
Ubuntu pre-installed and in retail worldwide - devx
http://blog.canonical.com/2013/10/01/ubuntu-pre-installed-and-in-retail-worldwide/
======
pcx66
Several retail outlets in India sell Dell laptops pre-installed with Ubuntu.
It is considered equivalent to DOS, in that, choosing an Ubuntu laptop will
save you a few thousand rupees compared to the same laptop with Windows (also
helps that most such configurations also omit the almost-ubiquitous and mostly
un-neccessary NVIDIA graphic cards). Many customers prefer this because they
have easy access to pirated Windows copies. Though due to this, several of
them get introduced to Ubuntu, and many continue using it. It especially helps
having someone you know who is a Linux user and can help with any gotchas.
I've helped several friends and cousins who got Ubuntu with their laptops.

For me though, having a pre-installed Ubuntu is a great way to ensure all the
parts of the laptop are working properly.

~~~
keithpeter
Sounds a good idea. Is it 12.04 they come with?

~~~
pcx66
Yes. At the least,all the ones I've seen come with 12.04.

~~~
keithpeter
Excellent choice again, application updates until 2015 and security updates
until 2017, so possibly the life of the laptop.

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WalterGR
Site is down for me. ("Database error - Error establishing a database
connection") Google cache:

[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hTbf6w3...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hTbf6w3O_hsJ:blog.canonical.com/2013/10/01/ubuntu-
pre-installed-and-in-retail-worldwide/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

~~~
brokenparser
It was running Wordpress on Ubuntu. I wonder why Mark isn't using one of
Cloudflare, Varnish or even a simple caching plugin.

~~~
ealexhudson
"High-availability and scalability are exciting in general but there are
certain problems that experts see over and over again." \- that was the first
line in Canonical's highscalability.com advertorial a couple of weeks ago :-)

To be fair, it's a general truism in tech that the cobbler's children never
have shoes.

~~~
asadkn
Or it is simply just that WordPress is expected to work like light-weight
static sites.

~~~
Sujan
That assumption would have been proven wrong ... lots, and lots of times.
That's why there are so many great tools (cloudflare, plugins, ...) to take
care of problems like that.

------
ColinWright
I still can't get Ubuntu 13.04 to connect reliably via wireless, and while
there are posts on forums nearly everywhere I look, there appear to be no
definitive answers, or concrete procedures. It's a wide-spread problem, with
no clear solution.

I use Ubuntu by choice, but I'm getting tired of doing so much sys admin, and
having to learn so much that is necessary just to make stuff work, instead of
it letting me just work.

It's a hard problem - I know that - and it's getting better, but it still
makes it hard to convince people that Linux is a viable choice when all they
want to do is get stuff done.

~~~
jasoncwarner
Do you have a bug number?

Can you detail the other issues you are having? I am interested in where
Ubuntu causes you more sys admin problems and not less. Our goal is to make
the easiest to use, best looking system possible.

~~~
ColinWright
No, I don't have a bug number. Yes, I would be very happy to have this fixed.
The question is - how much time and effort will it cost me?

Shall we go through the process of getting this sorted, and I will document
carefully the resources I expend on it? Can we take this to email and get it
fixed? It's a brand new machine, and I'd love to have it working properly, so
any help is gratefully accepted, and I'm happy to play my part in getting it
sorted.

~~~
jasoncwarner
Awesome :)

Easiest way to start is file a bug. There are a few ways to do that, but in
this case one of the following two are great.

1\. $ ubuntu-bug network-manager

This will gather information about your card and any crashes related to
networking etc, send it to LP (Launchpad) and star the bug filing process.

Or

2\. Go to [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-
manager/+b...](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-
manager/+bugs) where you can see if any bugs match what is happening to you.
You can then say 'yes, this also effects me' by clicking near the top of the
bug. If you don't see a bug that is right for you, you can file a new bug via
'report a bug' on the right hand side near the top of the screen.

Both ways will require an LP account (sorry!), but it just takes seconds to
create.

If you just do one of those two (and give me the bug number), we can start
taking a look. Obviously we'd love for people who have the time to test
potential fixes, though we know this just isn't a realistic possibility in
most cases. If, however, you do have the time and are so inclined, that is a
great way to also help us figure out what is wrong and how to fix it.

Either way, having a Bug # is great and where we should start. Also, if you
have a bug # and are still posting in those forums, having people 'me too' the
bug raises awareness of the issue for us in Launchpad, meaning, the more
people the bug effects, the hotter the bug and the higher it will be on our
(or in this case, my) priority list. In this case, though, if you have a bug
#, I'll add it to my list directly ;)

~~~
ColinWright
Thanks Jason. Once I finish my current tasks and can reconnect my laptop via a
wire I'll do that. See also:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6504268](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6504268)

I'll get on it ASAP, but it's Sunday evening here, and I have a few other
commitments looming. But I will do it, and thanks again.

------
ekiara
I was recently trying to compile a list of laptops guaranteed to be free from
UEFI Secure Boot (mainly because I've have a friend who bought a second-hand
laptop with Win8(I think), with plans to install Debian, but then after about
a week struggling, he decided it was next to impossible to install).

Anyway, instead of compiling that list I just decided that in future I'd only
buy (or recommend to friends) Chromebooks, machines from System76, or
MacAirs/MacPros. Maybe now I should add few HPs/Dells to my whitelist.

~~~
webreac
It is not easy, but should be possible. Your best friend will be boot repair:
[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-
Repair](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair)

After a very long sequence of strange incantations, my laptop was fully ok.

------
linhmtran168
In my country, the first thing that many people do after buying a laptop with
Ubuntu pre-installed is formatting the drive and install a pirated Windows
copy.

~~~
aroman
That's one of the most sadly ironic things I've ever read.

------
bkerensa
Funny thing is my blog handled HN front page traffic without hiccup and I'm
not developing a server distro or cloud orchestration tool.

------
hoggle
For those who don't really _need_ a Mac (no last minute Adobe pixel/vector
pushing front-end work nor Mac/iOS dev works needed) where can one find
reliable info on 100% Ubuntu/general GNU/Linux distros compatibility?

In short where can I find info about awesome notebooks with 100% Ubuntu
compatibility?

~~~
thejosh
Best course of action is to find a notebook without dual video cards
(optimus), and go from there.

Find something you like, Google if someone has posted information about the
laptop and go from there.

Ubuntu on laptops now adays has pretty damn good compatibility if it's not
brand new - but the kernel quickly fixes that if you use a kernel mainline
version.

~~~
xur17
Agreed with the dual video cards - my friend has trouble on his laptop, and I
am pretty sure that's what causing it. I've been very happy with my HD4000
grapics card. It handles the desktop environment very well, is low power, and
has excellent open source drivers. It's probably not amazing for gaming, but I
didn't buy it for that.

~~~
knappe
I had so many problems with this on my T400 running Ubuntu 12.04. I had
roughly half the battery life compared to when it was running Windows because
there was no way to disable/enable the discrete and integrated cards. That was
so frustrating.

------
senthilnayagam
[http://blog.canonical.com](http://blog.canonical.com) is working , possibly
coming from cache, but blog article is getting 403, bad cache config or facing
cache dogpile effect due to the traffic

Forbidden You don't have permission to access /2013/10/01/ubuntu-pre-
installed-and-in-retail-worldwide/ on this server.

------
devx
I'm actually surprised this hasn't happened in US more. There has to be more
to that story than just retailers not wanting Ubuntu on laptops, when they
could save their customers at least $100 on the machines. It's also strange
that in many other countries retailers would still sell you machines with
FreeDOS (to save customers money), but not with Ubuntu or other Linux distros,
since FreeDOS is all but useless.

My guess is Microsoft is coercing both OEM's and retailers somehow, and if
they really have to sell the machines without Windows, then they want them to
at least sell them without a real OS on them, that their customers might
actually begin to use as it is.

~~~
beagle3
There's microsoft's pressure on one hand, and the preinstalled crap (for which
vendors pay retailers) which moves most of the direct cost away from both
retailers and users.

If you buy a laptop from the Microsoft store, you can pay a little more for
"signature" which is ... Crap free windows. Directly from Microsoft. For an
additional payment. I kid you not.

~~~
ZanyProgrammer
I think that's standard on all Microsoft store laptops, and from what I've
seen, they are constantly on sale, much cheaper than Frys, etc.

~~~
beagle3
When I bought my Lenovo 3 years ago, it was $80 extra. I didn't even check
what it was - I was going to run Linux anyway. When the box arrived with he
sticker "with signature" I almost called to complain that I asked for nothing
extra. But I first checked, and saw that thy didn't charge me for it. And also
that it was removal of crapware, rather than something additional.

~~~
ZanyProgrammer
I think your info is a bit out of date-did brick and mortar MS stores even
exist then? Seriously, I don't like MS that much, but I wish people would get
their facts straight.

~~~
beagle3
Perhaps it is out of date; they _did_ try to charge me $80 to remove crap in
March 2011 (so, 2.5 years ago). It was from the online store - but I believe
the brick and mortar stores already existed.

------
yuhong
I think there is a need for PC manufacturers to have a mechanism for all OS
vendors to report BIOS bugs and similar and in turn PC manufacturers would be
able to report OS bugs and similar where all of them are treated equally.

------
wolfeidau
I really wish that HP, Dell or anyone else would do the same in Australia.

I cannot for the life of me buy a laptop with ubuntu preloaded today.

I look forward to this initiative spreading further :)

------
caseyf7
Why can't I buy a Mac mini clone with Ubuntu and drivers preloaded? That's the
machine I want but everyone's still selling big rectangular boxes.

------
aguchi69
You don't have permission to access /2013/10/01/ubuntu-pre-installed-and-in-
retail-worldwide/ on this server. WTF!

------
Create
Why are you telling Amazon what I am searching for?

We are not telling Amazon what you are searching for. Your anonymity is
preserved because we handle the query on your behalf. Don’t trust us? Erm, we
have root. You do trust us with your data already.

[http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/1182](http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/1182)

Shuttleworth founded Thawte in 1995, which specialised in digital certificates
and Internet security and then sold it to VeriSign in December 1999, earning R
3.5 billion (about US$ 575 million at the time).

Verisign was founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the RSA Security certification
services business. The new company received licenses to key cryptographic
patents held by RSA and a time limited non-compete agreement. The new company
served as a certificate authority (CA) and its initial mission was "providing
trust for the Internet and Electronic Commerce through our Digital
Authentication services and products." Prior to selling its certificate
business to Symantec in 2010, Verisign had more than 3,000,000 certificates in
operation for everything from military to financial services and retail
applications, making it the largest CA behind the encryption and
authentication on the Internet, which most people recognize as the small
padlock icon in their Web browser when shopping online or logging into a
secure website.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_infrastructure#Secu...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_infrastructure#Security_issues)

~~~
frank_boyd
Of course it's not in the spirit of freedom, which is at the heart of the
open-source movement.

That being said, you have options:

1\. You can deactivate the thing with 1 click in the privacy settings, or:

2\. You can yank the concerned package itself (you wouldn't have that freedom
on closed-source operating systems such as Windows or MacOS/iOS).

Open-source operating systems are still infinitely better than closed-source
ones, if you want to be free. Once you'll have regained your various kinds of
freedom that come with it, you will never go back to closed source. That is
why open-source definitely will win, in the long-run at least.

And:

There's a host of alternatives to Ubuntu, and that means: Mark knows very well
that he can _never_ go down the "evil rabbit hole" as much as platforms that
lock you in can (Apple, MS) - because open-source is _by definition about
freedom_ , it's in its DNA.

Conclusion: should he f#ck up too much one day, users are 100% free to hop to
the next distro and Mark would be done - you'll never get a better insurance
than that.

~~~
hrjet
The real worry is not Canonical misusing your data, but third-parties mis-
using it. Even if Canoncial makes a mistake and goes down, in the mean time,
your private information has been sent to third-parties, by default!

"Third-parties" includes Amazon, disgruntled employees, MITM, intruders, govt
agencies, and so on.

~~~
pekk
"Your private information has been sent to third-parties" every time you do a
search on Google. Many pieces of software do Google searches without anyone
making a huge ideological stink over it.

~~~
hrjet
Many people don't realize the significance of privacy. That's not a good
reason to shoot down those who do.

