Linux - Direct2Dell

Note from Lionel: It's been a while since I've talked about Linux on Direct2Dell. Shortly after Ubuntu 9.04 was released in April 2009, we had a request from IdeaStorm user Shannon VanWagner to start pre-loading 9.04. Though it's late, we're now offering Ubuntu 9.04 on a few more Dell machines to customers in the United States. Specifically the Studio XPS 13, Inspiron 15, and the Inspiron 537 desktop. The Mini 10 and the 10v are still running a customized version of the 8.04 version of the Ubuntu OS. And the Mini 10v can be ordered with Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition.

To see all the systems we're offering with Linux, go to www.dell.com/ubuntu.

With that context, I'll turn things over to John Hull so he can shed light on what to expect from Ubunu 9.04.

--Lionel

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I'd like to give a quick update on the technical details for what we have added with our 9.04 release. We have continued to build and improve upon on what we did for our previous Ubuntu offerings, and here are some of the highlights:

• We now provide Cyberlink's PowerDVD application for DVD playback (instead of LinDVD which we previously shipped). We also continue to provide Fluendo GStreamer codecs for mp3, wma, and wmv playback, which will work with your favorite Linux media player.
• We created and provided a new GUI tool for creating recovery/restore media for the OS
• We provide a new method to recover your Ubuntu preload from the hard drive
• We have chosen to use GRUB 2 bootloader instead of the Ubuntu default GRUB 1 (a.k.a. GRUB legacy) bootloader. We have been testing GRUB 2 for over a year now, and feel it is ready for general use. The Ubuntu community has decided to make GRUB 2 the default in Ubuntu 9.10, so our customers will already have that feature enabled.
• A common complaint we heard a few years ago was that there were no Linux drivers for Dell wireless cards. As of the date of this blog post, all currently-shipping Intel- and Dell-branded wireless cards (as well as most from the past several years) are now supported natively in Ubuntu 9.04. These drivers should also be included in most other newer Linux distributions as well.
• Our Ubuntu 9.04 offering is still the 32-bit version and not the 64-bit version ("amd64" architecture). We continue to evaluate when to make the transition, and the main sticking point continues to be solid, stable Adobe Flash support for 64-bit. There are currently options
  available in the community, including a beta of a native 64-bit Flash
  plugin. However, none of these have proven to be reliably stable, so we'll continue working with Adobe until a viable option is available.

For more information, our Dell wiki page for 9.04 can be found at the previous link.  If you would like to download and install 9.04 with our custom Ubuntu ISO, it can be downloaded here.

As always, please report any OS issues in Launchpad, or you can always ask any general questions to our linux-desktops mailing list..

Update: Fixed broken links

Latitude ON is a concept we've mentioned during the introduction of our Latitude E family of business laptops last year. You may have seen posts from sites like Engadget that discussed it in more detail. We figured the introduction of the Latitude Z was a good reason to start shipping the full hardware plus software version of Latitude ON.

Latitude ON is basically a system on a system. It's based on a dedicated low-voltage ARM processor (Texas Instrument's OMAP 3430 processor) that runs a slimmed-down version of a Linux OS. It allows a user to boot into the contained OS environment to give you always-on access to an Firefox-based Internet browser (without Flash support) and critical business information while using a fraction of the battery power your laptop uses when it's running a full OS. Essentially, you can quickly access all the information you're used to accessing on a smartphone using the larger screen and keyboard that your laptop provides.

To see what I mean by quick access, take a look at this boot comparison video:

 

Here's a more detailed look at the features:

• Instant access (about  2 seconds) to business information
  (E-mail, calendar, contacts, Internet browser & Citrix Receiver client)
• MS Exchange integration or POP e-mail Access
• Always on/connected - the module continues to run regardless of the state of the main OS
• Ability to view MS Office and .pdf document attachments
• Long battery life (about 17 hours on a 6-cell battery)
• Designed for the future with upgradable infrastructure (flash-based software updates)

Here's another StudioDell video which features a good overview about how the full version of Latitude ON works:

 

Latitude ON allows you to connect via Wi-Fi or embedded mobile broadband. I say embedded because in Latitude ON mode, the external ports aren't active. We've been shipping Latitude ON-ready Latitude E4200 and E4300 systems for a while now. Essentially, that means they can run the Latitude ON Reader software. In contrast to the full version, the Reader software resides on the main partition of the hard drive and provides access to e-mail, calendar and contacts from the last synched version of your Outlook data.

We will offer the hardware upgrade option to existing Latitude E4200 and E4300 customers via a customer kit for purchase. I'll update this post with more details about the kit when I have them. All Latitude Z systems will feature the full version of Latitude ON, complete with the processor hardware.

Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition for the Inspiron Mini 10v is here. As we shared at the Intel Developer Forum today, Dell and Canonical have worked closely to ensure good hardware/software compatibility, and seamless integration between Ubuntu and Moblin. For those not familiar, Moblin is an open source project, created by Intel and hosted by the Linux Foundation, focused on building a Linux-based platform optimized for mobile devices. It has a unique user interface focused on using the Internet, social networking activity, and media consumption, and is optimized for small screens. The Moblin project recently released version 2.0, which includes many new features such as the myzone home screen panel, aggregation of social networking content (such as Twitter, last.fm, and instant messaging), a web browser optimized for the user interface, a "zoomable" media player, and an updated connection manager with a new user interface.

For a bit more, watch this demo from Doug Anson:

Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, has combined the core Moblin Version 2.0 interface, libraries, and applications with the internals of Ubuntu Linux 9.04 to create a new Linux distribution, Ubuntu Moblin Remix. We have labeled this distribution as a "Developer Edition", as it is still a work in progress at this time. We are currently targeting developers, Linux enthusiasts, and early adopters who want to get an early look at the software and begin developing for Moblin, participating in the community, and using new technology.

Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition can be purchased factory-installed on an Inspiron Mini 10v on from www.dell.com/ubuntu. To download the Ubuntu Moblin Remix installation image, or for more information, please visit our Moblin wiki page

Earlier this week I blogged about my data center colleagues over at Dell's Enterprise Technology Center (aka Dell TechCenter). They are a community of system-admins, data center managers and other technical people that are on the hunt for new ways to get more out of their data center servers, storage and networking equipment.

This week, Dell TechCenter launched the Dell Masters Program, a network of technical superstars within Dell TechCenter who create and contribute community content (scripts, whitepapers, videos etc.) based on their own experiences, ideas and innovations.

Take a look at a post written by Dell-Scott H (aka @dellservergeek or Scott Hanson by his wife, colleagues and friends) on the Dell TechCenter blog announcing the new program. He walks you through how to get registered and why stinkin' badges are not part of this program.

Editor-in-Chief Tom Kolnowski sums it up nicely, "The Dell Masters Program is all about using deep peer-to-peer networking."

The Red Hat Summit is taking place September 1-4 in Chicago, and Dell will be an active participant in the activities. We're an "Enterprise Sponsor" of the event, and we'll have a both in the partner pavilion, showing off our latest and greatest servers as well as giving away flashlights and USB keys for those that come by.

We also have two Dell engineers leading technical sessions during the summit. The first session is on Wednesday at 1 PM, titled "Simplifying Linux iSCSI Management with iSNS", and is lead jointly by Dell's Shyam Iyer along with Mike Christie from Red Hat. They'll be discussing simpler, faster ways to achieve storage LUN/volume provisioning through a single management console. The second session is lead by one of Dell's Linux Technology Strategist in the Office of the CTO, Matt Domsch. His session takes place on Friday at 11 AM, and is titled "Simplifying New Server Deployment." Matt will be discussing how Dell and Red Hat are simplifying new server deployment using Red Hat Enterprise Linux's device driver update model and Dell's built-in systems management features.

Click here to find more details on the Dell sessions and a complete list of all the other sessions going on during the Red Hat Summit.

If you're attending the Red Hat Summit, please stop by the both and/or the technical sessions to meet us. We'd love to hear any feedback you have around running Linux on Dell systems.