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For Dell, industry standard now includes Linux (ZDNet)
ZDNet UK
looks into the increasing demand for Linux servers by Dell customers.
"Long hailed as the provider of choice for companies looking for PC solutions based on Intel hardware and Microsoft software, Dell says that Linux now makes up 25 percent of its enterprise market.
The company also claims to have made inroads in the Linux services market and to have reached a comfort level with Linux systems where it can now solve over 90 percent of Red Hat Linux service calls without need to involve Red Hat."
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It is Linux vs Unix Posted Jun 9, 2006 2:09 UTC (Fri) by tristangrimaux (guest, #26831) [Link] The main thing here is that this migration is coming from Unix. And DELL is getting the money from people who wasn't that close to the PC market but from mainframes and other platforms.Anyway... it was about time, wasn't it? --- Donde ser Geek no duele
It is Linux vs Unix Posted Jun 9, 2006 11:52 UTC (Fri) by RMetz (guest, #27939) [Link] I mean... who cares? It's more people using Linux, as far as I'm concerned that's a good thing. I don't care what system they're coming from, world domination isn't about beating one company.
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 9, 2006 14:16 UTC (Fri) by dwheeler (guest, #1216) [Link] So when will Dell laptops be shipped with Linux distributions? Emperor Linux and orgs like them will do it for you, but you pay $500+ premium ($100 I'll pay, but at those rates I'm balking). Or, plan to spend lots of time fiddling. Dell should be working with distributors so that most distributions just install out of the box, with open source drivers.
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 9, 2006 15:54 UTC (Fri) by cventers (subscriber, #31465) [Link] Don't I remember something from a conference a while back where Linusinformally negotiated with Intel for Intel to put more pressure on laptop vendors for OSS support? I believe the compromise on Linux's part had to do with allowing Intel more control over their wireless drivers.
Does anyone know if anything ever came of that?
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 9, 2006 17:42 UTC (Fri) by josh_stern (guest, #4868) [Link] I'm pretty sure that large orgs purchasing a bunch of Dell laptops can negotiate Linux on them at minimal cost. For an individual user's one-off install, Ubuntu or KUbuntu is simple enough for a laptop install that the benefits of customization outweight the small amount of time involved. What would still be a drag would be if someone wanted only Linux and not dual boot and Dell refused support for hardware related problems unless they could be examined through a Microsoft OS. Not sure whether or not that is the case.
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 9, 2006 19:42 UTC (Fri) by malex (subscriber, #15692) [Link] Well, laptops aside, it is easy to get a Dell workstation from their Precision line with only Linux preinstalled even for a single system purchase. I know I've done that and have been very happy even though I ditched RHEL 3 for Debian the same day I unpacked the system. That's progress already.
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 9, 2006 19:30 UTC (Fri) by tjc (subscriber, #137) [Link] Now that you mention it, what is the most painless way to get a good, cheap laptop running Linux nowdays?I saw that Walmart was selling them last year, but that must not have worked out, since they seem to be missing from their web site. I don't want anything fancy, just something for hacking on the road, and checking my email. I like the idea of having Linux preinstalled, since that's a good indication that the hardware is compatible, even though I'd probably wipe out the hard drive and start from scratch.
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 9, 2006 20:45 UTC (Fri) by josh_stern (guest, #4868) [Link] Not specifically Linux related, but if you don't normally use a laptop and you want to do some hacking or other typing intensive work on the laptop, my advice is to compare the current generation keyboard and screen in person and find what you like best (for the money). When I did that about 16 months ago (and looked up which video cards and networking stuff were supported well on Linux) I ended up with a reconditioned HP business model (came with warranty intact) that bought from these guys: http://www.clearanceclub.com
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 10, 2006 1:08 UTC (Sat) by tjc (subscriber, #137) [Link] The problem that I have run into while doing research is that hardware comptability is unknown when new models come out, and by the time it is known, they are no longer for sale. So buying an older model on clearance might work out. Thanks for the link!
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 15, 2006 3:43 UTC (Thu) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link] A number of vendors offer Linux specific laptops. You just can't get them from teir one 'OEM's.
It's just one of those things. If you don't support vendors that support linux.. then there will be no vendors that support linux.
For example:
Linux certified.
Groovix
R**3 technologies.
Last two seem actually very neat. Offer Ubuntu 6.06 and Fedora Core 5 respectively, and I've heard great things about ASL's linux support.
If you absolutely need a top teir OEM for business accounting purposes then my first choice would be HP. They have extensive documentation and softpaq releases for installing Linux on specific business class notebooks.
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 15, 2006 3:58 UTC (Thu) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link] These seem pretty snazzy also..http://www.pcsforeveryone.com/index.php?cPath=1891_1925&...
At the current time if your looking at getting the most out of your laptop get a Sonoma style laptop. Intel everything...
Intel graphics, Intel Wifi, Intel CPU.
Avoid those Intel things with the propriatory deamon though.. I forget the model. Unless of course you want to reverse engineer it like the folks at OpenBSD did.
Your better off getting rid of the wifi and going with a Ralink based mini pci card instead. Those are nice, inexpensive, don't require firmware or other such nastiness and have great Linux support. They are also used heavily with the devicescape protocol stack development so they should realy kick-ass once that matures. Very nice.
Avoid broadcom wifi like the plague. I unfortunately have one with my Apple Ibook (airport extreme). I have 2 sets of drivers installed.. The bcm43xx driver installed from the 2.6.17-rcX kernel (using softmac) and then the bcm43xx-dscape (using the devicescape stack). Both are nice enough you can actually have them installed together and unload one and load the other no problem.
Dell laptops? Posted Jun 16, 2006 20:54 UTC (Fri) by pjones (subscriber, #31722) [Link] I don't know about Dell's sales organization at all, so I can't speak directly regarding your question.
That being said, Dell have been providing laptops to developers. So they do have better support for laptops in their thoughts.
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