J_K9 @ Linux

The Chance For Linux To Enter The Desktop Arena Has Arrived

February 26, 2007 on 4:32 pm | In Linux |

There are several Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) which distribute laptop and desktops with Linux pre-installed, but these companies are usually small and localised. I’m talking about companies like System 76, Xtops and the vast majority of the others which can be found on TuxMobil’s list of resellers. The problem with this is that public awareness of Linux is low, and these small companies struggle to compete for large advertisements to let people know that there is something just as good as Windows out there which costs nothing at all, and that there are companies which sell laptops and desktops with this pre-installed instead of Windows (and thus at a cheaper price).

This isn’t good enough. We need a multi-national OEM, such as Dell to offer Linux not only on the worse laptops or specialist computers but as an option for pre-installation on ALL of their computing devices. If you had never heard of Linux and saw something like the following while customising your Dell laptop, don’t you think you would try to find out more about this free alternative?

Now, of course that would be great and could vastly improve Linux’s marketshare on the desktop, but am I not dreaming? Wouldn’t Microsoft browbeat Dell into not offering Linux as an option if they were even planning to, or ostracise them if they did? Perhaps. But, if Dell listens to its customers (which it should), you will soon be seeing an option to install Linux instead of (or alongside) Windows in a way not dissimilar to the image above. The reason I say that is because Dell has recently been reaching out to its customers to attempt to increase its desktop marketshare, in an effort dubbed “IdeaStorm.” Which idea is currently in the lead? ‘Pre-Installed Linux | Ubuntu | Fedora | OpenSUSE | Multi-Boot.’

More and more people are looking for computers with Linux pre-installed because they do not want to be tied in by Microsoft’s ruthless policies and freedom-compromising solutions, and IdeaStorm only proves this. If Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSUSE were offered as possible installation options instead of (or alongside) Windows Vista, not only would Dell profit from the ever-increasing number of mouths for Linux’s desktop pie but its customers would also benefit from a completely free, in all senses of the word, Operating System.

How can you help? It’s simple: go to Dell’s IdeaStorm website and vote for the Linux installation alternatives idea - if the people who will review these ideas have half a brain, they will add support for at least one Linux distribution on all of the computers that Dell sell and add an option for Linux pre-installation. Who knows: in a few years, you may be able to pop down to the local WalMart or PCWorld and buy a Linux-only Dell laptop.

Edit: It looks like I was late to the scene: Dell has already acknowledged the interest in Open Source software such as Linux and OpenOffice.org, and is working with Novell and a few other unspecified distributions to certify their corporate client products for those distributions. Those products include the Dell OptiPlex desktops, Latitude laptops and Precision workstations. Let’s hope more good comes of this!