Dell Linux: uses Ubuntu 7.04 but missing several things

[cyclo]

From the article:

One of the key things that is missing is the video and audio codecs for that are not already distributed with Ubuntu 7.04. These include MPEG 1/2/3/4, WMA, WMV, DVD and Quicktime. These are not installed by default in Ubuntu for legal reasons, but are almost always downloaded by owners of the operating system otherwise it is impossible to run any multi-media functions. The fact that Dell will not support them if they do install the codecs could mean that the operating system is gutted for home use.

On the other hand, how hard is it to teach users to add repositories where these codecs reside and then use apt-get (CLI), synaptics (GUI), or Ubuntu's own GUI based installer to install them?

[stampeder]

Direct2Dell
Ubuntu 7.04 Offering—Technical Details

Before we announce the availability of Ubuntu 7.04 on select Dell client systems, I'd like to give an overview of what customers can expect from our initial Ubuntu offering.

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archi.../21/15563.aspx

I'm hoping that when Mike Dell says "initial offering" he means "since this is our first try, here's what we're offering and then we'll put out something much better with more experience at it..."