Dell, as of yesterday, has officially opened began accepting sales of PC’s preloaded with Ubuntu Linux (in addition to the slightly odd ability to order with freeDos).
Go here to order your Linux PC Today!
From the Dell “Open” Site:
Open source software is designed in a way that lets multiple people change, improve and redistribute the source code, meaning the software is generally community developed and available for free.
An advantage of open source is that it can deliver more reliability and flexibility, as well as faster updates and fixes, all at a lower cost. Plus, if you’re an expert, you can tweak and alter the code to completely customize the software to do exactly what you want. A downside is that some open source software requires intermediate or advanced knowledge to use, and in the case of operating systems, may not be compatible with the same software applications and hardware as Windows operating systems.
I like the fact that they state that An advantage of open source is that it can deliver more reliability and flexibility, as well as faster updates and fixes, all at a lower cost. While part of me believe this is a marketing catch phrase to attract the would-be buyers, another part of me hopes the Dell has seen the light.
Now if we can just get more commercial software to release Linux versions of their software…
Pictures from Ubuntu.com
Well, it was as I thought. The comments on Dell’s Open Site do appear to be nothing more than a marketing attempt at getting Linux user’s in the door. SlashDot just posted an article where questions about their warranty policy – or lack there of – were brought into question. As the SlashDot article title says ” Dell Thinks Ubuntu Makes Hardware More Fragile?”.
Me = $DISAPPOINTED