Dell Releases Computers Running Ubuntu

Dell has finally released the promised Ubunto systems. The XPS 410n and Dimension 520n desktops and the E520n laptop will be among the first commercially available computers running factory loaded Linux operating systems. Ubuntu, for those of you not familiar with it, is an open source Linux operating system, meaning that it can be freely distributed and that anyone can modify it as they see fit. Ubuntu, in a departure from other Linux systems, is designed with an emphasis on usability, targeting itself at the average computer user rather than the geek.

So what does it mean that a major computer manufacturer is cranking out machines running Linux? First off, it means that they will be cheaper. More a hundred dollars of the price of any new PC goes to Microsoft for the use of their Windows operating system. By replacing Windows with an open source alternative, Dell succeeds in shaving the price down a bit. Not one of these three computers sells for more than $900. However, free software does have one major disadvantage-tech support. While companies like Microsoft have to provide some sort of support for their software, a community of open source developers does not. Combine this with the somewhat difficult nature Ubuntu for the lay user, and you have a problem. To combat this, Dell has started a support forum at http://linux.dell.com, and a company called Canonical provides paid technical support on a per incident basis.

Dell seems to have gotten the idea to build computers running Ubuntu from the IdeaStorm program, which lets customers submit proposals. Someone proposed Dell use Linux on the day this program began, and since then the idea became wildly popular, receiving about 30,000 votes of support.

What are the advantages to using open source software like Ubuntu? Although some would think that you get what you pay for with such programs, the truth is that open source software is in general much better written than its commercial counterpart. Whereas bugs in commercial software are buried, and live on beneath layers of security measures, bugs in open source software are quickly pointed out, reported, and fixed by eager nerds. Inefficient processes are replaced with better ones, and the result is much more stable, better written software. Ubuntu has a reputation of being a particularly stable operating system.

Dell's new Ubuntu computers became available at 4 PM central time on Thursday, May 24.

Sources:

www.dell.com

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/05/24/15994.aspx