spinynorman Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Dell contacted DesktopLinux.com on March 28 to let them know that the company will be releasing select desktop and notebook systems with pre-installed Linux as an option in the coming weeks. While the Texas-based computer company was unwilling to go on record as to which distributions it will support, comments from Dell officials indicated that it is likely to offer support for multiple distributions. Recently, Dell asked users which distribution they'd like to see out of a selection of Novell/SUSE, Red Hat, Fedora, openSUSE, and Ubuntu. The results of that survey are still not known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 one step closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 One thing I read in there, was their extensive testing of Dell machines with Novell SLED. So technically still a little link to Microsoft. Let's hope they offer more distros than this, otherwise it's simply another machine with Microsoft (Novell) Linux instead of Windows XP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artificial Intelligence Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 One thing I read in there, was their extensive testing of Dell machines with Novell SLED. So technically still a little link to Microsoft. Let's hope they offer more distros than this, otherwise it's simply another machine with Microsoft (Novell) Linux instead of Windows XP. I did suspect that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 It's better than nothing, guys. Don't hate on the MS/Novell deal so much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieJohn Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 If DELL does keep its word then HP and others will have to follow (or hopefully have the guts to follow) and this will break the back of Microsoft's control because everyone will be in the same boat and so none will be disadvantaged more than another as a result of any retaliatory action Microsoft might try to take on any one individual company. Any company punished by Microsoft can then spill the beans publicly as to being victimized by Microsoft and the other company's can back up the victim for their group mutual benefit yet still be competitors. Microsoft needs their business as much as they need Microsoft. So far Microsoft has dictated the business relationship. Maybe now it will become a two way relationship. Microsoft won't like it at all, being the scumbag business thugs (criminals) that they are. If you look very carefully you will see that Microsoft is now using its extorted ill gotten wealth to buy into other kinds of legitimate businesses not associated with software (yes I know it is called diversifying) just the same as the Chicago mafia and other criminal organizations used their crime gained proceeds to move across into legitimate businesses in the past (and still do). Cheers. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendal Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hopefully Dell sells these "Linux" machines for a similar price to what they sell the Vista ones. I remember when my Dad bought his dell and they still offered Red Hat and it was a lot more than you paid for XP. Then hopefully the sales will generate enough interest in other vendors to start to offer alternatives. Wal-Mart at one time sold pc's with linux preinstalled (don't remember which distro) but I don't think sales were too good, as they dropped the program. In fact I bought mandrake 7.2 at wal-mart, because a friend messed up burning redhat 7.1 (?), and that was my start in linux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystified Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I think WalMart sold computers with Lindows preinstalled. Not a very good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I think WalMart sold computers with Lindows preinstalled. Not a very good choice.It different times they had different distributions. There was a period where they had Mandriva available, though I believe that was only online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 My favorites for preinstalled linuxes would be Ubuntu (yes, you read right) or fedora, but if they decide to go with SLED, that is fine by me. I would prefer to buy a SLED laptop than a Vista laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Any of them is way preferrable to HastaLaVista nightmare of an OS. Oh, and cheaper, too. I would also pick Ubuntu, although I would surely try to kick+replace it with the usual distro... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 HP already have good support for Red Hat, and drivers available for their built-in sata raid controllers. I've encountered this already. At least, I mean on the server end. I'm not sure about their laptops/desktops, as I don't use them - only their servers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 To me it doesn't matter what they install - so long as it's Linux I know it will probably work with my usual distro. I also think Ubuntu would be best though - just because of the new user experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artificial Intelligence Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 It's better than nothing, guys. Don't hate on the MS/Novell deal so much... You can call me paranoid if you like ( :D ), but every experience tells unhappy stories about companies dealing with Microsoft, and I'm just waiting for that Microsoft makes a Corel Linux inccident move with Novel. What's borther me is that they won't show the outcome of the votes and with the Novel/microsoft deal and I'll say the fixed the outcome and the "vote-your-distro" is a coverup. ...and Microsoft have been quiet lately...hmmmm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 If the vote doesn't get publicised, then effectively they are using the vote as a how many people want Linux. They'll total all results, and then probably there will just be Novell SLED being offered as the distro for pre-installation. Basically, using the questionnaire and vote count to find out how many people are interested in Linux, for them then to use a Microsoft approved Linux distro ;) as selling Novell SLED gives some money back to MS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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