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Dell Releases Ubuntu 7.10-Powered PCs

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the gutsy-moves dept.

sjvn writes "The official word will be out any minute now, but in the meantime DesktopLinux has learned that Dell will be releasing Ubuntu 7.10 on a laptop and desktop with immediate availability. And, as an extra added bonus, they're tossing in legal DVD-playback capability. In a word: Neat."

18 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Silly Me by Skraut · · Score: 3, Funny

    Here I thought computers were powered by electricity.

    Linux keeps getting better and better every day it seems.

    --
    Introducing Microsoft Vacuum 1.0 The first Microsoft product that doesn't suck.
    1. Re:Silly Me by Facetious · · Score: 5, Funny

      Electricity! Heavens, no. Windows PCs are powered by bluster, Macs by ego, *BSD systems by antisocial energy, and Linux boxen by the collective goodwill of those yearning to breath free. (Excuse me. My bias is showing.)

      --
      Let us not become the evil that we deplore.
    2. Re:Silly Me by eclectro · · Score: 4, Funny

      Here I thought computers were powered by electricity. They are. They put Tux on a hamster wheel attached to a generator. Bastards.
      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    3. Re:Silly Me by LrdDimwit · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'll say your bias is showing. 'Bluster' is an interesting euphemism for "souls of the damned".

  2. Re:Pitty by osssmkatz · · Score: 3, Informative

    Post this in the firefox forums, but make sure you're running the latest version (the latest patch). It's a bug I encountered on one other site with popup menus not working. You can also order by phone.

    --Sam

  3. first duke nukem forever now this by kie · · Score: 5, Funny

    The question is which will be first -
    dell actually promoting linux on their front page or duke nukem forever going gold...

    Seriously they must have sold a lot of the linux line to be doing this.
    I bet all the chairs in Redmond are very afraid at the moment.

    --
    living the dream
  4. DVD Playback by Poppler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And, as an extra added bonus, they're tossing in legal DVD-playback capability. That's the real new here as far as I'm concerned. This is what needs to be done if they're going to try to sell these things to the home PC market.

    If they're smart, they'll continue on that path and add out-of-the-box support for mp3, aac, and other non-Free multimedia.
    --
    What's the ugliest part of your body? Some say your nose, some say your toes, but I think it's your mind. -Zappa
  5. Re:Pitty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Firefox 1.5.x has been EOL for a long time now. Upgrading Firefox to 2.0.0.11 will probably fix your problem.

  6. What if I want to watch a crappy DVD? by FuzzyDaddy · · Score: 5, Funny
    "In fact, one of the key requests from customers interested in Linux is the ability to watch their favorite DVD movies."

    Of course, if it's not your favorite DVD, then the player won't work.

    --
    It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
  7. 14" display by gorbachev · · Score: 3, Informative

    I wish they had at least a 15" display on these things. I hate to squint.

    Looks like Ubuntu 7.04 on 15" laptops, for now.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
  8. Europe? by BlueParrot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, it doesn't matter too much as there are other options in Sweden, but will these be sold in Europe?

  9. Re:Is the DVD playback crippled? by KingSkippus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is the DVD playback crippled? Will it refuse to skip previews and such?

    A DVD player that refuses to skip previews and such isn't crippled, it's working exactly as it's designed to.

    I'm not saying that forcing you to watch commercials is a good thing, I think it's awful. But let's not act like players are supposed to completely ignore PUOs on DVDs, they're not. Those that do are the ones that aren't working as the specs detail they're supposed to, they just happen to be doing so in a manner that's convenient to you.

    In an ideal world, media companies would use PUOs responsibly and not piss off their consumers. In reality, their abuse of PUOs have caused many of us to seek ways around their pig-headedness by using DVD players that ignore elements of the specifications. It's sad, but we need to recognize the situation for what it is, not what we wish it were.

  10. Linux Cost More? by phkhd · · Score: 2, Informative

    So I went through and customized the same model with Windows Vista and with Ubuntu, to the same configuration (better LCD and larger battery, but otherwise stock). The Ubuntu model was roughly $854, and the Windows Model was roughly $824 (I might be off by a few bucks). But why is the Ubuntu model more than the Vista model? grrr.

    1. Re:Linux Cost More? by setagllib · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The Linux install is not subsidized with hundreds of badvertisement and spyware programs. You get a fixed, enhanced, tested Ubuntu 7.10 without any malware. To many people that's worth a lot more than Vista. Personally? I'd get the cheap Vista license and then replace the install with Ubuntu anyway, and then perform a ritual sacrifice to help a copy of Vista leave this world.

      --
      Sam ty sig.
  11. Re:Is the DVD playback crippled? by UncleTogie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But let's not act like players are supposed to completely ignore PUOs on DVDs, they're not. Those that do are the ones that aren't working as the specs detail they're supposed to...

    According to whom? If we're talking the UOP specification, I can't think of many end users that would AGREE to have their control taken from them. I'd also be willing to bet that if asked "Would you like to let the movie studio control what you watch on your legally purchased DVD, or would YOU like to choose?" darn near 100% of the users would indicate the latter. If you check the linked article above, pay close attention to the last sentence in the first paragraph.

    Wonton abuse of a published spec is one of the first steps to render said spec obsolete.

    --
    Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
  12. Too much unregistered shareware by tepples · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wish they cost less than a comparable windows system. They're acting like they are giving you a free OS, when they're really getting more money off of the Linux machines. Major publishers of shareware pay home PC builders to get the unregistered versions of their products installed on the system before the end user first turns it on. Some Slashdot users have hypothesized that this makes up for the entire price of a high-volume OEM Windows license. The reason you don't get a discount on the PC with Ubuntu OS is that the shareware either isn't available for GNU/Linux (and doesn't run well in Wine) or has a Free counterpart that's as good or better.
  13. Re:Pitty by squiggleslash · · Score: 2, Informative

    Because there's no downside?

    I mean, honestly, you're making it sound like this is unbelievably hard work. We're talking about downloading a program that installs without any trouble at all, and "just works" when upgrading. It's going to take him all of one minute to go through the upgrade process, if that, plus whatever time it takes to download. Twice in two months? Most people spend more effort switching on their computers in the morning.

    And, honestly, upgrading to FF3 as soon as it is released is probably unwise anyway. I know I'm not going to. I'd prefer to wait a week or two to see the kinks ironed out.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  14. Dell PCs probably don't use LinuxBIOS by tepples · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So it still needs proprietary drivers, right? Virtually any Dell PC you buy will come with proprietary software on it. After you turn on your Dell PC, a piece of proprietary software called "BIOS" sets the video adapter and much of the rest of the chipset into a known state, does some checks on your RAM, and loads GRUB.