Dell's Ubuntu Laptop Program Enters Beta, 'Blows Away' Expectations

Quoting:So arguably Dell did more harm than good by providing -- and I use that term loosely -- Linux.

Hype, Hype, Hype then deflate.

I agree and I just can't but wonder what kind of shenanigan Dell is going to pull this time.

Quoting:So arguably Dell did more harm than good by providing -- and I use that term loosely -- Linux.

I couldn't disagree more. They sold a ton of Linux netbooks that people (including some here on LXer) were very happy with. They offer good Linux solutions on the server side.

Quoting:I just can't but wonder what kind of shenanigan Dell is going to pull this time.

Shenanigans? With all their faults Dell offered more support and actually provided more product than any other first tier OEM.

> They sold a ton of Linux netbooks that people (including some here on LXer) were very happy with.

That would be me. :)

The Mini-9 is a great netbook, and is still working well. A tutorial on how to upgrade to the latest version of Ubuntu on their site (they've never supported anything other than 8.04) would have been helpful, but that's my only real complaint. There were enough discussions of the process elsewhere that I was able to upgrade from 8.04 to 10.04 without too many problems, but that was no thanks to Dell. When 10.04 is no longer supported, I'll move to Mint, Debian. or maybe try Slackware on it.

Quoting:When 10.04 is no longer supported, I'll move to Mint, Debian. or maybe try Slackware on it.

The hardware in your netbook is well supported nowadays. I can't imagine that any of the above wouldn't run well after a bit of tweaking and configuration.

Quoting:With all their faults Dell offered more support and actually provided more product than any other first tier OEM.

Sorry @caitlyn, But how many times did Dell declared they support Linux to go back and drop it claiming there wasn't enough demand?

They did the talk but didn't do the walk. Yes they verbally said they support Linux but fell short of actually offering a steady support. When customers called Dell support, they were told Linux is not supported, when customers tried to find a Linux systems on Dell's web site, they had to go in circles before they find a decent configuration. And if they were luck to find one, It would be more expensive than systems with the same hardware but comes with Windows.

I don't call that support and that is why I wonder if they are going to pull a similar publicity stunt again.

When I see a TV ad or an ad in a national news paper like the NYTime or USToday by Dell offering PCs with Linux, then and only then I might believe them.

Dell's Linux support has been a sad joke, with the actual Linux machines cunningly hidden on dell.com, and every page plastered with "we recommend Windows!" banners. I still remember when their whole meager Linux line went on hiatus while they re-tooled for an Ubuntu upgrade. Dell Linux is one big eyeroll.

Quoting:When I see a TV ad or an ad in a national news paper like the NYTime or USToday by Dell offering PCs with Linux, then and only then I might believe them.

Which vendor has EVER done that? That would be none at all.

For all the complaints about Dell they delivered preinstalled hardware when nobody else did among the first tier OEMs. Yes, HP had some netbooks for the briefest period of time. I even bought one. Dell offered a number of machines, on and off, for a long period of time.

I decided one day that, since I would like a netbook, and since Dell was offering netbooks, with Linux pre-loaded, I would check out the offerings, and more likely than not even buy one, as I also wanted to support commercially available Linux systems.

When I got to the Dell site, I saw that the (in)famous reticence about Linux availability was still a factor, but I knew the magic incantation (not "Linux") to find my way to the systems I was looking for. I settled on the likeliest, and started to make my way through the "configuration" process. But the combination I wanted wasn't available -- selecting the option for "Linux" as the OS apparently made the option for "6 cell, high capacity (6 hour) battery "magically" disappear.

I retraced my steps, and tried the parallel path with "Windows" as my preference, and the option to upgrade to the 6 cell battery was available, so I retraced my steps again and attempted to "configure" a Linux netbook that would actually run for as long as I might need it. No go; the opportunity to select the high-capacity battery once again mysteriously failed to appear -- but the opportunity to include a copy of Norton's 360 Security Suite was still provided.

At which point I realized that I was, somehow, no longer in the mood to buy a netbook from Dell -- with Linux or otherwise -- after all.

> I still remember when their whole meager Linux line went on hiatus while they re-tooled for an Ubuntu upgrade.

And permanently disappeared not too long thereafter, if I remember correctly. If the still sell a consumer Linux machine, I haven't been able to find it on their site.

Quoting:Which vendor has EVER done that? That would be none at all.

@caitlyn,

You can't say that for sure. IBM released couple excellent TV & public ads. Remember The Heist commercial, Prodigy, and the famous "Peace, Love, & Linux".

IBM did enough to get their Linux business profitable and going. What did Dell do? Actually harmed Linux by making sure telling everyone that Linux is not in demand and Dell recommends Windows everywhere on their site.

Quoting:For all the complaints about Dell they delivered preinstalled hardware when nobody else did among the first tier OEMs.

They delivered products that are more expensive and no one wants them in the shape and form they were delivered. Besides, I personally bought couple HP Evo desktops while back (1998) that came with Mandrake. MS did its routine and HP stopped too.

Now I am not bashing Dell for no reason and I wish they are more serious this time, but we went through this scenario couple times already. Last time they promised, right here on Lxer, one of their group manager affirmed that they will do their best, and this time they are serious and the demand for Linux is real. Again, something went on behind closed doors and that was the end of Linux pre-installed on Dell PCs.

This is real history and can't be changed unless Dell is sincere this time around about doing that. I hope they are. Time will tell I guess.

Quoting:selecting the option for "Linux" as the OS apparently made the option for "6 cell, high capacity (6 hour) battery "magically" disappear.

Kind of like how the Snapdragon "magically" disappeared.

Microsoft strikes again.

Shenanigans?!?! Nothing of the kind... MS is getting ready to release a new OS,version and Dell probably needs to eeck out a few more $$$ out of the per unit cost for Win8/Office licenses... All very reasonable and quite expected...

The Linux offerings will continue as long as Dell is in a position to negotiate with Redmond WA... Once the OS pricing environment has stabilized, expect the available Linux offerings to evaporate.

JaseP, that is a perfect example. I clicked on the Dell Vostro 3560, which claims to have "Linux® Ubuntu® pre-installed (available in select regions)." I clicked the Customize button, and lo, no Linux option anywhere.

I just noticed that,... But I was able to get to a Ubuntu netbook with a touch screen option...

Newegg sells tens of thousands of products, and they're never confused. Customers can find stuff and everything, without needing the skills of Sherlock Holmes and the finest bloodhounds. Poor ole Dell can't manage a product line of dozens.

Quoting:But I was able to get to a Ubuntu netbook with a touch screen option...

That is exactly my point, They delivered products that are more expensive and no one wants them in the shape and form they were delivered.

And mostly, when changing the configuration to meet one's hardware needs, they become more expensive even when the same exact configuration but with Windows are selected.

I believe Dell will sincerely support Linux when all their Windows PC configurations are also available with either Linux or/and NO-OS and the NO-OS ones should be discounted.

> http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&cat=prod...

Only one of the machines listed on the first page is in their consumer line. That's the first one. Guess what operating systems are listed for it.

The Vostro and Dimension lines are business machines. They're not available when you click on the "for home" category on Dell's front page.

And I shouldn't have to search to find a Linux option on Dell's site. If they want to sell Linux machines to consumers, they should make them as easy to find as Windows machines. The only reasonable conclusion is that they have no interest in selling Linux machines to consumers.

For a brief period of time, you could find Ubuntu machines from their "for home" page. There was a link on the left side of the screen that took you to them. But that went away after a year or so, and it's never come back. When and if it (or something like it) does, we'll know Dell is serious about selling Linux machines. Until then, they're not. I'm not holding my breath waiting.

I'm not defending Dell's Linux marketing history. It's a mixed bag. I'll say this though, ... I've bought Linux machines from them before,... I've bought machines with MS on them that I made clear I was going to put Linux on. Sometimes I got great service, other times, crappy service.

But I agree that I won't pay more for a machine that has a free OS on it when I'm going to reinstall it anyway (don't like their default partitioning scheme). At that point I would go to ZaReason or System76, another system builder or build my own from components. That's my take, anyway.

> They delivered products that are more expensive and no one wants them in the shape and form they were delivered.

Actually, while the options on their Linux machines were more limited, at the time they were seriously marketing them they were price competitive and had a reasonable range of options (just not as many as with Windows). But, as I've noted, that didn't last. Their real Linux push seemed to last for about six months, and minimal efforts continued for as much as a year afterwards, but it slowly died.