's profile, but it will also help the driver situation. Having Linux gain wider acceptance will only push hardware makers to offer greater Linux support for their products. This will not only happen with standalone products, such as printers, but you'll also see component makers getting in on the action. Let's face it, Dell sells lots of computers. Would you want to be the company that makes a component or chipset that can't work under Linux? Do that, and you've just shut yourself out of getting a partnership with Dell.
- cquinnd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Because each different distro would have to be deployed and tested with each different desktop to make sure that intial issues with booting, setup and first use of the system do not crop up for the user.
Then the various software packages would have to be checked for basic functionality on top of that.
Dell would either be paying extra up front for the deployment team needed to test the various combinations of disto, desktop and app packages (and creating the standard install images that they use to pre-load systems after they have been built to order), or they would be paying extra on the back end for the online and phone support they would need for the additional configuraton and interoperability issues that would crop up later. Passing such support on to the Linux community would not sit well with their business partners, customers, or much of that community.
Customizing the hardware is easy by comparison. Despite the reputation they put forth, Dell only builds computers based on a limited number of (pre-tested) hardware pieces. They already know all the issues with combining specific components while the system is being built, and if there is a known incompatibility between two pieces, then the option to combine them is simply not made available.
It would take a full time staff to create the same decision tables based on researching the possibility of multiple distros. - Moogle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What I would do, instead of getting Linux pre-installed; would be to get a copy of Vista anyways because it's worth something and then just download my favorite distribution of Linux.
But, probably unbeknownst to me, something is probably flawed in my idea, so flame me. - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2AMD systems aren't cheaper. A few years back they were cheaper and better, now the reverse is true.
- Ademan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Interesting idea, but i have to say that probably would make people who didn't know what to choose opt for the "comfortable" option, that is, XP.
- meopameopa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What have you been smoking, anyone that has even a little understanding about the way Microsoft works knows that Microsoft will slam Dell hard if they put ubuntu on their machines. They haven't lost any of their "fangs". The other time Dell tried to offer Linux, Microsoft was right there to pounce on them.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ubuntu would be the best choice for the desktop PC. The sheer amount of online help and support makes the decision easy. Suse is ok, support is not as good and Red Hat is horrible.
- 0KonTroL0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I highly doubt they will offer ubuntu. It is WAY to unstable for commercial use.
DIGG ME DOWN. :p - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They can install CnR and get a deal with Linspire for everything sold via CnR over that machine.
- cmiz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Here's a thought... Dell has gotten a lot of thumbs up for the fact that you can go online and configure your hardware to fit your specific needs. Why not offer a whole bunch of different distros, a whole bunch of different desktop environments, a whole ton of software packages. It wouldn't exactly be rocket science to install a base system on every machine, then connect it to the network and have it run an apt-get script created by the customer's selected options. Then you can have it create a reinstall disc from that specific script and keep it on the hard drive. Burn it yourself when it arrives at your doorstep and you're all set. It's just a though...
- stmiller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Do you really want 'in-house' dell linux support? *shudders*
I think they would be wise to sell Ubuntu, and use Ubuntu commercial support (which is already in place). - oobuntu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1it matters whether you suddenly get an upsurge of users using a distro that defaults to gnome or KDE.
For ex-windows users, i think that KDE is a lot easier to pick up and switch between (even if it does look a bit like Win 2000 out of the box) - cmiz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@cquinnd: It would take some thought up front, but assuming they limit your options to stable packages, then the software really shouldn't bring up any problems. I've never had any stable packages cause problems on a linux distro for me. The big problem will be getting all of the hardware functioning correctly, but as long as they can get the base system for Ubuntu, OpenSuSE or CentOS running on the hardware, any other software they install from repositories /shouldn't/ cause problems. Once the base system is solid, KDE/GNOME/xfce/whatever should run just fine.
@meopameopa: Sorry, I used apt as an example, but almost all distros have some type of software management system be it apt, yum etc. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Maybe the MS of old, but as of late the big bad wolf of Redmond has lost some of its fangs.
- nikanth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1SuSE, the best
- Kr4t05, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1www.transgaming.com
A mere $5/mo far out-weighs $299 every 4 or 5 years. Don't you think?
I use Cedega 6, myself (didn't pay for it, though. :P). It plays both GTA: SA and Guild Wars wonderfully, and Half-Life 2 works in Wine. Doom, Quake, Wolfenstien, UT, and a slew of other games. Plus the host of OSS games free for download: Nexuiz, Warsow, Tremulous, BZflag, gl-117, StepMania, Frets on Fire, the list goes on...
In fact: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open_source_games
Have fun. :) -
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