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Will Dell Be Bad For Ubuntu?
vcore writes "Many people are excited for Ubuntu's upcoming release on Dell computers, and while it is certainly good news there are a few causes for concern. Very few details have emerged so far so it is not completely clear what impact Dell with have on the thriving Ubuntu community. But there are questions concerning support, logistics, pricing, and a number of other areas that are affected. From the article: 'Dell is in the practice of filling their computers with large amounts of "bloatware" and also all sorts of co-branding, but it remains to be seen what they will do with Ubuntu. It has been reported that Dell will be shipping a standard version of Ubuntu 7.04...'"
...and as far as I can see VMWare has done nothing but good for Ubuntu.
The Army reading list
several weeks ago when rebuilding an HP machine with XP just got too frustrating and time-consuming. Threw in an Edgy install disk and it worked perfectly. Upgraded to Feisty with no drama. I've been using it exclusively for over a month.
How can Dell be bad for Ubuntu? Yes, I RTFA and I think most of the potential problems are non-issues. The update mechanisms can scale; Dell can help if need be. I can buy support from Canonical or Dell can outsource it to them if Dell can't handle it.
I don't really see the downside. I'd love to see a few completely clueless oldsters accidentally get one of these Ubuntu Dell machines for their first and only computer. Then we'd have converts who simply didn't know any other way.
Even a clueless newbie can figure out Feisty. Now, I think there's another Slashdot post I want to read.
No, it wont be bad for Ubuntu. It may be bad for any Linux Guru's around making them go prematurely bald by having them rip their hair out when some Dell customer asks them 'Wheres Internet Explorer?' or 'Does this thing have google?' or in the case of semi-knowledgeable find that they've activated the root account and are running everything from there instead of using 'sudo' (yes you can cringe now)
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
+2 Troll is Slashdot's way of saying groupthink is confused
Unlike Windows, even Windows does not always expect to be rebooted after installing new software. Oh, he's using 7 year old software from Microsoft, forgot about that. Would be nice to note that statement is a very weak comparison in 2007/XP/Vista.
Part of the attraction of Linux has been that the user community consists of a select group of highly informed individuals. A few years back, only those "in the know" had heard of the OS at all. Even now, it primarily appeals to those comfortable with OS installs and compiles from the command line. The Dell support for Ubuntu lowers the bar considerably, democratizing access even -- dare I say it -- going so far as to turn AOL users into Linux users. This is indeed a frightening possibility to many, but I am convinced that Dell's support is a good thing and a goal that many Microsoft bashers have advocated but never actually expected to come to pass.
So now we must move on to the next battlefields wherein the truly geeky may differentiate themselves from the huddled masses yearning to break free of their (Redmond wrought) chains. Certainly some will fight bitter battles over which distribution is best. Others might even start using BSD, much to the Netcraft-troll's dismay. Some might even quit whining and start writing some code.
Okay, I admit that last possibility is far fetched, but one can idealistically dream.
Given one hour to live, the student replied: "I'd spend it with professor FP who can make an hour seem like a lifetime."
I just installed Kubuntu on my mom's new computer. She's 78. She simply gave me a list of the things she wanted to do with her computer (web & email, mostly). The only thing beyond the stock CD I installed was Firefox with Adblock Plus. So far, she likes it.
This is something I hadn't thought about before, but I wonder if Ubuntu is going to work with Dell to make what ever version they ship with be a LTS (long term support) release, or if Dell is just going to ship with the newest version of Ubuntu all the time? The last LTS release was Dapper Drake (6.06) and last I've heard the next release, Gutsy Gibbon, was not going to be a LTS release.
It'll be Eternal September all over again.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
I think it will be interesting to see what bloatware they actually install. :) dare to dream!!
It might actually help get some more mainstream programs into linux.
a dell photo album tool on several thousand ubuntu installs could force Adobe into releasing its photo album software for linux. This inturn could lead to finally having professional adobe tools on linux.
Not to mention having more linux / firefox users would spur more development on flash tools for linux.
Dells DVD Tools could force Nero or PowerDVD and the like to develop a cheap DVD player / burner for Linux that doesn't suck.
Could you imagine if they just sold 500,000 of these boxes, that would be enough to make any company think about releasing a linux version of their product, ie itunes, WOW, quickbooks etc.
The more linux boxes they sell, the more it will force software companies to actually think about developing their programs for linux.
I say let them load it up with as many programs as possible, so that the best "bloatware" programs will force their windows equivalents to release linux versions.
<sig> I wish I had a </sig>
Why would dell's plan to ship Ubuntu be bad? I don't think a lot of retards are going to be wondering "where's internet explorer" because said retards will just get Vista, the retard operating system of choice. The people that are going to be picking Linux as their OS either already use it or are mentally capable of switching. My father, for instance, just switched the computers in his house to osx AND linux after getting fed up with Vista (and not wanting to go back to XP). He has had no problem with either OS, and he only ever calls me up for help when he has some esoteric question about how Linux works.
Dell may even be able to make the situation better for the Ubuntu (and general linux) community by increasing the user base and potentially helping with drivers, funding, etc. After all, they have their precious reputation at stake and it is in their best interest to see Ubuntu succeed and improve upon itself, if only to make their own customers happy.
You are assuming that the Dell+Ubuntu deal will change every aspect of the GNU/FreeSoftware/Linux movement. It will probably change the way that mainstream business users see Linux but the deal won't change much else. http://distrowatch.com/ has as many distros as it does because it's easy to scratch an itch with Linux and go your own way whenever you choose to do so. Most Linux/Windows/OSX users don't care about ROI or even know what it really means. Most Free Software hackers don't really care about economic feasibility and will continue to plug away with their preferred tools if given the opportunity. Dell is not going to change any of that.
http://nyamenation.org/
Wow. I mean, wow. Dude, you're running BSD! It has a pretty front end, and it's BSD! [smacks forehead]
Now I know Mac has a huge "computers for elitists" ad campaign going on, but listen- all the features you're claiming you get from OSX you got from the *nix underpinnings.
The only reason it seems to run more seamlessly is because they have a very limited number of peripherals you can add (or even buy). So for a few million bucks they can test every likely possibility. If we could say that every computer could only have these 18 (or whatever) peripherals, then every flavor of Linux/BSD, and even windows would integrate fantastically.
Really this isn't something you should be taking stabs at, because the more attention that linux/bsd get, the better the system you're using will become. In any case, really it is worth your time to take another look, if not for your main system, (which you seem happy with), but perhaps just to keep up-to-date with what's new with the OS. If you see something you really don't like, you can always submit changes. :)