Major systems vendors and Linux [LWN.net]

Major systems vendors and Linux

Posted Mar 1, 2007 7:35 UTC (Thu) by eru (subscriber, #2753)
Parent article: Major systems vendors and Linux

The company will "certify" SUSE Linux (and, perhaps, some other distributions) on some of their systems, but still will not offer pre-installed systems. That is a shame; one assumes that many of the people asking for Linux are not, necessarily, asking for the character-building experience of installing it themselves.

I recently did installations of Fedora 6 and Mandriva 2007, and found that installing a modern distribution is no longer "character-building" at all, if there are no hardware compatibility problems (which are what that certification is supposed to prevent). Just pop in a DVD, answer a few questions, and wait. This of course assumes you are satisfied with the default partitioning and software selections of the installation program, but any pre-installed Linux would probably be using similar defaults.

I suspect one reason why Dell and friends are unwilling to preinstall Linux might be patent infringement liability concerns. If the customer does the installation, it is not Dell's problem. So a bare PC certified for Linux may be the best support we can expect from big vendors, until IPR laws in major jurisdictions get more sane.

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Major systems vendors and Linux

Posted Mar 1, 2007 11:41 UTC (Thu) by phgrenet (guest, #5979) [Link]

Installing Linux on a Laptop still does "character building" but less than a few years ago. See http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html.

Major systems vendors and Linux

Posted Mar 1, 2007 21:36 UTC (Thu) by eru (subscriber, #2753) [Link]

Installing Linux on a Laptop still does "character building" but less than a few years ago.

I suppose this is the sort of thing the certification by the laptop vendor would fix, if done properly.

Major systems vendors and Linux

Posted Mar 1, 2007 19:35 UTC (Thu) by JohnNilsson (guest, #41242) [Link]

This of course assumes you are satisfied with the default partitioning and software selections of the installation program

So you wouldn't call trying to answer questions about "partitioning", without having the faintest idea of what a partion is, charachter-building?

Major systems vendors and Linux

Posted Mar 1, 2007 21:56 UTC (Thu) by eru (subscriber, #2753) [Link]

So you wouldn't call trying to answer questions about "partitioning", without having the faintest idea of what a partion is, charachter-building?

The installers of the user-friendly distros have an option like "use default partitioning" or "use entire disk for linux", which a newbie is likely to select, especially since the alternative is typically labeled something like "expert mode". No, I don't think making that kind of easy decision is likely to build anyone's character.

Of course, even the easiest possible installation program cannot compete with the case of no installation program needed at all. However, I recently found turning on a Dell for the first time with a pre-installed Windows XP also starts badgering you with questions, before doing anything else. But that XP copy found itself mercilessly overwritten by Linux in a matter of seconds, before getting its answers...