Dell Chooses Ubuntu Feisty Fawn for Its Linux Computers

Will a potential computer buyer someday be able to go online to dell.com and pick up a laptop pre-installed with Dellbuntu? It may be a possibility, after Tuesday's big announcement from Dell and Ubuntu. In a joint statement, the two companies announced that Dell, one of the world's largest computer hardware sellers, and Ubuntu - currently the most popular Linux distribution, have joined forces.

Sort of.

Dell will begin selling certain brands of its hardware with Ubuntu pre-installed, although which exact models are not currently known. In coming together this way, Ubuntu will immediately get the added boost of a well-known hardware manufacturer offering its software to the masses, and Dell will get the geek-factor boost inherent with the Linux offering's open-source credibility.

As well, it is not known how up-to-date Dell will keep its Ubuntu offering. Ubuntu has a scheduled 6-month release cycle, which many industry observers have said may be a bit too fast for a hardware company to keep up with. In announcing the joint plans, Dell was specific in saying they will be installing the latest version (Ubuntu 7.04 - the Feisty Fawn), on the new hardware. Some have suggested that the possibility exists, however, that when Ubuntu next releases a Long Term Support (LTS) release, it may be that version that ends up being installed.

Some, including Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth, see the relationship as being completely positive, part of what Shuttleworth hopes will be a gradual increase in Linux usage. "I imagine that what we're going to see over the next couple of years is a convergence where more and more mainstream folks choose Linux as a platform because of its inherent characteristics... An initiative like this by Dell is phenomenon import in terms of raising the attention of the whole industry around the platform."

Others, of course, were not quite so enthusiastic. "I don't think this is going to be a knock-the-ball-out-of-the-park home run," said analyst Al Gillen, who did acknowledge the partnership is worth mention simply because it's Dell involved in it. "Dell typically doesn't do stuff if they don't think they're going to get enough volume to justify it," Gillen said.

Regardless of how successful the new product offerings turn out to be, the move now makes Michael Dell (founder of Dell Computers), a happy camper - he should now be able to get telephone support for his laptop, a Dell Precision M90 that has Ubuntu installed on it already!

Sources:

www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/ideastorm/ideasinaction
blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/
news.com.com/Dell+picks+Ubuntu+for+Linux+PCs/2100-7344_3-6180419.html
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6610901.stm