Linux pre-installed on Dell, for real this time
By George Gardner
Last Month, Dell launched a new website, Ideastorm, where visitors were encouraged to make suggestions about future Dell products; an option for pre-installed Linux on Dell desktops/notebooks quickly rose to the top of the list, and has consistently remained the #1 suggestion throughout Ideastorm’s history.
A couple days after the pre-installed Linux suggestion arose, in what is seen now as a gross miscommunication, Dell responded to the community by offering to sell a new line of certified user-ready Linux-loaded desktop and laptop computers.
Many took this the wrong way, thinking that Linux would be pre-loaded on their machine; however, they were extremely disappointed when Dell clarified their original statement, noting that a user would have to install their own version of Linux and Dell’s PCs would only be certified for Novell SuSE Linux.
Two week ago, an undecided Dell took a step in the right direction and decided to release a survey to any user who was interested in Linux on their Computer; it was a promising day for Linux users, although many believed this was only an attempt at certifying Dell PCs for multiple Linux distributions.
In what seems to be a surprising twist of fate, Dell has now responded to the survey by saying, “Dell has heard you and we will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and Precision workstation line. Our first step in this effort is offering Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems.”
Dell added that over 70% of the more than 100,000 people who took part in the Linux survey said that they would use a Dell system pre-installed with a Linux operating system at home and the office.
Dell is yet to release information on which distribution will be chosen; however, Novell would be a good guess considering the present certification of Dell’s desktop and notebook PCs.
“We will provide an update in the coming weeks that includes detailed information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available. The countdown begins today,” said Dell, on the Ideastorm website.
Whether or not Dell can get full driver support for hardware on their pre-installed Linux machines remains to be seen; although, it’s nice to see such a large corporation actively pursuing ideas from the little guys and (most importantly) implementing their suggestions.
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Stumble It!
March 29th, 2007
Hi George,
I am a member of the IdeaStorm team at Dell. Indeed, Dell is listening to customer requests on IdeaStorm, and our latest move related to Linux is just one example of that. We have a number of ideas that we have implemented so far, and even more that we now have under consideration. Another example of this was our response to customers’ ideas about how to have more control over the software on their PC, by giving customers more opportunity to opt-out of some preinstalled software.
We’ve really been impressed with the ideas coming in, and hope that we’ll continue to see the enthusiasm and creativity from the community. This Web 2.0 implementation is proving to be a great way to turn up the volume of conversations between Dell and its customers.
Caroline
March 29th, 2007
Caroline,
You managed to post some 130 odd words.. and say _nothing_. That is what we hate most about Dell.. Well, that & the lies. Maybe saying nothing is better than lying.. hmm. might have to give you that one.
Come on, take a stand.
“We have a number of ideas that we have implemented so far,..”
Unfortunately, not the ones we asked for. Simple, solid, reliable Linux across the board. Linux runs on (damn near) _every_ machine made. Microsoft Windows runs on only certain machines. Certainly every machine capable of running Microsoft Windows is _more_ than capable of running Linux. No excuses. Do it. Give all purchasers of all machines a choice. Microsoft Windows or Linux.
Open Office is available for any reasonable OS. (Sorry Atari ;-)). Install it. It works. People who want something else will install that something else. Period. You will have made life easier for all the rest.
Or, Dell can continue to blather about their many blessings.. & we, the people who want choices other than Microsoft Windows & Microsoft Office will continue to take it in the backside.
p.s. driver issues is a red herring for Dell. They make their own video/audio etc. sub systems. They write Microsoft Windows drivers for all of them. They are more than capable of posting Linux drivers for everyone of them.