Direct2Dell

Bob Collins, I am not sure if we read the same post. Please refrain from getting off topic.

It is nice to see Dell join the "counter culture" of the PC world. I sure other companies will now follow which will hopefully force companies like nvidia to update there linux drivers or even allow them to be open sourced.

Did Michael have any feedbacks after using it for awhile?

My friend work in Dell as a technical support, when I told him, Dell laptop is going to have an option of install with Linux, he couldn't imagine that will happen.

This is awesome!  If Dell starts supporting Linux more will follow suit...meaning major software third parties!  I am currently running Ubuntu Edgy Eft 6.10 Ultimate Gamers Edition....and it is FAR superior to any windows product.  The only thing i had to configure was the Video card and I had to install TCSH to run a specific app i need.  To the person that asked about wireless support, it is honestly as easy as one could ever hope for.  The wifi card was perfectly recognized and installed (within the LIVE CD!!!) and you have to do nothing more than click on the network icon and select the wireless connection you want to link to.  Oh yeah, and not being windows it doesn't nag you when you come in contact with a wifi link.  You click it and see if there are any available.  If you are plugged in it automatically connects you to wired lan....if you select a wireless connection it disconnects the wired connection and reconnects to the wireless portal...thats it.

 Then of course being Linux all the applications you need are both available and free.  Want your OS to look pretty like Vista, and be functional like Mac.......Beryl takes care of both, offering an entourage style nav system with hotpoints and hotkeys.  And all the cool window dressing available in Vista, like frosted glass windows and all the other useless eye candy.

Then of course there are the useful features.  For one, the distro I chose came pre-installed with Wine, and NTFS read/write support.....so no need to worry about losing files from your inferior windows install and with wine, most of your favorite windows apps are supported and will run just fine (of course i cant see why you would need them...since Open Office is better than M$ Office...and its FREE!)...but there are some apps that Wine is a great thing to have.  Like Picasa for instance....runs perfectly.

The only thing that really disappoints me about linux (and its not really about linux) is the lack of mainstream support.  I am a Multimedia Artist, and there is NO adobe support at all!  Sure Photoshop works (not sure is CS is compatible tho), but Premiere does not....and that is the ONLY app I need to dual boot to windows for!!!  Oh yeah, BTW, for those of you, like myself that are still chained to windows for a single application or two.  Dual booting is as easy as partitioning the hard drive 2 ways (well 3 if you count the linux swap drive) install windows.  Install Linux with grub boot loader....log into linux and change the boot list.  If you are using Ubuntu just gedit the menu.lst file (it even has the command in a comment in the file!!!)  It couldnt be easier....no additional software required (Ubuntu Ultimate Edition includes all the partition tools you need including QTpart)

So, like i said, if there was just some support from some major video editing apps Linux would be all i would ever look at.  Final Cut Pro is Unix Based........why not port that for us APPLE!  Would be nice....heres hoping.....of course if Apple did make a Unix distro it would cost 10x as much as the Mac version and not be supported...as is there MO (*AHEM* Shake!!)

Anyways, rant over.  Love Linux......keep it up Michael....You can be the PIONEER that brings linux and open source to the main stream!!!  I have faith, you have always been a visionary ready to change the way people see comuters....please make this a reality!


 

I run lots of Dells, Optiplex from 1999 up through 2005, many of which are curbside donation desktops.

All Dells run remarkably well on http://pclinuxos.com  which is NOT listed in the surveys. Why not???

 Since 1997, I've advocated FOSS, in businesses, schools, charities, and homes.  FREE, so, average is only 3 to 5 conversions from Microsoft to GNU/Linux, each week. I know there are millions like me, in the world.

Some are Dentists, Doctors, and elders, who influence their network of extended family.  My next project: set up computer kiosks in Nursing homes,  for our elders, using Linux Terminal Server Project for 3 to 8 seats! 

They "show 'N tell" their family/friends, and so, I seem to speak for hundreds of potential users, who are not just asking for a concept they might never purchase.  

Yes, I 've seen that comment that FOSS users don't purchase new Dell systems.  Total bunk. 

Sooner or later, everyone buys a new machine!  If Dell can put the excitement (PCLOS with Beryl 3D!), back into the computer User's experience, HP/Compaq will again take second place in the market!

I am part of that 'unexpected market influence' that has come out of left field, that Steve Balmer has warned Bill Gates about, for so long, using so many chairs , to demonstrate.     

It's good to see Dell using Linux, Would be even better if he were using in on each of the systems, that would truly show that he is 100% committed to Linux. I myself prefer Fedora Core and hope that this will be the primary distribution on Dell PC and Laptops and not and Microsoft Suse.

  I'm ready to order a Dell XPS M1710 laptop with the Metallic Blue or Red backing. Only thing holding me back is that the system seems to insist I want to use Microsoft when I have no intention of ever using Microsoft's lame bust Vista OS
 

     I'm a Fedora Core user. It's good to see Dell using Ubuntu Linux and not Microsoft Suse. Me personally I'm ready and waiting to buy a Dell XPS 1710 in Metallic Blue or Red. The only culprit is getting around paying the Microsoft tax. Come on Micheal Dell I ready to buy now, but I'm holding out from having to pay money to the Devil for some lame bust OS that I have no intention of ever using.

If we're force to pay the tax at least provide straight up information and instructions on how customers can get a quick and fast full refund of the lame bust OS from Microsoft we are force to buy that we don't want.

I'm don't particularly need a laptop, but if Dell offers Linux on the lower end series I'll buy two.  Any news on when I'll be able to buy one?

thanks.  

Just upgraded my Latitude C400 from Edgy Eft to Fiesty Fawn and LOVE IT.  The upgrade process was a cinch - just "set it and forget it".  It was much easier that my recent XP-Vista upgrade on another Dell system I own.  After the upgrade, I connected to a Maxtor USB HDD that I'm using as a pseudo-NAS (connected to a Linksys Router), and I was able to stream my MP3s without a hitch.

As an aside, I've also loaded Ubuntu on several other Dell systems at work and have yet to be disappointed.

Ubuntu is ready for prime time -

I´m a happy UBUNTU USER

congratulations Michael

you have a great lap whith a great OS 

Ubuntu isn't IMO the best choice for Dell. It's package management system can't handle a multi-architecture environment (i.e. 64-bit x86 systems, which almost always need to run "legacy" 32-bit software as well as native 64-bit software). It isn't LSB compliant, which makes installation of, say, a driver package retrieved from openprinting.org rather difficult. Couple this with the weak package management and you get a 64-bit Linux user who won't be able to install drivers for his printer without access to a second box running 32-bit Linux to convert the LSB RPM package to a Ubuntu compatible DEB package using alien and hope that "dpkg -i --force-architecture convertedpackage.deb" will run flawlessly (rather unprobable).

Ubuntu's system administration tools aren't adequate for a professional environment. Try putting a Ubuntu box into a Windows NT domain. Then try putting a more robust distribution like SUSE or Mandriva into a Windows NT domain.

Ubuntu isn't a stable distribution. It has already had troubles with upgrades breaking the system. It runs some experimental software under the hood (like upstart). It may a big headache to Dell and it's users.

Hmmm, this is good news! Mainly because if the head guy has a system just think of all the others beneath him that have them.. The tech guys, the marketing guys, the hardware evaluation guys, the support guys... etc.

It would be interesting to know how many of his management team has try an image?

That's nice. :-)

I run Feisty on a Dell Inspirion with nvida-card and intel-pro-wireless. All works wonderfully, even the cardreader and wlan with WPA!

I think Dell-desktops are ready for linux.
 

Tom Wickline: "Anyway, welcome to the world of FOSS Michael! "

I think you mean "welcome back".

You do realize Michael Dell invested $99,500,000.00 of his own cash in Red Hat and he personally gave the Keynote speech at LinuxWorld.  

Seems he was ahead of the industry back then.  To quote his LinuxWorld keynote[1]
Dell was "first major manufacturer to offer Linux across its full product line".   Somehow they slipped and let IBM and HP take the lead; despite Michael Dell himself observing in his speech expectations of "Linux to produce a CAGR in excess of 34 percent, which is more than any other server operating system and is almost double its closest competitor.".

[1] http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/corporate/speeches/msd/2000_08_15_msd_linux.pdf 

Yea, It would be nice if Mr. Dell gave Wine and CrossOver from codeweavers a try. A bundle from codeweavers with the new upcoming Linux systems would be nice as well.

Anyway, welcome to the world of FOSS Michael! 

Chris:  Regarding Wine as an alternative to VMWare I haven't had that much luck.

On the other hand VirtualBox (http://www.virtualbox.org/), a vmware-like product from a european company has recently been open sourced.  On the other hand I've had great experiences with VMWare, and we're migrating most of our windows services to vmware instances because we find the linux hosts easier to manage.

 I'd say it all depends on what Michael Dell wants to accomplish.   If he's trying to learn about the best experience Linux has to offer today, I think VMware was the right choice.   If he wants to see more about F/OSS virtualization, VirtualBox is an interesting project.  Wine still has too many annoyances for me (like keyboard focus problems when running Internet Explorer under Wine)  that I find it more frustrating than productive.

I'd like to get also Michael's (Dell, not Jackson LOL) feedback and know how he's doing.

His feedback must be quite interesting =)

I guess that Michael didn't have to pay for a Microsoft Vista license that he couldn't use. ;-)

Well, you guys have my attention.  But only as long as there's some way for me to buy the thing without a Microsoft product- especially Vista.  Heh...  After the last 6 months of seeing THAT particular OS in it's last Beta stages, if I ever did have a desire to use it (I'd be guilty of not eating my own dogfood as the saying goes...) I certainly have none now. 

At least I can get one of the desired configurations from Emperor Linux under their "Rhino" named install and configuration.  Shame you can't be doing the same thing here.

 

I have to say, it is kinda cool that Ubuntu is getting this sort of recognition now. It really is the safe choice if Dell starts preinstalling, though Red Hat and Suse aren't bad at all.

The hardest part would be picking between Ubuntu and Kubuntu though. I take it Michael uses Ubuntu rather than Kubuntu? 

@Jerry: Nvidia is much better supported than the ATI/AMD stuff. Nvidia runs out of the box - eg. my system is using the nvidia standard driver which works just great (1680 x 1050) - whilest ATI needs some fine-tuning, as Ubuntu / Debian / and derivates would normally fall back to the standard "basic" VESA driver.

also a nice read (if you are German): current issue of ct (09/2007), which features a small but quite well-done article about Linux on notebooks.

 cu, w0lf.
 

Ubuntu "Feisty Fawn" 7.04 should be released today (April 19th), at least according to the Ubunut Road Map.

cu, w0lf.
 

Happy to know even Michael Dell was waiting for Ubuntu Linux on Notebook. We are eagerly waiting... When in Switzerland?

 

OK, so how well does the wireless work with Ubuntu?

Wayne

Michael should try WINE instead of VMWare for some normal Windows app if he needs them. Crossover Office and Cedega are also worth looking at. At the very least, it would give him an idea of what can be done/offered. It would be great if Dell paired up with Codeweavers and/or Transgaming and supported CXOffice/WINE/Cedega. :)
 

I also trust that if he's using a BETA version, he understands that BETA doesn't always work as designed.  

Yeah, but it looks like he runs non-free software, so he's a bad person.

 Kidding, of course :)
 

Very interesting.   A couple thoughts:

1. Where'd he get it.  Can I buy one?
2. Who installed Ubuntu for him?  Was it factory installed?
3. Do all the devices work?
4. Does it play DVDs?   Legally?   Patent fees and licenses to Dolby, DTS, MPEG-LA, and the DVD Consortium on Windows machines are usually handled by CyberLink(for PowerDVD) or InterVideo(for WinDVD).  When IBM sold Linux Laptops they used InterVideo's LinDVD.