| Here come the Dell Linux desktops, laptops |
Mar. 28, 2007
 Analysis -- Dell contacted DesktopLinux.com on March 28 to let us know that the company will be releasing select desktop and notebook systems with pre-installed Linux as an option in the coming weeks.
Dell, however, is still playing its Linux cards close to its vest. For example, we do not know at this time which Linux distribution -- or distributions -- it will be supporting, or what Dell desktop and laptop machines will have pre-installed Linux as an option.
David Lord, a Dell spokesperson, did say, however, that Dell has been listening to its users and that the users want home and office desktops and laptops. Dell's current offering in this area includes the Inspiron and Latitude laptops and the Dimension and OptiPlex desktops
The new systems, Lord added, will be true pre-installed Linux systems -- and not just a PC with a blank hard drive and a bootable CD or DVD. Software support is likely to come from the community, however, rather than from Dell. Lord added, however, that hardware support on the Dell Linux systems is likely to be the same as it offers on its Windows-powered systems.
According to Lord, Dell will also make buying the new Linux-powered PCs as easy as possible for customers. Specifically how Dell will to do this -- making Linux an option in Dell's standard sales configuration menu, setting up special pages for Dell Linux systems, or some other approach -- the company is not yet ready to say.
While most, if not all, Linux distributions under consideration include OpenOffice.org, Dell support for OpenOffice, Lord said, "Is not on the table at this time."
In a note on its Ideas in Action Web site, the company stated, "Dell has heard you and we will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and Precision workstation line. Our first step in this effort is offering Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems. We will provide an update in the coming weeks that includes detailed information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available. The countdown begins today."
However, at his blog, Matt Domsch, Dell's Linux software architect, did go into more detail on how Dell will be approaching the problem of Linux device drivers. First, given a choice in the matter, Dell will support free software drivers over proprietary drivers every time.
Domsch wrote, "For device types where a choice exists between a component with a non-Free driver and one with Free driver availability, in our Linux offering we'll opt to bundle the component with the Free driver."
"It's been our standard operating procedure for the last 8 years on PowerEdge servers, which today have no closed-source drivers necessary, [to insist on open-source drivers]," said Domsch. "For new Linux desktops and notebooks, we'll use drivers already in the mainline kernel.org kernels for as many components as possible. In these cases, the drivers will be included in your distribution of choice. This includes storage, wired networking, power management, USB, and more."
For cases such as 3-D drivers for video cards, where the best possible drivers are proprietary, Domsch said, "while we continue to encourage the development (by all parties) towards open source drivers, we will provide the closed-source drivers for people who wish to use them."
For cases such as WinModems, for which there are neither open source nor proprietary drivers available, Dell will be encouraging users to substitute a hardware-based modem. "However, we can't substitute hardware-based modems in our notebooks without redesigning and significantly increasing the price of the system. If it's important to you to have a hardware-based modem, you would add one into your PC Card or ExpressCard slot."
While the Austin, Texas-based computer company was unwilling to go on record as to which distributions it will support, comments from Dell officials indicated that it is likely to offer support for multiple distributions. Recently, Dell asked users which distribution they'd like to see out of a selection of Novell/SUSE, Red Hat, Fedora, openSUSE, and Ubuntu. The results of that survey are still not known.
It does seem likely, based on comments from Dell insiders, that Novell SLED 10 (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) will be one of the supported distributions. Dell is already known to have been working with Novell to certify SLED on its business desktop line, including OptiPlex desktops, Latitude notebooks, and Dell Precision workstations.
Novell executives, at the company's recent annual BrainShare show in Salt Lake City, said that they were working on getting Dell and Hewlett-Packard to commit to Linux desktops. In an interview last week, before the Dell news broke, Roger Levy, Novell vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, said, "We're talking pre-load with everybody. Customers are now beginning to see that have creditable alternatives on the desktop to Windows, and they, in turn, are talking to the vendors about these options. We expect the desktop Linux business to jell in 2007."
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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