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Article Number: 000178032


Ubuntu-based Developer and Engineering systems (project Sputnik)

Summary: Dell OS and Applications Solutions on Dell TechCenter - Project Sputnik, Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Linux, SUSE, Ubuntu, and more

Article Content


Symptoms

Forums: Ubuntu-based XPS 13 and Precision systems


The Dell XPS 13 laptop, developer edition began life as "Project Sputnik" a scrappy skunkworks project to pilot a developer-focused system. Thanks to the amazing feedback and support we received from the community it became an official product. Four years later, we are on the sixth generation of the XPS 13 developer edition.

Alongside the XPS 13 we have added a beefier line made up of four Dell Precision Ubuntu-based mobile workstations and a new Precision All-in-One offering. 

Solution overviews:

XPS 13 laptop developer edition (9370)
  • Preloaded with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  • Augmented with the necessary hardware drivers (drivers are upstreamed to allow a variety of distros to work)
  • 8th Generation Intel® Quad Core™ Processors
  • Thunderbolt 3
  • InfinityEdge™ display, UltraSharp™ UHD (3840×2160) touch and FHD (1920 x 1080)
  • Availability: United States and  Europe  

Dell™ Precision 5720 -- 27" All-in-One workstation class machine 
  • Preloaded with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  • 7th generation Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon™ processors
  • 27" UltraSharp™ UHD (3840×2160) both touch and non-touch
  • Up to 64GB of memory and Up to (1) M.2 PCIe SSD and up to (2) 2.5" SATA
  • Thunderbolt 3
  • Radeon Pro™ graphics
  • Availability: worldwide

Dell™ Precision 5520, mobile workstation -- World’s thinnest and lightest 15" mobile workstation
  • Preloaded with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  • 7th generation Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon™ processors
  • 15.6" UltraSharp™ FHD (1920×1080) or UltraSharp™ UHD (3840×2160)
  • Up to 32GB of memory and 2TB of storage
  • Thunderbolt 3
  • NVIDIA Quadro graphics
  • Availability: worldwide

Dell™ Precision 3520, mobile workstation -- Affordable, fully customizable 15" mobile workstation
  • Preloaded with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  • 7th generation Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon™ processors
  • 15.6" HD (1366x768), FHD (1920x1080) and FHD touch
  • Up to 32GB of memory and 2TB of storage
  • ECC memory, Thunderbolt 3 and NVIDIA graphics options
  • Availability: worldwide

Dell™ Precision 7520, mobile workstation -- World’s most powerful 15" mobile workstation
  • Preloaded with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  • 7th generation Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon™ processors
  • 15.6" FHD (1920×1080), UltraSharp™ FHD (1920×1080) both Touch and Non-Touch, UltraSharp™ UHD (3840×2160)
  • Up to 64GB of memory and 3TB of storage
  • Thunderbolt 3
  • NVIDIA Quadro® and Radeon Pro™ graphics options
  • Availability: worldwide

Dell™ Precision 7720, mobile workstation – World’s most powerful mobile workstation
  • Preloaded with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  • 7th generation Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon™ processors
  • 17.3" HD+ (1600×900), UltraSharp™ FHD (1920×1080) or UltraSharp™ UHD (3840×2160)
  •  Up to 64GB of memory and 4TB of storage
  • Thunderbolt 3
  • NVIDIA Quadro® and Radeon Pro™ graphics options
  • Availability: worldwide

Standard Service:
  • All of the above systems come with 1 year Dell ProSupport and onsite service after remote diagnostics


How did we get here?

As I mentioned at the beginning, project Sputnik began as a skunk works effort.  It was made possible by an internal incubation fund designed to bring wacky ideas from around the company to life in order to tap innovation that might be locked up in people’s heads. 

Just weeks after the basic concept was green-lighted by the innovation team, it was publically announced as a pilot project at the Ubuntu developer summit.  The big focus of our efforts, particularly in the beginning, has been to work with Canonical to make sure that we had the appropriate drivers for all functionality including the touchpad.

From the start, the idea was to conduct project Sputnik out in the open, soliciting and leveraging direct input from developers via our Project Sputnik StormSession, comments on this blog, threads on the Sputnik tech center forum as well as the project Sputnik beta program.  In fact it was the tremendous interest in the beta program that convinced us to take Project Sputnik from pilot to product.

I would like to give a special shout out to the beta cosmonauts who signed on.  They were an intrepid lot who were patient and diligent working through issues to help make sure that when we went to production we had a product that developers would want.

Article Properties


Last Published Date

21 Feb 2021

Version

4

Article Type

Solution