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At the end of May, the No. 2 PC maker will begin selling some consumer-focused laptop and desktop models with Ubuntu's new "Feisty Fawn" version of Linux installed, Dell spokesman Kent Cook said. The company announced the Linux move on Tuesday on its IdeaStorm site, launched in February to gather feedback directly from customers about what they want.
"Today, we are excited to tell you that Dell will begin offering Canonical's latest version, Ubuntu 7.04, as an option on select Dell consumer models in the U.S. in the coming weeks," the company said in its announcement.
Dell also announced that it has improved its Linux forum and has given it prominent placement on its Dell Forums Web page.
When buying the Dell systems, customers will have the option to purchase support from Ubuntu backer Canonical, said Jane Silber, the start-up's director of operations.
Companies have been trying for years to make a go of Linux on PCs--Dell even invested in one company, Eazel--but generally, they've had little success, even though they offered lower prices, polished graphical interfaces and necessary software such as Microsoft Office competitor OpenOffice.org.
"I don't think this is going to be a knock-the-ball-out-of-the-park home run," said IDC analyst Al Gillen, who still doesn't see a major Linux draw for most Windows PC users. But the move is notable for the fact that it's Dell making it: "Dell typically doesn't do stuff if they don't think they're going to get enough volume to justify it," Gillen said.
Dell, suffering market share losses to top PC seller Hewlett-Packard, is trying reinvigorate its direct ties with customers, an approach that long has been the company's hallmark. Linux-based PCs was an "overwhelming" request from the IdeaStorm site, Cook said.
"We heard loud and clear from customers that they wanted this," Cook said. And of those who wanted Linux, "80 percent came back and said Ubuntu," Cook said.
Cook wouldn't share pricing details or say how Linux PCs would compare in price with Windows PCs.
Dell began selling Linux PCs in 1999 and added laptops in 2000. But in 2001, Dell reversed course, canceling the Linux PCs because of insufficient demand. Today, Dell certifies Red Hat or Suse Linux for use on some business-oriented PCs, but except when larger customers place custom orders, customers must install the operating system themselves.
This time, things are different, Cook said.
"We think great strides have been made since 2001," Cook said. "Linux has evolved to a point where there is something available for consumers," though Linux PCs will appeal mostly to a Linux enthusiast market that's more limited than that for Windows Vista.
And Dell validated the Linux request through its own research. "There definitely are those who are Linux zealots, but we did some checking as well," he said.
Dell's move isn't likely to dethrone Microsoft any time soon. On servers, the Redmond, Wash.-based company faces several strong operating-system competitors in Linux and Unix, but its dominance in PC sales hasn't been dented.
Of the 160.5 million operating-system licenses shipped in 2006, Windows accounted for 92 percent, compared with 4.1 percent for Mac OS X and 3.8 percent for Linux, Gillen said. "We're not seeing any breakout momentum for Linux on desktop," he said.
A big boost for Linux
But Canonical believes the time is right.
"The market is ready," Silber said. "We think the combination of the timing, the technology and the partner are aligned to make it happen."
Dell's partnership is a significant endorsement for the up-and-coming Linux support seller. Canonical doesn't yet have the widespread hardware and software partnerships possessed by incumbent Linux power Red Hat and Novell's Suse Linux, but it's working to build them.
The company is starting its business by trying to appeal to users of desktop computers. From there, Canonical Chief Executive Mark Shuttleworth has said, the company plans to head to the server market, where the real Linux bread and butter can be found.
Cook wouldn't comment on whether Dell plans to offer Ubuntu on its servers as well. "We're looking at Linux across the breadth of our product line. It takes a bit longer sometimes on that side. Stay tuned," he said.
Raven Zachary, an analyst for the market analyst firm The 451 Group, believes that day will arrive.
"I think you will find Dell, over time, also offering Ubuntu across its server product line as Ubuntu grows in popularity in the data center, due in large part to Canonical's 24-7 support offering and the simplicity of managing one distribution from the developer's desktop to the data center," Zachary said.
Customers are reporting use of Ubuntu more than IDC had expected, Gillen said.
"It's showing up as well as any traditional nonpaid Linux distribution is showing up and starting to rival some paid distributions," according to Gillen. "It's not first-tier, but it's pushing the envelope getting into the first tier."
Canonical wouldn't reveal financial terms of the deal.
"It's a very significant deal for us, in terms of evolution of the company," Silber said. "How big a deal depends, to a large extent, on how many machines are sold. We think that'll be a high number."
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Realisticly, this at least interests me, since I can't get my distro of
Ubuntu to run worth crap (unless I want to do without WiFi or
Ethernet) on my laptop.
For once, I can say good job to Dell for thinking different....
again.... after failing...
no a mac user) I've never been a big fan of dell but I have to give
credit where its due. Who cares if its suse, unbuntu, or whatever
just being able to choose what you want to use is a huge step
forward.
Secondly, there have been too many competing versions of Linux with no clear desktop leader, no clear choice as an easy to point to alternative. That's simply too confusing to people not already familiar with Linux.
Is Ubuntu really the best version? Well, it may well be, but the truly significant thing is that the Linux community is now starting to unite (for some grudgingly) behind a single distribution, one that is mature and polished enough to be a real desktop alternative. It's that more unified front that may enable Ubuntu to be the breakout Linux success story that's been so long in coming.
Now things are getting interesting.
Most users are "click and drool" and the people working on Gnome and KDE don't want to do the last little bit of polishing, the unromantic stuff that most of them never even think of using.
let's check back in twelve months and gauge how many of those
who requested Linux put their money where their mouth is, i.e.,
purchasing a Dell pre-installed with Linux for themselves, their
employees or clients. Regardless of the larger implications, Linux
on the desktop needs to compete toe-to-toe with Windows and the
Mac OS on the merits of usability and productivity.
But since I am one of "those people", you know the ones that build and upgrade their systems I will choose neither for now.
Although we also have Dell OptiPlex as our standard desktop system so it will be interesting to see how many are ordered with the Linux OS option.
I think it is a positive move for Dell but probably too little, too late. They have other problems that need resolving.
XP install as an option.
Thank you for OS DRM restrictions
Thank you for being a resource hogging OS
Thank you MS for being MS.
Linux is on the way up
Overall, I'd take Gentoo if available, but I'll use Ubuntu just as well since I like it fair enough for a out of the box distro. I, too, dont have the time to build my own PC anymore. I also refuse to purchase another one loaded with Vista on it at any cost. (Why pay $100 for something I'll get rid of anyways?) The same applies with XP if I can avoid it (lesser of 2 evils?).
I say good job to Ubuntu and their devs for doing a fine job making something that Dell would consider.
Also, I wont likely be putting up money to support this development. As much as I'd like to, I'm one of the many always in the AMD vs Intel bickering. (In my home, I have 2 laptops running Turion 64 X2s [ Room mate and my own ] and also 3 PCs, 2 with Athlon XPs [ 2800 and 3000 ] and one with an Athlon 64 X2 5200) I wont be converting to Intel anytime soon, so until HP offers it with their AMD systems, I'll be buying my next system to replace the 2800 through a NO OS provider at about $1500 for a fantastic setup. (1200 if I build it myself, not too bad of a markup for me)
Vista is already selling more Macs, I see that here on Campus. When MS stops Windows XP licenses then I think sales of Linux on the desktop and the Mac will soar.
when was the last time you tried it?
give it another try maybe, its really not that hard, it starts off livecd
This doesn't surprise me at all.
The last 5 Years Dell has made some poor choices and they weren't all Kevin Rollin's either. Michael Dell will have to face the music from this point forward.
This is a poor metric considering many distributions don't sell licenses.
No one tracks the individual downloads and installs of GNU/Linux and *BSD, as they are not part of some big marketing scheme, but, my research shows the average CDrom of GNU/Linux and *BSD that I dispensed saw ten installs!
Stats might probably be available on the corporate chain store sales of retail boxes of Xandros or FreeBSD, or Red Hat Server.
For each one of those, there are a thousand DLs of GNU/Linux or *BSD from http://livecdlist.com http://distrowatch.com http://www.linux.org
The FUD is simply incredible. Over there a bunch of people hand out 'FREE STUFF', and in the mob chaos, you think somehow you can count the number of copies installed?
So many dealers at the Marketpro shows (Southeast USA), use LiveCDroms of GNU/Linux and *BSD, who have reported to me their hundreds of installs!
How can the press/media retain any credibility or integrity when they spout those unbelievable numbers as in the article, like 3.8% and 4.1%, and 92% for M$?! Vista is an admitted loser! No one with one iota of intelligence wants the DRM and new vulnerabilities of Vista!
among current Linux computer vendors.
http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/
http://lxer.com/module/db/index.php?dbn=14
I think Ubuntu is the smart choice for moving Linux into mainstream production models of any line. It would make it easier on the company building and selling the PCs as well as on the end user. With Ubuntus ease of use, it tends to get more and more people to convert to Linux in that manner. It would be a lot harder without distros like Ubuntu around since many distros require you to configure much of it by hand as you go while Ubuntu may only have a minor handful of things thats it wont do for you. (I've tried and used at least a 15 distros in the past 3 years. Only Gentoo, openSuSE, Knoppix and Ubuntu worked right out of the box minus the wireless. Wireless was only due to a Broadcom driver being needed. The rest of the Distros had problems with sound or graphics more so then anything.)
Go Ubuntu, Knock em dead.
I realize you are a blind MS zealot with absolutely no technical or intellectual skills, but please dazzle us with your insider knowledge.
I think it is funny how this makes the MS apologists nervous.
Maybe Dell should install OS/2 to save them?
He he he.
I use both @ home [i]very[/i] easily.
I am about to spring for a dual Core Duo Mac this summer... and given what Apple provides for the pricetag, it's a damned hard deal to beat - even if Dell could build a box with the same specs and park Linux on the critter.
I gotta give props to Dell for doing it though, and I hope they succeed with the average users (web, email, IM, games, etc).
/P
The kinds of people that buy Dells do it for cheap hardware. Unless you are talking about the very highest end Dells, they simply can't compete with Apple.
That crappy $300-500 Dell will run Linux and run it far better then the bloat ware from Redmond.
I have yet to see Intel based laptops as nice as my PowerBook.
Yea, it's got the potential to take a bite out of Apple, but I don't think you'll see it happen anytime soon.
Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com
- Also..
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by bradyme
May 2, 2007 7:40 AM PDT
- In 3 months over 2 million new users from Conical's stats... That's huge
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