desktoplinux.com — In an attempt to boost its sagging fortunes, Dell, one of the leading PC makers in America, recently launched the Dell Idea Storm website to solicit ideas on how to get Dell back to the top. The most popular idea so far? Desktops with pre-installed Linux.
Feb 21, 2007 View in Crawl 4
schestowitzFeb 21, 2007
We need to see action, not just attention. Last year, Michael Dell told SJVN that he would support Linux and that it's none of Microsoft's business. And where are we today? Still no preinstallation of Linux. And Dell machines with FreedDOS are more expensive (by design) than ones with Windows preloaded. Frankly, I am not surprised.Did Microsoft want to 'whack' Dell over its Linux dealings?<a class="user" href="http://news.com.com/Did+Microsoft+want+to+whack+Dell+over+its+Linux+dealings/2100-1014_3-6153904.html">http://news.com.com/Did+Microsoft+want+to+whack+Dell+over+its+Linux+dealings/2100-1014_3-6153904.html</a>Dell's secret Linux fling<a class="user" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/09/dell_linux_china/">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/09/dell_linux_china/</a>Microsoft 'killed Dell Linux' - States<a class="user" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/19/microsoft_killed_dell_linux_states/">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/19/microsoft_killed_dell_linux_states/</a>Does Dell do a $1-billion kickback thing with Microsoft? A fortnight ago it got caught doing this with Intel. Someone ought to step in and eradicate all this corruption.
megatog615Feb 21, 2007
If Linux controlled at least 20% of the market share, I'm sure game developers would port their games to it. If Dell sold Linux desktops, it would increase the usage of Linux, thus increasing market share, thus increasing developers.
brundlefly76Feb 21, 2007
@evilTak:Go figure out how to teach 2500 Bangladesh support reps to help a soccer mom fix her Xserver over the phone because her son half-installed Beryl because he saw a cool video on YouTube - oh and by the way you need to teach her vi first.Now you can begin to understand why you dont advertise your linux systems on TV.
brundlefly76Feb 21, 2007
@eviltakActually, what you just described is probably the most *common* pc support issue handled every day by dell support.However, you cant get the masses to do a root command line/vi fix, which a significant amount of Linux repairs require.
tech42erFeb 22, 2007
@marcuschiWhen I can build a laptop with Linux-compatible parts cheaply, I will. Until then, I'll hope Dell adopts this and byuy from system76 or another such store.
tech42erFeb 22, 2007
All I wanty is Linux-friendly hardware.
tech42erFeb 22, 2007
You can't build a laptop. So, I need a prebuilt system. My last laptop was a Dell, but that was before I switched.
kaesongFeb 22, 2007
I like this, a proactive approach on Dell's part. Hopefully they'll be able to farm some good use out of the discussions.If they're going to be serious about linux on the desktop, they need to stop and think. "What do their users ask for?"Dell's one of the largest computer reseller in the world. I assume they have data based their support calls, most common problems, requests, configurations, etc and use that to cultivate the ultimate desktop. Asking a linux user what they want on the desktop is not going to make them big bucks. Reviewing over their support calls and data farming will help design their best desktops. At the end of the day, users don't really care what kind of operating system it is, what kind of browser it is, or what kind of word processing software it is. They just want it to work and that includes interoperability with windows and it's popular applications and associated devices.
knifefedFeb 22, 2007
My point is simply that Dell sucks. Linux-users generally don't. It just doesn't add up.
marthabrowMay 3, 2007
Quite doubtful. Are you people blind to vote for THIS?