Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Dell users demand Linux on laptops
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| The new team of leaders at Dell is weighing a request to give customers
>| the option to purchase PCs with the Linux OS, instead of the default
>| Windows, after thousands of users voted for that idea on a company blog.
> `----
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070222/tc_infoworld/86270
>
> Being at the top isn't always a good thing, especially if your not ready to
> be.
Pre-installs are going to make all the difference. As soon as a major
vendor begins doing properly supported pre-installs, not the kind which
have been done in the past where they appear for a couple of weeks and
then pressure from Microsoft causes them to disappear from the website,
but the kind where there is a clear and strong impression of committment
and support from the vendor, /then/ we will see significant take-up.
The rather puerile argument that unix is no good for the desktop has
been completely destroyed by Apple's OSX.
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| The fact that Dell is serious about putting Linux on the desktop as
>| in an OEM desktop is exciting news, but within every silver lining
>| there is a crappy grey cloud. Putting Linux on the desktop assumes
>| Linux is ready to be there. It is, and we've argued that for over
>| a year now, but we haven't exactly been riding on the Ubuntu Bandwagon.
> `----
>
> http://blog.lobby4linux.com/archives/101-Being-at-the-top-isnt-always-a-good-thing,-especially-if-your-not-ready-to-be..html
> http://tinyurl.com/2sy3kz
>
>
> Dell and Desktop Linux: Can it Work?
>
> http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2930/
It will work, so long as there's support from the vendor, and a degree
of marketing effort put in, but it probably won't need very much support
since Linux does appear to be the flavour of the decade. So long as
Dell show active support, then the other major vendors will begin doing
the same thing - in the end, they /really/ need sales, and I don't think
anyone is remotely convinced by the Microsoft Vista argument. It's been
quite clear looking at such advertising as there is here that there is
nothing in Vista worth a mention, so it just doesn't get a mention.
Most people do not do re-installs, they do not install their operating
system, indeed, they don't even to patches. The key here will be to
find a way of encouraging users to patch software when patches are
available, to reduce the chances of successful exploits polluting the
Linux space.
The network effect will ensure continued adoption and growth of linux on
the desktop - it really is just a matter of time, now.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
