Slashdot Mirror
Pre-Installed Linux On Dells Coming
When Michael Dell took back the reins of he company he founded, one of the first things he did was to launch the feedback site Dell Idea Storm. Following up on the recent Slashdot discussion of the early results of this experiment — an overwhelming expressed desire for pre-loaded Linux — Dell reports on what it plans to do with this feedback. Quoting: "[W]e are working with Novell to certify our corporate client products for Linux, including our OptiPlex desktops, Latitude notebooks and Dell Precision workstations. [On the question of which distro to choose:] "[T]here is no single customer preference for a distribution of Linux... We want users to have the opportunity to help define the market for Linux on desktop and notebook systems. In addition to working with Novell, we are also working with other distributors and evaluating the possibility of additional certifications across our product line."
When Dell decided to follow through with the Idea Storm idea I was reminded of something that happened after the Super Bowl a couple years back and keeps happening occasionally. Something will happen on TV or radio and about 20 people from Focus on the Family will freak out about it and complain to the FCC over and over again. The FCC then freaks out and does something stupid like increasing censorship or fines. Similarly when the dedicated Linux community decided to take over Idea Storm they should've been ignored as they are simply an extremely vocal minority. That Dell is considering wasting that money is a sign that Dell is desperate and instead of making better looking or cheaper computers they will instead cater to the extremist elements in the IT society. It's too bad. I really like my Dell but if they are going to waste their resources on this fruitless endeavor then I'll take my money elsewhere.
*The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.*
*shudder*
I've actually never managed to successfully install Ubuntu. Slackware, Mandriva, even Libranet all worked fine. Ubuntu wouldn't even boot into the main installer for some reason.
Mandriva, now there's a distro that 'just works'. Didn't even have to do anything for my wifi drivers. Installed it, and everything was fine. Hell, it was less work than Windoze.
That's what I thought. Linux is still a joke.
I don't respond to AC's.
Screw that! I've GOT a Dell laptop. I've tried SLED, Ubuntu, and Gentoo on it. All of them had "issues" of some sort or another. (My fave, Gentoo, did NOTHING when I tried to switch the video for a projector.) If Dell offered a laptop with Linux pre-installed -- by which I mean that all the hardware JUST WORKED with Linux -- I'd GLADLY pay $50 more for the stupid thing. What's wrong with you people?! Isn't this worth anything to you? It is to me, and you go ahead and bet your bottom dollar that the next time I make a requisition for a new laptop (which should be this fiscal year), if Dell's offering, I'm buying. I know that may not seem like a big deal, what with voting with my company's dollars, but, if I were the one buying it with my money, this still would be a no-brainer.
Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."