Has Dell Dropped Ubuntu Linux?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366953,00.asp

by dhimes • 16 years ago

27 33 16 years ago

pcmag.com

kierank• 16 years ago

Ubuntu from Dell was only there to put a little pressure on Microsoft (probably to call their bluff).

shadowfox• 16 years ago

Did it work?

SandB0x• 16 years ago

It was always really half-assed. I bought one of the Ubuntu edition laptops a couple of years ago, and on the two occasions I spoke to Dell's tech support (for hardware issues) they had the machine down as having Vista and they had no idea what I was talking about when I tried to explain that I had bought one of their machines with Ubuntu.

A properly configured Ubuntu installation absolutely beats the pants off Windows for typical netbook tasks. Fast, stable, no viruses, no freaking installers adding crapware and "toolbars" to your browser. All the software you could ever need on a netbook: Chrome, Rhythmbox, VLC, Skype, Spotify, OpenOffice (if Google Docs doesn't do it for you).

I don't know why they've dropped it, why they never gave it a proper shot. They could have really set themselves apart from the sea of netbook manufacturers. I'm waiting for someone to come along and happily eat their lunch.

pvg4• 16 years ago

I think once you're at "properly configured" the same can be said for Windows (most likely XP).

larsendt• 16 years ago

Not really. Windows still lacks one of Ubuntu's killer features (package management), and virus scanners don't always work.

That and a Linux terminal is much nicer to work with than Command Prompt.

Samuel_Michon2• 16 years ago

Agreed. It's not like Microsoft ships its retail versions of Windows with trial AV-software, crapware and browser toolbars. OEMs like Dell do.

Come to think of it, the retail version of Windows has sobered down quite a bit, what with Movie Maker, Windows Mail, Messenger, and Photo Gallery only available for download, instead of being tied into the standard installation.

In the EU, one can even purchase Windows without Media Player and Internet Explorer. I think of the aforementioned programs as crapware, so imo, it's heading into the right direction.

Ofcourse, I'm speaking of the current version, Windows 7, which definitely wasn't designed for underpowered laptops. It's like hacking Mac OS X Snow Leopard to work on a netbook: it might work, but it's not going to be as fast as Android or WebOS on the same machine. On the other hand, Windows XP really shouldn't be shipped with new computers, outdated and unsafe as it is.

Since Microsoft really has no suitable offering of Windows for netbooks, I completely understand why every major computer manufacturer wanted to buy Palm Inc, even besides the patent portfolio.

nailer• 16 years ago

> I don't know why they've dropped it, why they never gave it a proper shot.

One reason may be because Ubuntu stills expect users to do an OS upgrade - which Dell doesn't have the resources every 6 months - to get newer software. If you want an up to date desktop app, like Firefox, officially - ie, without headache-installs via tarballs or source, you have to upgrade to the next release of Ubuntu. That's a dealbreaker for a lot of support organizations.

zandorg• 16 years ago

I wonder how much money they're getting from Intel for this?

_delirium• 16 years ago

Are there any good current options for something that comes preinstalled with a reasonably normal version of Ubuntu or Debian and works well? It seems a lot of the preinstalled-Linux netbooks come with some sort of manufacturer-customized version of Linux, which I'm worried will cause problems down the line for upgrades. I'm confident that I can upgrade a standard Ubuntu or Debian install for years, but if it has some manufacturer-hacked install, I'm much less confident how long the support and updates will last (worse if it's a manufacturer-customized kernel, in which case I'm not even confident that it'll boot after an upgrade).

limist• 16 years ago

System76 specializes in Linux machines:

http://www.system76.com/index.php?cPath=28

dman6• 16 years ago

Five years later we will discover 70% of this quarters Dell revenue came from payments from Microsoft for being Windows exclusive.

houseabsolute3• 16 years ago

I know you're just trying to be funny. Hopefully. But it is hard for me to imagine that selling laptops with Ubuntu was ever a profitable endeavor.

dman6• 16 years ago

Yes I meant it as a joke. I do realise that if many people dont buy a particular configuration it would be less profitable because the expenditure involved in keeping a particular configuration alive is amortized over fewer units sold. That being said - there is a case where its more profitable in the long run for a company like dell to sell an upstart like AMD / ubuntu which is not pulling in the margins yet - the case where the upstart is starting to gain traction.

angusgr• 16 years ago

I think near all of the time Linux sales are chalked up as "Windows sales" anyhow.

In my current job, and in my previous job as well, all the tech staff PCs are corporate order Dells/Acers/whatever. They all come with Windows, and the first thing the developer/ops person does is installs Linux.

It's basically easier to do it that way than to communicate the Linux requirement back through to whoever is actually ordering the PC.

I think the only time either organisation doesn't preorder with Windows by default is for servers.

jmatt• 16 years ago

Just over a year ago I got a dell mini 9 with linux for my dad. There was no way he was going to use linux. It just confused him and nothing worked without first taking some action or involved explanation. It was all just too much for him.

I installed OSX 10.5 [1]. I told him the only rule is no Apple Software Updates (until I had a chance to patch it). It was my nth attempt to get him to leave Windows and it finally worked. After some massaging by me - Everything just worked. Maybe not the same way - but it worked. And it was more productive than using his old borked windows install. When linux can provide a similar experience they will gain (more) traction. I don't agree with Dell dropping Linux but I understand it. I can just imagine all the confused users calling in because they can't install some windows game or windows program.

There was another reason the Mac didn't happen sooner. Price. There was no way he was going to shell out for a mac. He had the money. He just couldn't justify spending 3x to get a Mac. We'll see if price is still an obstacle now that he's a daily Mac user. And this is another (obvious) strong point for Ubuntu. In my opinion they've done a good job leveraging "being free" in the netbook market where 25% of the cost can be the OS (/cough Windows).

[1] http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-os-x/

dotcoma• 16 years ago

Canonical should SELL their product to newbies: but a CD, it costs you less than your anti-virus software, we give you 30 days of support and you get an office suice for free, too. All for $49.99 - it's a great deal!

fractallyte• 16 years ago

The 'elephant in the room' is the TOTAL lack of interest from governmental departments that deal with competition issues (in the UK, the Office of Fair Trading). If a manufacturer wants to recommend - and support - only Windows, that's OK. But it's illegal to tie Windows to their computer products. They must offer, on demand, a machine without a pre-installed OS.

I'm still trying to get a refund for the Windows Tax on my Samsung laptop. But when even the OFT seems to have been subverted, what does one do?

I know what I'M going to do. Corruption must be crushed, utterly.

known• 16 years ago

Hell with Dell.

Has Dell Dropped Ubuntu Linux?

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