I don’t know what it is about Dell and its customers wanting desktop and laptop systems pre-loaded with Linux, but it seems to be a meme that comes up repeatedly, at least once or twice a year. It must be that time of year: the idea has been resurrected yet again by Dell’s IdeaStorm Web site, the company’s virtual suggestion box. Apparently, over 80,000 people voted for Dell to offer Linux on its desktop systems, including the ability to buy a machine with no operating system at all. The vote, it seems, has caused quite a stir.
Of course, Dell’s difficult challenge is partly our fault. Why, back in June of last year, I posited that Dell could only afford to sell Linux personal computers if distributions standardized more; otherwise, selling Linux would be a support nightmare for Mikey’s crew. (See “Mikey Dell Has a Good Point,” available online at http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2544/). But I have been giving the issue some more thought, and I think it would be possible for Dell to sell and support pre-installs of Linux on its hardware, albeit not thru traditional means.
My colleague, Bryan Richard, Linux Magazine’s Editorial Director, thinks the whole idea of desktop Linux on Dell is a bunch of hooey and an impossible, Herculean task (see “Dell and Desktop Linux: Can it Work?” http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2930/). He argues that PC industry margins are just too thin to sell anything but Dell’s bread and butter, Windows. Okay,…
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