Positive NYT article about Dell and Ubuntu

Andy Green andy at warmcat.com
Thu Oct 4 12:08:39 UTC 2007


Hi Folks -

Here's some things I didn't know (Leonovo and the significant pricing
advantage over Vista, which I never expected to be passed on to
customers...)

''...Until recently, major PC makers shied away from Linux. Now the
industry is watching as Dell is selling two Linux-equipped desktop
models ($549 and $870, including a monitor) and a $774 notebook PC.
(Hewlett-Packard offers Linux systems to businesses, and Lenovo, the
Chinese company that bought I.B.M.’s PC division, sells Linux machines
in China and says it will soon offer Linux-based computers in the United
States.)

The Ubuntu version of Linux runs the Dell computers. Because Dell does
not have to pay a licensing fee for the operating system, the computers
are $80 cheaper than PCs with Windows Vista Home Premium or $50 cheaper
than the stripped-down Vista Basic edition. ... ''

Positive vibes:

''...Ubuntu is generally regarded as one of the more consumer-friendly
versions of Linux, so the Linux PC experience is similar to what you
would get with a Windows-equipped Dell. When you start the machine, the
screen looks familiar; preinstalled applications can easily be found and
run from an Applications menu at the top left of the screen. A “Places”
menu lets you search for files, and a System menu is there for setting
preferences and finding help.

And there is a lot more than just an operating system. Ubuntu, like some
other Linux distributions, comes with a lot of free software, including
OpenOffice, an alternative to the Microsoft Office suite with a
full-featured word processor, spreadsheet, database and presentation
program. It also comes with the popular Firefox Web browser as well as
an e-mail program, an instant messaging program, a graphic image editor,
music player and a photo manager.

Thanks to open source developers, there are thousands more free
programs. An Add/Remove function actually makes finding programs easier
with Linux than it is for Mac and Windows. Without having to go to Web
sites, it lets you browse through categories of software. It took me
only seconds to find several additional music players, a PDF reader and
other programs. In addition to downloading the software, this feature
installs it and finds any necessary additional files.
...''

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04basics.html?_r=1&ex=1349150400&en=f1e147767abb91ac&ei=512&oref=slogin

I guess "a rising tide lifts all boats" but Fedora is invisible.  I did
a quick google earlier and the closest reference I found was a suspected
fake $150 laptop, and a RHEL 5 Desktop preinstall you can buy, probably
at some premium.

At this rate it starts to seem, considering that eventually someone I
know will get one of these and expect the level of meddling I can do for
Fedora, that perhaps one can no longer practically avoid getting
experienced with The Debian Way as well as the Redhat Way...

-Andy




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