stem on select desktop computers. In a statement released Tuesday, May 1st, a Dell spokesperson revealed the world's largest computer retailer will preinstall Ubuntu if customers demand it.Here is a video by Ubuntu founder, Mark Shuttleworth following the announcement:
According to Computer Business Review Online :
"When asked which distribution of Linux Dell should prioritize on, Ubuntu was the most requested option," the company noted in a short statement on Tuesday. "Today, we are excited to tell you that Dell will begin offering Canonical's latest version, Ubuntu 7.04, as an option on select Dell consumer models in the US in the coming weeks."Dell, already a leader in using the capabilities offered by the Internet as a basis for its business model is now showing leadership in responding to consumer demand through online forums and company blogs. The idea of offering Ubuntu is the result of Dell's IdeaStorm website.
The company set up the website in February to get customer feedback and develop new ideas. An overwhelming amount of users requested Dell offer Linux, OpenOffice.org and Firefox on its systems. Ubuntu packages all those into its installation package.
The IdeaStorm site has also led Dell to revert to offering Windows XP. After all, the full version Vista won't run on most desktops and laptops.
It seems even Michael Dell, company CEO and founder, is a Ubuntu fan.
Not only will this move be good for customers (who will be saving hundreds of dollars in software fees), it's also good news for Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu) and Free open source software (FOSS) groups all over the world.
Last month the company revealed that Michael Dell was using Ubuntu 7.04 on his own personal Precision M90 laptop, alongside the OpenOffice.org productivity suite and Firefox browser. If it's good enough for the CEO, it's good enough for the customers (source).
When will business wake up and realise FOSS is the way of the future? It's free. It's standardized. Furthermore, it's open source, so any software can be modified or scaled to suit the company's needs.
2 comments:
Your article makes me wonder when or if we will ever be able to use an "online" Operating System. As broadband speeds increase, the need for physical storage on your computer may become somewhat irrelevant. Lets just hope that when that happens, it will not be as monopolized as it is now with Microsoft's OS.
Great work.
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