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View Full Version : Ubuntu To Soon Ship On 5% Of PCs



jespdj
May 8th, 2012, 01:18 PM
I just read this: Canonical: Ubuntu To Soon Ship On 5% Of PCs (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTA5ODM)

5% sounds like a rather optimistic number to me, considering that I've read from different sources that Linux on the desktop has a market share of between 1% and 2%.

Are there really that many new PCs being sold with Ubuntu installed?

forrestcupp
May 8th, 2012, 02:03 PM
Are there really that many new PCs being sold with Ubuntu installed?

Not yet. That's why it says "soon to ship". ;)

But it looks like this is going to partially be a result of their new Beijing office. There are a lot of people in China. Unfortunately like the article says, a significant number of people in Asia buy these PCs at a lower cost and wipe Linux to install a pirated copy of Windows.

dpny
May 8th, 2012, 04:18 PM
Not yet. That's why it says "soon to ship". ;)

But it looks like this is going to partially be a result of their new Beijing office. There are a lot of people in China. Unfortunately like the article says, a significant number of people in Asia buy these PCs at a lower cost and wipe Linux to install a pirated copy of Windows.

Which is ironic, considering that people who buy a machine with Windows installed, only to wipe and install Linux, aren't counted either.

aysiu
May 8th, 2012, 04:58 PM
Funny, because all the Linux preinstalled options I've seen have been either under-spec'ed or overpriced compared to their Windows preinstalled counterparts.

CharlesA
May 8th, 2012, 07:27 PM
Funny, because all the Linux preinstalled options I've seen have been either under-spec'ed or overpriced compared to their Windows preinstalled counterparts.
That has been my experience as well.

lancest
May 8th, 2012, 08:27 PM
Any pc purchase situation where people aren't paying for Windows is good.

There's also the reverse Win pirate argument about slowing the growth of Linux.

BTW many (I'd say a majority) of Chinese are buying Apple computers and replacing OSX with Windows.

forrestcupp
May 8th, 2012, 09:07 PM
Which is ironic, considering that people who buy a machine with Windows installed, only to wipe and install Linux, aren't counted either.

True, but I'll bet the numbers are bigger the other way, though.

forrestcupp
May 8th, 2012, 09:07 PM
BTW many (I'd say a majority) of Chinese are buying Apple computers and replacing OSX with Windows.

If it's anything there like it is in the U.S., that makes absolutely no sense at all.

dpny
May 8th, 2012, 09:17 PM
If it's anything there like it is in the U.S., that makes absolutely no sense at all.

Makes sense to me: people like the hardware but want to use the OS they're used to. I've seen some people doing that here. I'm pretty sure Apple's desktop presence in China, while growing, is pretty small.

QIII
May 8th, 2012, 09:32 PM
Dellbuntu deja vu?

KiwiNZ
May 8th, 2012, 10:03 PM
Dellbuntu deja vu?

We should not have too much regard to the Dell fiasco, it was a classic "go to market too early" situation, and to go to market half cocked. Like many things that Dell attempt it was done badly.

jespdj
May 9th, 2012, 06:41 AM
Dell is still experimenting with Ubuntu, they've come up with a version of the XPS 13 laptop especially designed for developers, with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on it.

See here: Project Sputnik (http://bartongeorge.net/2012/05/07/introducing-project-sputnik-developer-laptop/).

Doesn't look like this is an effort to bring Ubuntu to the masses, it's more a hobby project of a Dell employee than an attempt to make it a commercial success.

Primefalcon
May 9th, 2012, 03:31 PM
We should not have too much regard to the Dell fiasco, it was a classic "go to market too early" situation, and to go to market half cocked. Like many things that Dell attempt it was done badly.
LOL I I wouldn't even call the dell oferring an attempt, at least ASUS tried... before they pulled that whole it runs better with Windows thing campaign and basically dumped Linux....