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Ubuntu Won't Moan To EU About Microsoft

Posted by timothy on from the kudos-to-them dept.

Barence writes "The company behind the Ubuntu Linux distro says it has no plans to follow Opera's lead and file a complaint against Microsoft to the EU. Ubuntu 10.10 is the most 'consumer-friendly' version of the Linux distro to date, but it faces an uphill battle against Microsoft's marketing machine. Even high-profile supporter Dell has dropped Ubuntu machines from its website in recent months, while continuing to remind visitors that 'Dell recommends Windows 7' at the top of every PC page. 'I don't think we've ever considered [an EU complaint],' said Steve George, vice president of business development at Canonical. 'The improvements we're making to Ubunutu ... are a better route for us to reach out to users and get a bigger user base.'"

17 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. If it makes Ubuntu feel any better.... by Jailbrekr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Dell may have dropped Ubuntu, but we dropped Dell. Good god are their business offerings ever horrible. We went out of our way to retire any and all Dell hardware with *extreme* prejudice.

    --
    Feed the need: Digitaladdiction.net
    1. Re:If it makes Ubuntu feel any better.... by MBGMorden · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The only Dell hardware I've had that gave me serious trouble was a robotic tape library. Aside from that, it's mostly been ok.

      Still, I don't see this as a huge problem. Even when Ubuntu systems were available from them, you still had to track them down. Anyone who wants it can still install it for free. With Windows it's a great boon to get it installed from the manufacturer because Dell gets Windows for a very small fraction of the cost as an end user (IIRC, it's around $25 per copy for a manufacturer that size). As such, if you want Windows on your new machine, you're saving a ton of money by getting it that way. Ubuntu on the other hand, being free, loses that advantage. I can install it after the fact for the same price.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    2. Re:If it makes Ubuntu feel any better.... by CannonballHead · · Score: 5, Informative

      Dell didn't drop Ubuntu. You can still buy Dell computers preloaded with Ubuntu.

    3. Re:If it makes Ubuntu feel any better.... by blair1q · · Score: 3, Funny

      'kill' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
      operable program or batch file.

    4. Re:If it makes Ubuntu feel any better.... by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 3, Informative

      "But ordering those systems without Windows would have been an additional level of effort with not enough financial gain to justify it."

      I don't know how many machines you deal with, but the microsoft tax is fucking huge when you're dealing with hundreds of machines. There's been a couple people that have managed to order laptops without windows and received a discount for it. It takes a few hours on the phone, but you receive a laptop without an OS and a check for about $50. Multiply $50 by however many machines you have and you end up with a lot of money.

      I suspect that vendors like this completely refuse to offer this no-windows option at the business level even if it means losing a sale of many hundred machines, lest they have to explain to MS why they're not getting lots of money.

      To be honest, I don't know how it all works at the business level, all I know is that I'm ordering my next laptop without windows and I'm going to spend up to 12 hours on the phone to get the discount for it.

      --
      -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  2. Kudos by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think they're probably going about it the right way. It's an uphill battle, and we've still got a ways to go, but Linux in general and Ubuntu specifically has been making great strides here.

    I particularly like Ubuntu's focus on polish. They don't just crank out apps. They work on themes, fonts, artwork, etc. Things that really make the desktop shine to user who's just taking a test drive. There was a time when a Linux desktop without a TON of work poured into it (and sometimes even after it) was just ugly. Sure it didn't crash, and it was secure, but it looked like it was drawn by programmers - because it WAS back then. Getting UI and artwork people on board helps a lot, and Ubuntu is doing the right thing in that regard.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    1. Re:Kudos by westlake · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's an uphill battle, and we've still got a ways to go, but Linux in general and Ubuntu specifically has been making great strides here.

      Linux is treading water.

      In most stats, it is barely visible as also-ran.

      Stat Counter Global Stats

      I want expecting this.

      But the Linux Stat Counter stats for countries like Argentina, Brazil, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Venezuela etc., are really quite pathetic. Either these countries have gone off-line or the FOSS geek has spent too much time listening to his own propaganda.

      The picture is somewhat less bleak in Uruguay - one of OLPC's great success stories. But in Rwanda - where OLPC had a confirmed, significant, deployment of 100,000 units - Linux is easily outpaced by OSX and Win 7.

      Top Operating System Share Trend, iOS Tops Linux

      Even when you factor in Android, the numbers don't change all that much.

      OS Platform Statistics

      24% Win 7: Up from 0% in Jan 09, Linux 4.5%: Up from 2.2% in Mar 03. The W3Schools stats for Linux are as good as it gets.

  3. Positive Rather than Negative by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 4, Insightful

    'The improvements we're making to Ubunutu ... are a better route for us to reach out to users and get a bigger user base.'

    High five for being one organization in this world that recognizes the benefits of positive advertisement rather than negative attack campaigns. It's always better to stay positive. People will like you more.

    --
    Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
  4. TFS is incorrect about Dell by StayFrosty · · Score: 5, Informative

    Dell is still shipping PCs with Ubuntu preloaded. You can find them here.

    --
    "Frequently wrong, never in doubt."
    1. Re:TFS is incorrect about Dell by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not true. I just configured an AMD-based XPS 7100 with 10.04.

  5. No competetion for programmers workstation by grepya · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I use an Ubuntu (Lucid) desktop for work... customized for our organization by our IT department and fully supported. Even though I develop (server-side stuff) for the linux platform, I'd given up on using linux as my main work machine a few years ago. This was done in frustration over the amount of work I had to do to get basic features going wireless (for laptops), web videos, sound, random usb device support etc. I had gone completely over to OSX as the platform of choice. But this current iteration has completely changed my mind. No more virtual-machines-for-coding-and-real -machine-for-everything else lifestyle for me.

          Everything "just works" out of the box. Critical updates get auto-pushed (arranged by our IT... thorough our internal apt repo).... desktop/GUI behaviors etc. have been flawless... and I was able to connect my iPhone and upload all my music/photos etc. to the desktop (for more convenient headphone experience while coding). This last one is something that I positively *can not* do on my apple laptop. So in this instance, the Ubuntu desktop added value to an Apple product that another Apple product refused to do. And I was shocked to realize how plug-n-play this whole experience was (after the fact). No hacks, no "install ExperimentWare version 0.31" etc. I plugged in the phone via USB, some windows popped up to ask me what I wanted to do with the photos/music and just did what I asked. Impressive.

     

  6. How the HELL is this informative? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Dell has NOT dropped Ubuntu

    The story is BS. PC Pro has zero credibility.

  7. IMHO... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    > 'The improvements we're making to Ubunutu ... are a better route for us to reach out to users and get a bigger user base.'
    In my personal opinion,

    - Sun did this.
    - Digital did this.
    - Netscape did this.
    - Amiga did this.
    - BeOS did this.

    Well, that's the basic idea and the results are now well-known.

  8. Re:Word of Mouth by DIplomatic · · Score: 3, Funny

    A$ $oon a$ the revolution come$, we all know what to do with the Micro$oft marketing department.

    You must be new here, so I fixed that for you.

  9. Kudos to Canonical for taking the high road by Just+Brew+It! · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wish them success in their attempt to topple (or at least put a serious dent in) Microsoft based purely on technical merit. Unfortunately the landscape is littered with other companies who have tried to do so; it's an uphill battle which typically runs off a cliff at some point. I do think that Canonical is in the best position to do so since IBM with OS/2 back in the day; in fact, IMO Canonical is significantly better positioned than IBM was back then. I've been using Ubuntu as my primary OS (both at home and work!) for a while now, and in spite of the occasional glitches, it has been like a breath of fresh air. The mere thought of going back to Windows gives me nightmares.

  10. They bribe PC makers. No skill required. by xzvf · · Score: 4, Informative

    Dell, HP and Lenovo don't put up " recommends Windows 7" on each page because they actually do recommend Windows 7. They do it because Microsoft pays them money to do it.

  11. Re:They bribe PC makers. No skill required. by mark72005 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, the joke's on them, because 2010 is the year of Linux on the laptop.