Dell(?), HP shipping with Linux

turnerjh writes "Another hardware manufacturer has joined the ranks of Hewlett-Packard, SGI, VA Research, and Compaq. Dell Computers has announced they will begin bundling Linux soon. Is Microsoft finally losing their strangle hold on the hardware industry? This is a step up from Dell just passively installing Linux on demand. It seems they will be actively pursuing our favorite OSS OS." Be careful with this one-Dell hasn't actually said they will be shipping with it-just expetected to announce it. But, this is a step-up (if true), and it sounds like it won't just be on servers, but work-stations as well. Additionally, Tom Jenkins wrote to tell us that Hewlett-Packard has announced they will be selling some of their server line with Linux pre-install/bundle as well. Let's keep making inroads, folks-this Dell thing has been in the air for a while, but a commitment is always a good thing to see.

Dell hasn't done ANYTHING

[Anonymous Coward]

The fellow who submitted this article clearly didn't read the article, nor did Hemos before posting it. Dell has announced nothing. This is an unsubstantiated rumor that once again Slashdot is announcing as a given fact. If Slashdot is to keep any credibility, the editors need to at least read the articles they post before allowing such errors to get through to the thousands of people who scan the headlines here. That's right, it seems many of the readers here trust the headlines alone without actually reading the whole article. Slashdot is contributing to widespread misinformation.

I Should Have Changed Title

[Hemos]

Read the article-I'm not actually saying it's confirmed-in fact the opposite. I've changed the title to be more descriptive. So, for those of you want are lambasting me for not reading the article, I'd recommend following your own advice.

against microsoft

[John Kozan]

Its because all these big companys are tired of being microsofts bitch and being whiped around everuwhere. They just want to have more freedom.

Sort of...

[mholve]

It's not so much that MS is losing their strangle hold, but more like there's actually a viable alternative now that attracts a large number of people. What was there before? OS/2? Netware? Not much, really. Linux is a totally viable alternative to MS products, and the customers are speaking loud and clear - it's about time companies LISTENED.

Don't buy Dell

[jmalicki]

Why not? Dell and Micron are the ONLY prebuilt computers I would recommend to anyone. Their products are much more solid than anything else I have ever tried... everything works almost perfectly out of box, compared with bad experiences with many other vendors. I don't care what they think about Linux, good hardware is good hardware.

I work for Dell on Workstations

[timur]

I work on the BIOS for Dell's workstations. I guess I'll have to ask my boss if there's any truth to this. But don't expect me to confirm this in public.


--
Timur "too sexy for my code" Tabi, [e-mail], http://www.tabi.org

Anyone else see Bill G.'s shadow over this?

[dzawitz]

I disagree. I think that Dell wouldn't bother asking MS about it, and would use their common sense to know that MS would absolutely love some competition.

This is not lame...

[vallee]

This is important. When companies perform a selection between different platforms, they are going to include Dell, HP, IBM offerings in the process. "Build your own" will not be on the list.
So we are in agreement that corporate acceptance of Linux is key, and thus we must support Dell et. al. in their pre-installed, supported configs. I myself would still build my own, but believe me, there's no way I can put that on a proposal or in a selection doc.
Moreover, acceptance from these manufacturers will foster mainstream acceptance and growth. We've got to back this.
P.S. Tru64 Unix [ontopofit.com] has got to be the lamest Unix brand name choice I've ever heard.
--

Anyone else see Bill G.'s shadow over this?

[Prothonotar]

Call me crazy, but this flurry of announcements that major computer manufacturers are optionally bundling Linux with their machines seems to have a hint of the Chairman's work behind it.

What's Mao have to do with this?
--
Aaron Gaudio
"The fool finds ignorance all around him.

Vendors can sell what they want until...

[nedron]

My guess is that most vendors are doing this because the don't have to woory about Microsoft for the time being. If the DOJ doesn't prevail in the trial, I'd be willing to place money on these vendors dropping Linux support do to "lack of interest."

Surprised at Dell's shift

[martian]

Heh, I can hardly believe that Dell have finally adopted the Penguin...

I used to work for Dell EMEA on their website and I remember the politics involved when we said that shite server was no good for our next generation website. Within the company there was a great deal of resistance, esp from the States, and meetings with senior M$ ppl were littered with vague threats, including suggesting that we were damaging the personal relationship between Bill Gates and Michael Dell.

(In the end we chose Excelon from Object Design [odi.com])

Anyone else see Bill G.'s shadow over this?

[D-Fly]

Call me crazy, but this flurry of announcements that major computer manufacturers are optionally bundling Linux with their machines seems to have a hint of the Chairman's work behind it.

The M$soft anti-trust trial is gradually winding up, and the Feds have made an awfully strong case that the boys in Redmond have been shoving the rest of the industry around a lot.

I suspect Microsoft has been dropping some broad hints to the OEMs that giving users an alternative OS, especially one like Linux (which due to a slight learning curve will only appeal to a narrow band of savvy users at the moment) isn't such a bad idea.

Then they can go running back to the Feds and say "look, there is an alternative OS out there, being shipped by most of the major manufacturers, that has quadrupled (or whatever) its user base in the past 9 months."

With these minor concessions, Bill G preserves his complete dominance in the consumer market, makes it look like he is permitting competition, loses some very minor market share, defeats the Feds, then moves in in 11 months and wipes out Linux (how he's going to pull off that last bit is a puzzle to me; maybe he'll just keep it shoved into a specialized corner, like OS/2, until it becomes irrelevant; maybe he doesn't mind losing 5 percent of the market permanently).

Here's a question worth examining; are the major OEMs changing their attitudes toward installing Linux on servers? That's where Linux poses a real threat to M$oft at the moment...

Ummmm

[md_doc]

Your joking right? Maybe this article does not say it but Dell has said they will sell you a box with linux on it may times. Although before they did say you had to buy something like 30 computers a quarter if you want support. But they are doing linux case by case... give your rep a call and ask him to put linux on a computer for you, most likely he will say okay.

Oh and why has no one said anything about Gateway? They said they were going to start shipping linux soon too.

--MD--

Hmmmmmmmm

[PureFiction]

I almost feel sorry for all those new Linux users that will miss the experience of installing and configuring a system.
Thats half the fun right?

(With the other half being tweaking your system for optimal coolness)

Watch the cost

[pdqlamb]

This sounds great, until you read the fine print. If I recall correctly, all the Linux installations are custom, which means they only you $250-350 to install Redhat Linux on each box.

Don't count your savings before they hatch.

I just *knew* Dell would do this.

[rnturn]

I sent in a bit to /. some time ago (though the editors chose not to include it on the /. page) pointing out that it was somewhat humorous that the Dell catalog I'd received in the mail showed several of their systems with penguins all over the monitors (they weren't Tux, though).

Think Dell was somehow signaling that a preloaded Linux was soon to be available to potential buyers?

What a complete yawner of a non-announcement

[Zico]

LOL...First of all, there hasn't even been an announcement. Of course, Dell already has announced (yes, a real announcement, for those of you who don't know what they are) that they'll gladly preload your computer with Windows 2000 beta 3 on it when it comes out. LOL, that's right, at Dell a freakin' BETA wins out over the supposedly stable Linux 2.2 kernel that everyone's (snicker) been waiting for. Just goes to show that they really don't give a shit about Linux, and no amount of trumpeting about announcements that don't even exist can change that. Why? 'Cause Dell knows what the market wants.

Cheers,
[e-mail]

"Linux is only free if your time has no value" -- JWZ, mozilla.org

Heh, not bitter, =realistic=

[Zico]

I'm not bitter about it. I use Linux, 'tho I haven't had the time to move up to the 2.2 final yet on my dual x86 or sparc box, yet. I'd be bitter if I used it and it wasn't stable, but Linux and NT don't give me any problems in that area. It's just hard not to do a big eyeroll at seeing people going ga-ga over announcements that, forget not even having taken place yet, haven't even been confirmed that they will take place. How 'bout supporting the vendors that already are supporting Linux? I'm sure they must feel pretty special to hear everyone drooling because Dell might ship Linux boxes, even though other companies have been doing it for years, and especially when Dell shows where their true heart is by announcing that they'll sell freakin' BETA OSes preloaded and still have said nothing about Linux, despite the big 2.2 hoo-haw. Okay, I've about run out of Bold, time for me to go.

Cheers,
[e-mail]

"Linux is only free if your time has no value" -- JWZ, mozilla.org

Sigh

[clscott]

Anyone thionk that Microsoft is forcing Linux to help it's position in court?


/tex

Flawed Survey - please contact me!

[kimon]

Dear, um, anonymous coward with a large Kayak installation, could you please contact me [mailto]?

Lack of Bill

[Lockster]

Your assuming, tho, that the OEM's don't already WANT to pre-install Linux (or other OSs). OEM's have their hands tied, for financial reasons, to bundle M$. With the focus of the DOJ on M$, it gives OEM's more room to do what they WANT to do, with less fear of M$ putting their foot down.

Ow-ow-owooo!

[I-man]

And there was much rejoicing.