Dell to support F/OSS users

[bob_c_b]

Dell offering PC with no MS operating system installed, billing the new E510n1 as "Open Source Ready", full story. (http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20051004_175650.html) Very cool, never been a better time to be a Linux user.

[mstlyevil]

Dell offering PC with no MS operating system installed, billing the new E510n1 as "Open Source Ready", full story. (http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20051004_175650.html) Very cool, never been a better time to be a Linux user.

Open source my biblical name for a donkey. Did you see they are going to have a ATI card and charge more for it then you can get a better pc with windows preinstalled. If Dell wanted to sell a opensource pc, they would preload Linux on it and optimise the hardware for it.

[drogoh]

Dell offering PC with no MS operating system installed, billing the new E510n1 as "Open Source Ready", full story. (http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20051004_175650.html) Very cool, never been a better time to be a Linux user.


Dell has done that for a while now, they've only downplayed it because when they initially said something about it their partnership with Microsoft was put in jeopardy.

[Qrk]

To be fair, it looked as if the open sourced computer had a little better hardware than the Windows one. But it still doesn't make sense. Dell chooses to sell an open sourced computer but destroyes the real advantage of open source; (at lease when buying your computer) that it costs less than windows. This is an empty gesture at best.

[weasel fierce]

hey, its better than nothing.

[drizek]

This means that:

demand for linux > demand for amd

or maybe just that:

intel bribes > microsoft bribes

either way, its a good thing. too bad there is no way in hell ill ever buy a p4.

[papangul]

The spokesperson conceded that there is still somewhat "limited demand" for Linux desktops in the consumer space, which is a reason that the company does not offer the E510n1 with Linux preinstalled. Also, Dell does not believe that any of the Linux distributions currently available on the market has emerged as a "distribution for everyone" yet and therefore chose to leave the decision for or against a particular Linux version to the buyer.

This sounds strange. What would be the problem if it shipped with a distro like Ubuntu or openSUSE?
Btw, long ago I installed "open sourced" Windows on a "open source ready" PC ....;) .

[skoal]

Wowzers! I remember a few years back several other vendors did this very same thing and shipped linux on their computers. However, I don't think any of them are still around today unfortunately. I hope this trend picks up again, but I wonder what microsoft's licensing response will be? Seems like a calculated risk by Dell. I love it...

\\//_

[bob_c_b]

Open source my biblical name for a donkey. Did you see they are going to have a ATI card and charge more for it then you can get a better pc with windows preinstalled. If Dell wanted to sell a opensource pc, they would preload Linux on it and optimise the hardware for it.

You have to take this gesture for what it is worth, Dell is the BIGGEST OEM partner MS has, there is a subtext to this gesture that should not be ignored. You have to look at the actions of the past few days...

-Dell offers Open Source Ready PC without Windows

-HP to ship desktop with Netscape pre-installed

-Sun partners with Google to promote Java and OOs/StarOffice

Dell, HP and Sun (since the Java lawsuit settlement) have all been long time "partners" of MS, either by economic necessity or coercion. All of these gestures mean these companies are less fearful of MS and starting to embrace alternatives.

[WildTangent]

as the previous poster mentioned, these companies are becoming less afraid of microsoft :D interesting times ahead.... :cool:

-Wild