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Dell To Linux Users — Not So Fast

Posted by kdawson on from the still-with-the-Windows-tax? dept.

PetManimal writes to tell us that after all the hubbub over Dell's note about manufacturing Linux-friendly Dells and choosing distros, the company is now telling users not to expect factory-installed Linux laptops and desktops anytime soon. According to the article, Dell says that lining up certification, support, and training will 'take a lot of work.' "The company said today that the note was just about certifying the hardware for being ready to work with Novell SUSE Linux, not an announcement that the computers would be loaded and sold with the operating system in the near future..."

3 of 356 comments (clear)

  1. better be good by gsn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This really does worry me - if the linux Dell's do come out and are cheaper with SUSE or whatever distro they go with, I'm sure your everyday Joe will buy it. I worry that everyday Joe will then get stuck if he can't get something working with a GUI. I'm not trolling. I've seen people download windows programs and expect them to run in Linux when they double click setup.exe Its worse if they call the "Windows guru" whose never touched linux and cannot help. If Joe gets really frustrated he "upgrades" to Windows and vows never to try Linux again.

    Let Dell take their time because if this is going to work its going to have to be seamless and familiar. I'd actually be thrilled once Dell picks out a distro because thats a big impetus to standardize a lot of things to it, GUI, installer and package manager especially. If you can get a standard cross distro installer and package format, unfortunately like InstallShield, that correctly adds entries for menus, and just works then Linux is really ready for the desktop.

    --
    Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
  2. Re:Dell will not betray Microsoft. by Omega+Hacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People who want linux preloaded also want professional grade support.

    And they're going to Dell for this?!?!?!?!?

    --
    GStreamer - The only way to stream!
  3. And this is why.... by encoderer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm going to run out of town with a mob carrying torches and pitch forks just for saying this, but THIS is why Linux--despite anyones claims--is simply not ready for the desktop.

    When a guy that has enough knowledge and comfort to actually install and run linux STILL didn't know all the esoteric reasons why you need a specific GPU or WiFi card, etc, how could you ever hope for a regular joe-user to know?

    I'm certain that the average user doesn't know a GPU from an IOU and they don't want to know.

    Whether or not this is a GOOD thing (i think it is, personally), users are accustom to something that Microsoft does that /. gives them no credit for: Ensuring hardware compatibility--usually "plug & play" style--for nearly anything that you can buy at Best Buy or Dell or CompUSA.

    When linux can say the same, then you're on to something. Until then, stop evangelizing so much and spend more time writing decent drivers.

    The server market--esp. web server--Linux is awesome. But desktops are a different beast. You can argue that the desktop shells for Linux are excellent now--and that was an important piece of the puzzle--but now that users have a desktop they might actually want to USE IT for something, and to do that, they'll need support for networking, optical, and video hardware.