From TFA: Dell agreed to ship PCs and laptops with the Ubuntu operating system after more than 130,000 people promoted the notion on the company's IdeaStorm web site. It would seem, however, that only a fraction of these zealots were willing to back their votes with cash. (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/11/30/ubuntu_dell_sales/)

Just because 130,000 want the option doesn't mean they are going to turn around and buy a new Dell system right away. I think that offering Linux is a good idea but always build my own PCs.

Moral of the story: If Dell ever asks you whether putting Linux on a Laptop is a good idea for them to do, someone will take your "yes" vote as meaning that you intend to buy one. :D My only problem with Dell's Linux Laptop is that it runs Ubuntu, which is a great distro but not my preference. For that reason I'd never buy one of today's models.

That 40,000 is likely a rounding error for them so you can see why they might be disappointed.

I presume that Dell believed that 130,000 was merely a sample when perhaps it was closer to being the complete universe.

Note to marketers, be wary of online polls!

Moral of the story: If Dell ever asks you whether putting Linux on a Laptop is a good idea for them to do, someone will take your "yes" vote as meaning that you intend to buy one. :D My only problem with Dell's Linux Laptop is that it runs Ubuntu, which is a great distro but not my preference. For that reason I'd never buy one of today's models.
That is a pretty poor excuse. The distro a linux rig comes loaded with is pretty irrelevant. The biggest thing is linux hardware compatibility. At least you know that the hardware works in the linux world. Any distro can be loaded in a half-hour these days.

I don't know what you mean by "poor excuse". No idea...

The argument I'm making is that I don't need to buy a Dell preloaded with Ubuntu in order to run Linux on a Laptop. I can look up which new laptops are Linux-friendly and then install my own distro on the one that I want. So, while I responded favourably to Dell asking if Linux on a Dell Laptop is a good idea, I had no intention of buying one.

Is that clearer?

That is a pretty poor excuse. The distro a linux rig comes loaded with is pretty irrelevant. The biggest thing is linux hardware compatibility. At least you know that the hardware works in the linux world. Any distro can be loaded in a half-hour these days.
Yes, the whole point of having a company like Dell sell Linux powered laptops is to make regular computer users warm up to penguins through the realization that the software and device drivers on those laptops will be supported and regularly updated.

Having regular people research which laptop is Linux friendly and then install their distro of their choice on it is probably not going to help in getting Linux reach critical mass on the desktop.

Remember for Linux, copies sold is not equal to copies installed,

Yeah but the article was talking about laptops here with pre-installed Ubuntu OS.

I don't know what you mean by "poor excuse". No idea...

The argument I'm making is that I don't need to buy a Dell preloaded with Ubuntu in order to run Linux on a Laptop. I can look up which new laptops are Linux-friendly and then install my own distro on the one that I want. So, while I responded favourably to Dell asking if Linux on a Dell Laptop is a good idea, I had no intention of buying one.

Is that clearer?
Well that is quite a bit different than your previous statement, where you indicated you would never buy one of todays models because it runs Ubuntu. My only problem with Dell's Linux Laptop is that it runs Ubuntu, which is a great distro but not my preference. For that reason I'd never buy one of today's models.

The biggest thing is linux hardware compatibility. At least you know that the hardware works in the linux world.

I am a dedicated Linux System Administrator. I install Linux on lots and lots of systems and the only device in the last 5 years that I couldn't get to work on Linux was my dang HP scanner. Linux ships with more drivers than any other operating system on the planet including Windows. When I order I don't go looking for a "Linux" machine. I just order a machine knowing that it is going to work with Linux any ways.

So while I appreciate not having to but a copy of windows in order to run Fedora which is my personal disto of choice . I really don't appreciate having to buy a copy of Ubuntu either. I would rather be able to but a machine with no OS at all. But Microsoft managed to get that made illegal in the US atleast, so that isn't an option. So when I order a machine I just order the machine I want regardless of the OS it ships with.

Dell is going to need to offer alot of tech support. Because the average user doesn't know how to use Linux at all. It's going to have to be simplified so much so anybody can use it. As long as they make money, which they will.

Laptop and desktop OS installs are different from server installs... most of the time the problem is with devices such as wireless adapters, video and sound drivers on these laptops/desktops.

I myself have installed Linux in various desktop PCs in the past. While it is pretty straightforward, there are instances though were you run into snags that can take hours or even days to resolve... not the amount of time a regular user will put up with.

For example, I once installed a distro on a PC with an nVidia nForce2 motherboard. While the install was relatively event free, a few days later I encountered random freezing and hangs. The workaround turned out to have something to do with setting noapic, null apic switches on some boot script. On another instance, I installed Linux on a PC with an Intel PERLK motherboard... everything worked except the ALSA sound drivers. I eventually got it to work but it took a fair amount of searching for answers on the web.

Bottom line, I could probably painlessly install Linux to run on SERVERS which probably run headless and/or don't need wireless, sound, or even X to work. However, will the install be trouble free when it is on countless flavors of laptops or desktops? Also, Linux usually provide good support with older hardware and peripherals. It is with new devices, laptops, and PCs where it stumbles based on my experience and this is why IMHO, having a big name like Dell would have helped in reaching that critical mass.

rsambuca, I simply do not understand what you're on about. Don't bother trying to explain it to me further, thanks.

As for Dell's Linux laptops, I hope they are useful to some people.

rsambuca, I simply do not understand what you're on about. Don't bother trying to explain it to me further, thanks.

As for Dell's Linux laptops, I hope they are useful to some people.
Hey sorry! Your first post on the issue wasn't very clear, but your latter one was. Sorry I questioned your argument.

One question about the original poll. Did it accept answers from just the US? Put another way, is Dell selling Ubuntu installs in all markets that were involved in the poll?

Specfic Ubuntu Dell systems were first available in the US in May. An Inspiron 6400 notebook and an Inspiron 530N desktop were added for France, Germany, and the UK in August. (http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/08/07/23816.aspx) Are they available in other markets yet? Like, say, Canada?

Of course Canada wouldn't have made the 90,000 difference. Just highlighting a factor that could have contributed to the "discrepancy" in the number of votes and number of purchases. Also keep in mind that only a small subset of Dell desktops and notebooks have the option of Ubuntu.

Several of the items currently listed on the first page of Dell's IdeaStorm (http://www.ideastorm.com/) relate to this thread. I've quoted from three of the ideas as they are especially relevant:

- Some of us would really like the configuration OPTION of being able to get any computer with NO operating system preinstalled - Just a blank hard disk.This is a duplicate idea, but it's a good one, since the original is now lost in the middle of IdeaStorm somewhere, and it hasn't yet been dignified with a proper response by Dell, despite it being the sixth most popular idea on all IdeaStorm with a score of nearly 74,000.


- Make Ubuntu laptops cheaper than Windows laptops (in all countries)
When trying to buy an Ubuntu laptop, it appears that for the same hardware specs, the Ubuntu system costs over 100$ more than the Windows system. This is not logical and cannot encourage people to buy an Ubuntu laptop if it is cheaper to buy a Windows one and install Ubuntu over it.

- Make Linux and no Operating system standard options on all future products

- Put Ubuntu on the list of operating systems when building a PC!

- Easy identification of Linux-compatible hardware

- make linux systems EASY TO FIND

- Put Ubuntu on a laptop with better specs
Now that you offer laptops with Ubuntu on them, I really don't want to go to another company just to get the computer specs I want. I wish to vote for Dell with my dollars, paying for a laptop that has actually been tested and certified by the manufacturer to run Ubuntu. Please give me the opportunity!

- Dell Repository for Ubunutu

- Make XP/Linux drivers available for all model even if only Vista is pre-installed

- Submit hardware specifications to the Linux Driver Project

What that shows me is there are still several barriers to adoption. Yes, Dell technically sells Ubuntu installed systems. But only in select countries; on select, possibly out-dated models; at possibly higher price than similar hardware with Windows; etc. etc. Given all of that, the unconfirmed number of 40,000 isn't necessarily bad. Especially considering the original poll on IdeaStorm could have been aided by some Digg attention.

So when I order a machine I just order the machine I want regardless of the OS it ships with.I run Linux at work & home and administer many *nix boxes so I do agree with your assertion that Linux will work with MOST desktops. The problems are when you get into proprietary hardware like a lot of RAID controllers. Support has gotten better in the last 10 years with companies like IBM embracing Linux.

Laptops are a whole other kettle of fish. They are usually chock full of proprietary devices to control the display, pointing device & power management to name a few. You often have to dig deep into the specifications to find out which display controller, nic, modem etc. is inside and then sometimes recompile the driver using esoteric options only documented in the source code. This is not for the casual Linux user. I once spent probably 50 hours getting Linux working well on a Toshiba laptop.

So I agree that having Dell willing to ship any Linux OS on a laptop is a very good thing as they will have to better document the hardware and that will make it easier for those of us with a different preference (religion ;-) of Linux OS (SuSE is me) will have an easier time.