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Dell Linux Details
jon_anderson_ca writes "Dell, through their direct2dell website, has released some details of their soon-to-be-available Linux machines. Among the highlights: Only hardware that works with Linux is offered; open-source drivers are used where possible; binary drivers for Intel wireless cards, etc.; and no support for proprietary media codecs. Seems reasonable, but it's too bad that Click2Run isn't in Ubuntu 7.04 for the sake of those wanting to (legally) play DVDs, use AVI files, etc." The direct2dell site divulges no details on what models will be offered with Linux. For those we turn to linuxquestions.org, where proprietor Jeremy published a scoop last week: "We will be launching a Linux based OS (Ubuntu) on the E520, 1505 and XPS 410 starting next Thursday, 5/24."
The base Dell 1505 laptop is $699, with some low-end version of Windows Vista preinstalled. If the Linux version costs more than that, Dell isn't serious about this.
Customer: Hi, I want to watch erm, a video, which I downloaded.
Dell (best read with Apu's accent): I see that you are having a Dell Linux computer.
Customer: Yes.
Dell: What I can do for you sir is to tell you that you cannot watch a WMV file.
Customer: Um, but my kid sent it to me from HIS computer.
Dell: Please hold.
Customer: *fume*
(5 mins later)
Dell: Sir, I want you to take the system recovery disk and reinstall your operating system software.
Customer: Why?
Dell: Please hold.
Customer calls friend/child/etc on the other phone: Hey do you have a Windows Vista CD I can borrow?
(1 min later)
Customer: Great thanks.
*click*
Dell: Sir? Sir?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
not...
"starting next Thursday, 5/24." So this week....
This article was on Digg last week it is just too bad that retarded article comparing trolls to building contractors was chosen over it, this needs to be known out in the public as much as he fiasco with the Indy race car incident.
Anyways this is good news it just makes me wonder about the future and codecs not being installed for legal reasons.
What other legal options might limit certain programs being installed or from being used right out of the box on Dell Linux machines?
"That's one small step for man, one giant step.. err*dohh* leap for mankind"
Is Dell going to have their own repository? If people can get software from every repository it is possible that they will get something that doesn't work with the hardware. If Dell had its own repository then they would gain the same advantage that Apple has; the software would be guaranteed to work with the hardware. That would save them a bunch in support. That could make Linux much more attractive to Dell.
Which proprietary codecs aren't specifically supported? There's a version of LinDVD you can get for Mandriva that AFIAK is completely legal. What about talking with apple and getting some Quicktime codecs. What about other Codecs like MP3 that aren't included in some distros, yet are included in others? Either way, I don't really think it will be a bad thing. Anybody ordering a Linux machine will know how to get their own codecs, or will know someone who does (this will be the person telling them to get the computer). I don't see any noticeable percentage of people buying a linux machine who won't be at the direction of somebody who linux-knowledgable. However, I think that if they don't include things like MP3 playing capability then it's a garauteed failure for all such users, no matter the percentage.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Too bad the Latitudes don't seem to be offered- the inspirons are craptacular- I would never get one of those, but I would get a Latitude.
Erm, nevermind.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
If Dell isn't going to be supplying support for proprietary media codecs (regardless of how easy it is to add them yourself), then this suggests to me Dell wasn't prepared to pay licensing costs to make this happen. I hope they provide instructions, or perhaps a script that runs the first time you boot into your Linux box that can auto-install these codecs, otherwise this will piss off a lot of people.
how hard is it to install VLC? Really?
I'm sick of reading all these comments about how horrible it is that Dell isn't going to include the proprietary codecs to play DVDs or mp3. It's not completely legal to do so now without paying a license fee. And if Dell did pay a licensing fee to include, people would be complaining about why it costs just as much as Windows does. And besides, it is VERY easy to look up instructions on how to add the capability to play those codecs online, and most people that care enough to specifically order a Linux Dell, are already going to know how to do this.
Portland, North Dakota Puppies
That tag seems to apply here..
No DVD support, no proprietary codecs? Good grief. I would have hoped Dell would have at least paid the $2 or so for the licensing fees for this stuff!
If this is any indication, it doesn't look like pre-installing Linux will be the panecea some think it will be to beat Windows on the desktop..
I am the maverick of Slashdot
As a Dell employee I can say the models listed in the summary were pulled directly from a Dell internal email. I would imagine that email was sent around to many people outside the company and that is where the list comes from. As far as I know those are the accurate models that will be offered first.
I've never liked Dell, but they seem to be doing it right.
* The default software from the Ubuntu media will be installed
* hardware options thoroughly tested by the Linux team
* restricted drivers where there is no equivalent open-source driver.
* wiki page that gives technical details
* recommend Linux users buy Dell printers that have PostScript engines in them.
* We are evaluating options for providing (mp3/wma/etc codecs) this support in the future.
They're not rolling their own distro (hello Oracle), they're checking out the hardware focusing on GPL drivers wherever possible, documenting via wiki, recommending Postscript supported printers, and they aren't ruling out the *legal* mp3 support down the road. They seem to just be saying "We are trying to figure something out with this mp3 royalty mess". Not to mention, they *must* be pissing off Microsoft big-time. I bet Balmer has chairs tatooed with the Dell execs names on them, just waiting for the right time. That's not like Dell either, historically. They are usually just another little m$ bitch when Bill cracks the whip. Maybe this is a new era for Dell.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
From TFA,
I hope that the "restricted" drivers work along the lines of the nvidia driver where the source of the kernel module would be available which would provide an interface to the binary driver. That way, users would be free install a different distro/kernel of their choice. A purely binary driver that would only work with the specific kernel version shipped by Dell might not be very helpful.
BTW, in India, Dell is offering laptops with the option of having no OS pre-installed. My colleague got one a few months back and saved about Rs. 3,000 (about 75 US$)
I was quite enthusiastic about this, especially since I am an Ubuntu user. But without MP3 and DVD support out of the box people aren't going to bite. Dell and Canonical had better get their shit together soon if they want this to work.
There is more to science than physics!
www.iomalfunction.blogspot.com
All of the Intel wireless cards have Free and Open Source drivers. ipw2100, ipw2200, ipw2945, and iwlwifi. They use binary-only firmware, but not binary-only drivers.
I'm writing this on Ubuntu running on a Dell 1705...absolutely out of the box performance.
If your worried about drivers, things costing too much etc, what you, as an open source user should do is contribute! Contribute to the cause and the price will improve, the drivers will improve, and then you'll be able to complain about other things.
Well if this is the lineup ("We will be launching a Linux based OS (Ubuntu) on the E520, 1505 and XPS 410 starting next Thursday, 5/24." from Jeremy's Blog), I guess I have to wait longer. I'm only interested in WUXGA - the 15.4" Latitude D830 would have been nice, but I'd have considered the E1705 too. If I have to buy an unsupported model and install Linux myself, there is less incentive to pick Dell in the first place.
I seconded ideas on ideastorm that suggested Dell get rid of this stupid division between Latitude and Inspiron, but who knows if that will ever happen. Just a single line of well built laptops in a few different screen sizes is all we need (it works for Apple and if Dell wants to entire the retail market seriously, it would help to have a reduced model line).
Dara
Heh, you must not use Ubuntu 7.04.
Here's how it would actually work...
Customer gets WMV file from his kid.
Customer double-clicks WMV file, or right-clicks and selects "Open with Movie Player"
Ubuntu: This file requires additional codecs to play, would you like me to install them?
Customer: Yes please
(wait 1 minute)
Ubuntu: All done, enjoy your movie!
Customer happily watches their WMV.
The next day, Customer sends his Windows kid some awesome Theora file...
http://www.mhall119.com
"for the sake of those wanting to (legally) play DVDs, use AVI files, etc.""
I think that line can be misunderstanding. It is not illegal for you under Linux to play DVD's or use AVI, its only illegal to distribute their codecs without a license to do so and we all know licenses cost money. If Ubuntu had to pay for the license then it would probably have to charge for a binary copy of Ubuntu. This is where Linspire comes in with click and run, they paid for the license and so they can give you the CD with the codecs on them.
Although its legal for you to download the codec yourself for your own use. You just cant go making a product and putting their codec on it without a license even if the product is free.
They called it Click'N'Run last time I checked it. It was renamed?
Doubt it...
FYI there is already a nice frontend for adding software - it is
easy and straightforward to add proprietary codecs/drivers and
opensource software. It has a popularity based star-rating as well
as a short package description. One can search for a name match etc.
So I havn't noticed the lack of C'N'R feature. Ubuntu 7.04 is a good
choice for a desktop OS imo.
I think you meant "nspluginwrapper".
Anyone here planning on picking up one of the linux pre-installed machines when they go on sale? I'm legitimately curious.
I don't draw a distinction between binary firmware and binary software. If I don't have the freedom to modify it, I don't want it.
Since the alternative of going into Add/Remove Programs and wacking the crapware is never really 100% in Windows (where supposedly uninstalled programs tend to leave droppings in the Registry), the only way to be sure is to nuke it from orbit.
[100% ISO 646 Compliant]
SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
So, tell me exactly what about the firmware for the intel wlan cards you were planning to modify? The driver is where you would implement frame grabbing or packet injection so tell me exactly what you would accomplish with the firmware source....
I agree that its a good goal to have things open source but in areas that it doesn't matter, you are wasting your time and a lot of peoples effort.
I know that this does not apply to all of the threads in here, but I need to get something out.
/. community happy? This isn't meant as flamebait or a troll, it is a genuine questions. Dell is taking a step in the right direction by offering Linux on select systems, and some of you seem to be taking this as a personal afront because Dell doesn't cater to all of your whims. This is the start of them offering Linux publically on their systems. It will take some time for Dell to get everything worked out. Please, if you want Dell to continue to offer Linux on their systems, don't criticize them for the initial offering, support them. Go onto the Direct2Dell site and let them know what you would like in future releases. Contribute to the process, don't complain when something that you never asked for isn't included.
Is there anything that any hardware or software vendor can do that will make the
Noone gets it right the first time, and if they did, we would still be using the alpha of Ubuntu.
I thought it was called CNR? Click 'n Run?
signature is pants
Are there any "European Linux" distros that don't kowtow to the U.S. DMCA rule, and include libdvdcss by default?
... I mean, why not have "Crippled for U.S." and "Un-Crippled" mirrors, and just ship the same distro with a different /etc/apt/sources.list file depending on whether it's the "US ISO" or the "International ISO"? (And, duh, everyone except for corporate users in the U.S. would probably just download the European version, but the point would be that in order to get the 'good stuff,' you'd have to shamefully pretend to live in a country that doesn't suck so bad at IP laws.)
It seems like all the major distros basically play by the U.S. rules, but with the seeming increasing popularity of Linux in Europe, I'd think that the time would be right for somebody to just stop following idiotic U.S. regulations and make a distro that's not hampered by anti-circumvention
It would be sorta like the 40-bit encryption restrictions in the early 90s, only in reverse. We need to make it screamingly obvious to politicians in the U.S., that America is losing on something that the rest of the world is doing without us, because of our stupid rules.
I don't normally encourage obnoxious European holier-than-thou-ism, but this is one case where it could be put to useful effect.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
It wasn't intended as 'obnoxious European holier-than-thou-ism'.
It was simply pointing out that there are only a few countries (perhaps even only one) where DVD playback is a problem. Installing libdvdcss2 and w32codecs takes less than 30 seconds and is not illegal where I live. They perhaps aren't installed by default in the same way that apache2, tor or blender are not installed - not everyone will want it.
Will Dell Europe be able to sell computers with linux installed and DVD playback already enabled? If not, why not?
Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
You may mod me as down, but I am really frustrated this news. While there is a Novell with great solutions, support they can provide and completed advanced desktop which lacks nothing what is needed for average Windows user (mp3, codecs and so on), they choose Ubuntu, where apt-get is the only good thing... Does not sounds serious to me. :-( Of course we say: "Go install $foo yourself", but this is ain't a point, because average users never treat PC as a potential LEGO constructor, but simply a device, which they can turn on and start to work or have fun with NO worry to post-install things. Hope Dell's Ubuntu will be different Ubuntu, but I am not sure... Also I am not sure how do they handle unstable repos, where is the only place to get actually nice software. Do they think that average user will vim apt sources and follow numbers of HOWTO's?.. Yes, *I* can do that easily, maybe everybody on /. are familiar, but yet not average Windows user. :-(
That DVD playing functionality should be included "out of box", I don't think it's much more difficult than opening synaptic, typing your password, and installing VLC. I agree it should be included in the distribution by default, but it's one of the only things an end user will need that ISN'T pre-included.
1. Open Office, a full office suite.
2. The Gimp, a photoshop clone.
3. Gaim (now Pidgin), instant messaging for every client, msn, aim, icq, yahoo, soon also MySpace)
4. Firefox, arguably the best browser in the market.
5. Evolution, not as good as Thunderbird, but certainly safer virus wise than Outlook.
6. Tomboy Notes, Rhythmbox, literally a laundry list of other great software that end users might want....
I mean, true, having a really good game installed would be nice, but you CAN get Urban Terror for free, and I like it quite a bit more than any version of Counterstrike.
I think compared to the huge list of software I need to buy and then install for windows, the Ubuntu process is much easier and cheaper already!
rhY
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
Apple also has two very distinct lines of laptops. The MacBooks, and the MacBook Pros. Each line has it's own focus market... much like Dell and their Lattitudes and Inspirons.
i'm the jedidiahmarkfoster your parents warned you about
Which is about to be superseded by the D830 you mentioned.
Everything works, except the useless WinModem. The pixels
*are* quite small on a 15.4" lcd...
they see that MS is insanely jealous lately of anybody that is also making money.
Playstation->Xbox
iPod->Zune
Google->???? ("I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google.)
I'm surprised they haven't gotten jealous of intel yet and started making their own chips:) Anyway, MS is already in the hardare business with Xbox/360 - a long shot to anything competitive to dell I know, but still, don't stick all your eggs in one basket - don't trust your business to a 3rd party.
It's in Dell's and any computer manufacturer's longterm interest to have a 2nd viable consumer OS when it comes times for negotiations and the like. (Otherwise MS can threaten to hold any of them hostage to their terms, cutting off cheap licenses, without a fear of losing marketshare because Maker X can't realistically offer any other OS).
"and if they did, we would still be using the alpha of Ubuntu."
I don't care about version numbers, or whether it'd be called alpha. If they'd gotten it "right" the first time nobody would complain and be damn happy.
Version numbers were invented only because people don't get it right the first time, not because people would be unhappy if there was only one version (disregarding updates due to progress of technology).
Comment removed based on user account deletion
You're right. The Penguin.SWF blog says the flash JIT VM needs to be converted and that's why there's no 64 bit version.
The GP also forgot to mention the 3rd option (for the flash plugin):
3) nspluginwrapper. It's far from easy to get going on Ubuntu Feisty and needs a 32 development environment (in addition to a 64 bit environment) to be compiled but it _can_ be made work. A brief glance suggests it does it stuff by running the plugin in a 32 bit environment and communicating back to the 64 bit browser over sockets.
It's even better. If you try to play a file for which you don't have the codec, it prompts you on whether you want to download that codec.
"Will Dell Europe be able to sell computers with linux installed and DVD playback already enabled? If not, why not?"
No. EUCD.
You forgot the entering your password bit, but other than that, spot on. I am really loving 7.04. I almost gave it to my parents last week but me pa is still confused by me showing him a firefox icon instead of internet explorer. Maybe the next incarnation will be there yet.
Yeah, but will it run Windows?
...
...wait wait, ok ok, just... please don't hurt me!
Dell aren't really selling these for the Linux hobbyist market, but are selling them as a proof of concept for the soho/business user who is looking for alternatives to Windows. Hopefully the USP will be that said user will be able to call a support line if something goes wrong and someone will be able to give answers that will resolve a problem. 7.04 does seem to be a mistake when 6.06 is the distribution with long term support but without screwing Synaptic down it would be hard for a casual desktop user not to upgrade - LTS is probably more useful for servers in a production environment. Otherwise the idea seems solid and support for specific machines and components will make the support desk's life easier, until the wireless components are changed from Intel to Broadcom to save a bit of money. Hmm. I would also be prepared to bet that the majority of service calls will be about trying to get printing to work with some 20 year old Applewriter, or worse still, a cheap GDI colour laser (note to Dell's Linux support team: foomatic is your friend).
In Europe there's the EUCD, which basically is the European version of the DMCA.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Perhaps. There is nothing to stop them shipping a closed and properly licensed DVD player with their machines.
That would be a training cost of over $15 million for a million images of linux.
You can pay for an awful lot of training for that kind of money...
He said he did
Yes. At least in Britain and Europe, if the DVD is your property, then you are legally entitled to watch the film recorded upon it. Otherwise, the store that sold it to you was breaking the law -- goods sold to a consumer must be fit for their rightful purpose. The fact that you are circumventing encryption is irrelevant in this case, since you are (by sole virtue of ownership of the disc) the intended recipient of the encrypted communication and therefore have authorisation from the sender of the encrypted message (the film company) to view it.
Enforcement of the EUCD in such a way as to protect the interests of established manufacturers would violate pre-existing European laws against anti-competitive behaviour.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
Perhaps. There is nothing to stop them shipping a closed and properly licensed DVD player with their machines.
Even though I wouldn't run one myself, this does seem like a reasonable option. I'd bet that the people who use the Dell-installed distribution are probably the types who just want stuff to work, even if they have to sell their soul to get it. These are the types who give Linux bad publicity by ranting about it being "crap" since it won't play their DVDs, MP3s, etc.
The people who really care about freedom are the people who would probably reinstall the distro from scratch anyway.
Once you've got people involved in running Free software, even though they also use non-Free bits, there is much more scope for them realising the advantages of the Free ethos instead of just dismissing it because it doesn't support their propriatory stuff. And once these people realise why Free implementations, formats, etc are better then there will be more people pressuring for this stuff to be Free.
http://blog.nexusuk.org
- Use the graphical web browser to copy the script from your post.
- Use the graphical text editor to paste it into a file.
- Use the graphical file manager to make it executable (e.g. checkboxes in a file's properties dialog that do the equivalent of chmod).
And then for each folder, the user would run the script:I love it when people call Gimp a photoshop clone. That's like calling my Ford Ka a Bugatti Veyron clone.
There are Brazilian distros that bundle mp3 and DVD playing by default. But it would be stupid to do so on a distro that aims at a broader (global) audience, since the US is big, and there are other countries with DMCA like laws.
Rethinking email
Forgive my ignorance, but WTF is a "Theora"?
Hi,
.. I am not 100% on the conexant hardware ( Sorry i dont use the modem ;) ) .. but pretty much all drivers are Open these days especially the Intel IPWxxxx range. If you mean firmware then yes your talking about something completely different.
..
I am currently running Slackware 11 on a Dell Inspiron 640M. I do think its cool that Dell has listened to the people that want the choice ti have Linux pre-installed on their systems ( if they wish )...
As far as FTA on the drivers
This 640M has the IPW3945ABG and works quite well with the 2.6 kernel. Remember Dells own Wifi cards use the BCM43xx chipsets which have proven to be problematic as Broadcom has not released any docs on it.
Dells use of Intel ICH chipsets means that pretty much all the internals work out of the box, everything from Audio and accelerated desktops / 3d.
I am not saying its easy to mold the OS around the hardware but when it works, its very impressive.
Issues i have noted are due to ACPI problems my Mic port is non operational. I think this issue is just tied to the ICH 7 High Def codec in this one.
If you do run linux on Dell laptops & or systems its a good rule of thumb to keep the bios Axx to the latest, Dell is notorios for broken firmware/bios's
Regards
I don't know if Dell marketing will realize this, but even before they offered Linux on laptops, the hype surrounding it has caused me to buy two.
My oldest daughter was looking for a light but not too expensive laptop, but I had not found one in my limited shopping. When I first read about Dell's Linux plans, I started looking at the Latitudes (where I first assumed that Linux would be offered). There I discovered that there was a machine that met my daughter's specs, and I bought it for her with XP.
Although my daughter only runs XP on the Latitude, I tested a live Ubuntu disk on it and found it seemed to work OK. Then TN offered a tax holiday for computers, and I decided that the tax savings were greater than anything I might save by waiting for pre-installed Linux. I bought an Inspiron (1705 with WUXGA) with Vista Home Pro and hardware that appeared to be supported by Ubuntu. I have set it up to dual boot to Ubuntu, so I now can look at Vista (My younger daughter prefers it but likes Linux Sudoku.) and run Ubuntu. There are a few things I have not yet got going in Linux (BBC video, for example), so the Windows is still useful.
Right or wrong, I wanted WUXGA on a large screen, so I probably would have been disappointed with the Dell Linux offerings, but the talk about the planned offerings led directly to the purchase of the two laptops. Others with similar wants may look at the Linux specs and then buy a non-Linux machine with hardware based upon the Linux machines.
Theora is a patent-free, royalty-free open-source video codec. It's the video counterpart to the Vorbis audio codec and competitor to MPEG4 and WMV.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theora
http://xiph.org/
http://www.mhall119.com
There are legal and ethical issues with supplying proprietary technologies in a free (as in freedom) operating system. Proprietary (non-free) software cannot be supplied in a free operating system, otherwise the operating system as a whole is no longer free. It shouldn't matter if supplying the proprietary software would help people maintain their status quo. The goal behind free software is freedom, and proprietary technologies inhibit freedom.
A homeless person freezing and starving in the winter could easily solve their problem of not having shelter or food by doing something to be imprisoned for some time. Why, then, don't we see more homeless people committing crimes and going to jail? Although jail would be an easy and convenient solution to the problem, it would come at the cost of freedom.
While the severity of proprietary technology distribution pales in comparison to that of a life-or-death scenario, the same fundamental principles remain. If anything, the act of tainting a free operating system with software that dilutes that freedom is what's defective.
Have you driven a fnord... lately?
You must wait a little bit before using this resource; please try again later.
Posting anonymously because I'm a Dell employee who wants to see this succeed but am not 'authorized' to speak for Dell.
Dell needs to sell 20,000 of these systems to consider this pilot a success. If we sell less than this, don't expect much in the way of continued effort. This is a royal pain to get rolling as fast as we are - especially since a huge majority of our tech support know windows only.
Oh, and you only have a couple of months before the systems we're shipping these on go end of life. They are mature systems, with good technical information. But in order to be responsive to the Ideastorm ask as quickly as possible - we decided to go with systems that were about to be EOL rather than waiting for the next hardware refresh.
The people that said they would wait to buy a box until Dell offered Linux are about to get your chance - I *really* hope you follow through on that promise.
It will fail because people like you and half of the posts here will never be satisfied. Dell is installing a Linux distribution and is guaranteeing that all hardware works with drivers. That's the product, buy it or don't buy it. But chances are, if not enough people purchase these systems, Dell will scrap the entire project.
Here are some URLs for the Dell models listed:
Dimension E520 Desktop - $370+
Inspiron E1505 Laptop - $700+
XPS 410 Desktop - $900+
I'm in the market for a new laptop, but unfortunately the E1505 is too large and heavy for my needs -- the base weight is 6.18lbs! Dell should really consider adding something smaller and lighter to the ubuntu-supported mix. How about the Latitude D420 ?
coding is life
How many truckloads is that?
Will they be available outside the US ? Quite simply, I'm not going to buy a laptop with an American keyboard layout. However, assuming the price is fair and they sell in my country I will probably get one.
How about support (i.e. in ten years) and bug-fixing?
Nobody will buy them anyway. It's just a move to get support from the geeks.
Improve at backgammon rapidly through addictive quickfire position quizzes: www.bgtrain.com
like it runs Linux. So what? When will Dell realize that Free Software is only ideologically correct on a Free Computer, and send me a free computer, completely pre-loaded and configured to my exacting 1337 requirements including weird funky p2p apps and codec cracks, 3d desktop that performs flawlessly and a free 24/7 support guy to hold my hand, fix everything i screw up, make me peanut butter and jelly sammiches (for free, natch) and and live in my basement?
Only then shall my ideological foment be sated! But then i shall complain for them daring to put their crass commercial logo on MY box!
My old Linux system fried a few weeks ago, and I suddenly am in the market for a new PC. I have owned Dells for years and have never had any problems with them (other than having to reload Windows). I could have bought another bare bones system or rolled my own, but I am waiting for Dell. I talked to a sales rep who was very helpful, and also let me know about the training required for the support staff. It is obvious that Dell is very serious about this. It will be really nice to actually have supported hardware.
I think that 20k number may be hit in the first few days. I hope I don't have to wait too long for my PC if Dell gets overwhelmed.
"Dell recommends Feisty Fawn"
"Be grateful for what you have. You may never know when you may lose it."
There was a story on Ars Technica a while back (I don't have the link, sorry) where Michael Dell was doing a question and answer session, and someone asked him how much extra they would have to pay to get a PC without "Craplets". The figure he gave was $50 - $60.
Now, I don't know how much Dell pay for a vista license, and I don't suppose we will be finding out any time soon, but if it's less than $50 dollars (which would not be a shock) then the Linux machines may be more expensive. If I had to guess though, I think they will probably sell for the same price as the Windows machines.
"I realise this is not a very popular opinion but it's the truth, and there for needs to be said" -Bill Hicks
and/or ease of use for the n00b crowd who might not even know how to install applications, but Linux has them ready to go automatically for them. I'm not a unrepentant fanboi, but it seems to me for most people (mom, etc.) Ubuntu is set up better than Windows by default.
Unless of course, you consider the horrific shit brown.
rhY
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
Has anybody ever seen Cyberlinks PowerCinema Linux?. html)
(http://www.cyberlink.com/eng/press_room/view_970