| Dell Ubuntu desktop details emerge |
May 21, 2007
On the record, a Dell spokesman said he "can't comment on unannounced products," when asked about Dell's forthcoming Ubuntu-powered PCs. Over on Direct2Dell, meanwhile, John Hull, Dell's manager of Linux OS technologies on May 21 published "an overview of what customers can expect from our initial Ubuntu offering."
Here's what Hull had to say. First, the default software from the Ubuntu media will be installed on the system, including kernel and applications. We already know that Dell will be offering the newest version of the popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu version 7.04.
DesktopLinux believes that Ubuntu will be made available on particular models of the Dimension E520 desktop, Inspirion1505 laptop, and XPS 410 desktop lines starting May 24.
That Dell will be offering Ubuntu on only some systems in each line is supported by Hull's statement that "The peripheral options offered with Ubuntu will be a subset of what is offered with other operating systems. We're offering the hardware options on each system that have the most mature and stable Linux driver support. These hardware options have been thoroughly tested by the Linux team here at Dell."
When it's possible, Hull continued, Dell will "install open source drivers for hardware." When it's not, Dell will use partial open-source or closed source ("restricted" in Ubuntu terms) drivers where there is no equivalent open-source driver. This includes Intel wireless cards and Conexant modems."
The Inspiron 1505 laptop line comes with the Dell Wireless 1390b/g card, but the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 internal WiFi card is an option. These WiFi cards work with Linux 2.6.8 and above but require the use of a proprietary firmware image file.
Linuxant, an open source software provider, offers drivers for Conexant's "WinModems." However, to provide high-quality drivers, Linuxant had to sign an agreement with Conexant to license its proprietary core modem technologies.
To help users navigate possible hardware problems, Dell will provide a wiki on the Dell Community Linux site. This will provide "technical details of the supported systems, information on the device drivers used for system peripherals, details of our Ubuntu factory-installation, and information on the problems we found during our testing, with their fixes/workarounds," Hull wrote. The wiki is not open yet.
Dell also recommends that "Linux users buy Dell printers that have PostScript engines," Hull added.
Looking ahead, Hull said that, "For hardware options not offered with this release, we are working with the vendors of those devices to improve the maturity and stability of their associated Linux drivers. While this may not happen overnight, we do expect to have a broader range of hardware support with Linux over time."
Matt Domsch, Dell's Linux software architect, said in March that "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]. 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."
Domsch also said that Dell will "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."
Hull concluded by stating that "At this time, we are not including any support for proprietary audio or video codecs that are not already distributed with Ubuntu 7.04. These include MPEG 1/2/3/4, WMA, WMV, DVD, QuickTime, etc. We are evaluating options for providing this support in the future."
Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical Ltd., Ubuntu's commercial parent, also said in early May that Dell does not plan to include software such as Wine, which lets users run Windows programs on Linux, with its Ubuntu-powered PCs. "I do not want to position Ubuntu and Linux as a cheap alternative to Windows," Shuttleworth said.
Wine (Wine is not an emulator), an open-source implementation of the Windows API (applications program interface) is, of course, available online to Ubuntu users who want to run some popular Windows applications on Linux.
In addition, programs like Automatix2 For Ubuntu 7.04 enable Ubuntu users to obtain proprietary multimedia codecs, DVD decryption, and a variety of other drivers and programs. While not endorsed by Dell, it's worth noting that Dell CEO Michael uses Automatrix2 on his own Ubuntu-based laptop.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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