

Has Dell Dropped Ubuntu Linux? - dhimes
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366953,00.asp

======
SandB0x
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.

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

~~~
larsendt
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.

~~~
pvg
How many end-users have you ever heard say 'I wish my computer had better (or
any) package management/terminal'.

~~~
dman
How many users have you seen saying "I need a better firewall, and upto date
antivirus patches and I dont want drivers in my kernel taking my entire system
down"? But most of them expect a well functioning secure computer whose speed
does not go down over time and one which doesnt crash often. Users might not
ask for package management but once they discover it they will appreciate "i
dont have to go looking for software on twenty different websites and I dont
have to bother to check websites for updates" - updates via windows update
center for non microsoft software is an idea that should be much farther along
than it is right now - have you ever been annoyed by flash, google products,
adobe products, itune all having their own update listeners prompting you for
updates all the time ? Well if package management and integrated updates were
in place you would have just one update center.

~~~
pvg
Integrated updates are built into both Windows and OS X. Have been for a long
time. Both of these rather popular consumer OS's surely have their problems.
But the idea that a Linux desktop is somehow more user-friendly or accessible
because it has 'package management' or an awesome terminal is absurd. I
somewhat suspect that sort of dreadful idea is part of the reason why there is
no competitive Linux-based consumer OS, to date.

~~~
dman
How many non apple updates have you seen in the apple update center ? How many
non microsoft updates have you seen in the microsoft update center ?

~~~
Samuel_Michon
As of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, installation and updating of printer drivers get
handled by Apple's Software Update.

[http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/09/apples_snow_le...](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/09/apples_snow_leopard_to_load_printer_drivers_on_demand.html)

Ofcourse, those drivers are still curated by Apple. Back in 2004, Apple
flirted with the idea of opening up Software Update for third parties, but has
since decided against it.

"The computer company fears that third party developers could accidently
release buggy or infected software updates, which would ultimately effect the
Mac OS X operating system, causing customers to fault Apple."

[http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/04/07/13/apple_nixes_th...](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/04/07/13/apple_nixes_third_party_software_update_plans.html)

~~~
dman
Btw thanks for including links! Maybe the feature could be added as an opt-in
for the user. This is what ubuntu does -
[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories/Ubuntu#Adding...](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories/Ubuntu#Adding%20Canonical%20Partner%20Repositories)
, works great. Also the fact that random regular company can actually host
their own apt repo and ask their users to add it to their apt configuration
and then receive updates via the System Updater is kind of neat. There are
several companies which do this - cloudera being among one of them, virtualbox
being another.

------
_delirium
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
System76 specializes in Linux machines:

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

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

~~~
houseabsolute
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.

~~~
dman
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.

~~~
houseabsolute
Sure. But I don't think in this case the upstart has been gaining any
traction.

~~~
dman
Search google trends to compare osx,fedora,ubuntu. You will be surprised. I
would paste a link but am on a mobile device which lacks cut and paste.

~~~
houseabsolute
There are all kinds of problems with this. For one, it could just indicate
that Ubuntu has more problems than other OSen and thus needs more searches.
The very fact that Ubuntu has a higher number on the trend lines indicates
that there are some serious problems with using this method to do the
comparison.

This (<http://www.netmarketshare.com/os-market-share.aspx?qprid=11>) seems a
more direct way to compare the shares and seem to indicate Linux is basically
flat over the last couple of years. It certainly doesn't indicate any imminent
opportunity that Dell might miss here. Even your trend graph shows a
substantial decline in Ubuntu searches over the last year.

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angusgr
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
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/>

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

~~~
shadowfox
Did it work?

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fractallyte
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.

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

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dotcoma
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!

------
known
Hell with Dell.

