Dell has been recently in the news for its decision to ship Dell desktops and laptops pre-loaded with GNU/Linux. While most Dell advertisements in newspapers shows the caption "Dell recommends Windows XP" or similar, this move has come as a surprising relief for all Free software enthusiasts. More specifically, it shows the change in the way the wind blows. Of course Dell does not provide the option to ship all its computers pre-loaded with Linux. This is available only for its N-Series range of desktops and laptops.Dell has also put up a separate page dedicated to Linux where it explains the level of support it provides for machines pre-loaded with Linux. The heading of the web page proclaims - "You choose the Linux you want. Dell does the rest. Dell|Linux makes life easier." Dell has also put together a community portal at linux.dell.com where you can get more information regarding the usage of Linux on your Dell equipment.
Update (26-Feb-2007): Dell has also started a website called dellideastorm.com where it invites opinion from the general public about the suggestions and ideas they have and which they would like Dell to incorporate in their products. Guess what, offering "Pre-Installed Linux | Ubuntu | Fedora | OpenSUSE | Multi-Boot" has the most number of votes - a total of 82959 followed by "Dell machines Pre-installed with Open Office" a distant second with 53092 votes.
Update (26-Feb-2007): Dell has also started a website called dellideastorm.com where it invites opinion from the general public about the suggestions and ideas they have and which they would like Dell to incorporate in their products. Guess what, offering "Pre-Installed Linux | Ubuntu | Fedora | OpenSUSE | Multi-Boot" has the most number of votes - a total of 82959 followed by "Dell machines Pre-installed with Open Office" a distant second with 53092 votes.
2 comments:
While I knew they were doing this, it still amazes me that they were able to do it w/o hampering their relationship with MS. Bravo to Dell.
The whole idea of supporting Linux is directly related to the recent bad performance of Dell in the market.
It really is interesting to see how Dell now supports Linux because a year back they stated that there's no single Linux distribution to really support. That there's not much market.
And look now, they are willing to support each and every Linux distribution.
Sadly, when I bought my XPS, Dell wasn't into so much of trouble and I had to pay for the box with Windows pre-installed.
Same was the case for not choosing AMD earlier. The explanations were that AMD wouldn't be able to stand upto Dell's high production expectations. ;-)
But once Dell got slapped in its stock prices, they started shipping AMD also.
Really, money is a big truth. It can make anyone do anything.
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