Dell's Ubuntu Strategy: Restoring My Faith
Just when I was getting nervous about Dell’s Ubuntu Linux strategy, the PC giant delivered some good news at the OpenSource World conference in San Francisco, according to PC World. The Dell statements don’t address all of my concerns but they do restore my faith in Dell’s commitment to Ubuntu.
According to PC World:
[Dell] is researching the possibility of offering new Linux-based mobile devices called smartbooks, said Todd Finch, senior product marketing manager for Linux clients, at the OpenSourceWorld conference in San Francisco. The company will also upgrade its Ubuntu Linux OS for netbooks to the latest version in the next few weeks, he said.
No doubt, Dell needs to refresh its Ubuntu netbooks to keep pace with niche competitors. In recent days, System76 has enhanced the memory on its Starling Netbook. And ZaReason launched a Terra A10 netbook that’s packed with options.
Back to Dell
I met Finch and other Dell Linux staff members back in June (here’s a video interview with Finch and his peers). I was impressed with their personal focus and commitment to Ubuntu and other Linux flavors. But the “larger” corporate Dell sometimes makes me nervous.
Sometime around July, Dell’s U.S. website stopped selling desktop PCs with Ubuntu preinstalled. Dell’s Ubuntu portfolio (see www.Dell.com/ubuntu) seemed thin to me — offering only one netbook and two laptop options. A Dell spokeswoman assured ComputerWorld and then assured me that a new Ubuntu PC would debut soon. Last I heard, Dell expected that PC to debut the week of Aug. 2. But here we are on Aug. 13 and the new Ubuntu system remains missing in action.
Now the Good News
Still, Finch’s statements at OpenSource World restore my faith in Dell’s Ubuntu strategy. It’s good to hear that Dell will finally step beyond Ubuntu 8.04 to offer a newer release on netbooks — though I’m not sure if it’s 9.04 or the forthcoming 9.10.
Also, I’m intrigued to hear more about Dell’s Smartbook strategy.
As WorksWithU reported in July 2009, SmartBooks essentially are Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). Qualcomm is rallying hardware partners (OEMs, original equipment manufacturers) to introduce Smartbooks sometime in Q3 or Q4 2009.
Smartbooks can run a range of operating systems — Google Android, Windows XP, Ubuntu and more. I’m curious: Will Ubuntu be Dell’s platform of choice on Smartbooks?
Time will tell. For now, I’m pleased to hear Dell is embracing more recent Ubuntu releases on netbooks. Next, Dell’s U.S. website needs to make good on a July promise to sell an Ubuntu-based PC desktop PC. Finally, I think Dell needs the www.Dell.com/ubuntu web site to list specific countries in which the company sells Ubuntu systems.
The biggest Ubuntu-related complaint I hear from readers typically involves Dell’s decision not to offer certain Ubuntu systems in specific countries. Dell’s Finch told me in June that such decisions are made on a region-by-region basis, based on local system customer demand. I understand his point but Dell needs to proactively communicate where it does — and doesn’t — offer Ubuntu desktops, notebooks and netbooks around the world.
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Dell needs a low-cost, high-value Ubuntu machine like the 530N, which sold in the U.S. for $398 when ordered with 2GB RAM with a Pentium, and a 19″ flatpanel monitor. That was very good value.
Dell has an opportunity if it wants to be a shining star in the emerging Ubuntu world.
Cozmo: Yes, Dell has a clear opportunity to take Ubunty mainstream. But I don’t think this is a cost discussion.
I think Linux and Ubuntu proponents need to start discussing value and stop discussing low-cost and free.
I just purchased a netbook with Ubuntu but I wasn’t overly focused on low cost. I wanted reliability. No more anti-virus. No more crashes. Give me a highly reliable computer and I am willing to pay a slight premium.
I have lost all hope in Big businesses like dell really coming out to give open source a big push in their Business. The decision to start shipping Ubuntu was met with a lot of funfair and expectation in 2007 two years on look at were we are, if you have time go to http://www.ubuntu.com/dell you will see a least of countries were a dell ubuntu computer could be obtained
USA
Canada
UK, France, Germany, Spain
Latin America
out of the above list, Its only USA were u can purchase a dell computer every other have just empty spaces in what is suppose to be their dell ubuntu site.. yeah with the exception of one (i think Germany) which offer a dell min9 that is the only computer on offer in their dell ubuntu page. the rest have Nothing .. nada, zero computer .. so 2 years on dell offering of Ubuntu was shrined by a huge percentage, even the range of dell on offer in US as reduced from what it use to be. I think its high time we in the community stop allowing this big companies to take us for a ride. there come here to pay lip service. Enjoy the the goodwill that will come from such lip services .. namely free advart ink in opensource blogphare and in our community forums. this would encourage more open source people to go for dell computers in general since there would see dell as a friend of open source .. even i most confessed to have been duped once.. rather than buy my dell xps from a local shop here in Nigeria. I decided to show support for open source and get have one shipped down through a friend from the use it cost me $500 dollars extra but i was happy to be supporting dell Ubuntu effort. In the end i got a computer which came preinstalled with ubuntu no doubt but lacked some of the accessories which came with the vista version. looking back now i am wiser and would either go with system 76 or just buy a windows computer and slam Ubuntu on it .
Dell should stop talking the walk, and start walking the talk. and we should stop being fooled every time their PR machine comes out to says some sweet words about FOSS .. let them do something before we at least put pen to paper
I am not impressed. If customers were demanding Ubuntu machines, Dell would be pushing them. The problem isn’t a lack of Dell’s commitment, it’s a lack of market interest.
Josh: You raise an interesting point that I’ve considered several times over the past year. I do think we have a bit of a chicken-vs-the-egg situation at Dell.
Is there overwhelming demand for Ubuntu systems from Dell? Perhaps not outside of the traditional Linux user base.
On the other hand, I believe Dell purposely has not marketed Ubuntu systems very heavily to novices. The reason: Dell doesn’t want support headaches involving PC novices moving to Ubuntu.
@Joe and Josh: That’s why MS got scared to death when ASUS sold (literally) millions of netbooks running Linux. And they were lucky Asus chose Xandros 🙂 Of course, then they went to the field and pressured all the vendors to “prefer” XP. And to make netbooks larger, heavier and more expensive, so they become a laptop where people will expect to run their windows games.
But things like a MID, or small inexpensive netbook where you will not need and/or be able to run windows-only software, you can sell Linux preinstalled and the users won’t even notice (like it happens where anyone I know uses my Kubuntu eeepc 701).
@Joe: Chicken-and-egg is a good description of it. Personally, I think Ubuntu is trying to compete in a market saturated with Windows. There just isn’t much maneuverability there. And cost-conscious consumers don’t really care about freedom or what brand their OS carries. I think Ubuntu could much more easily be marketed to high-end consumers with Apple-like strategy of vertical integration. Similar to how System76 and ZaReason do, yet with much sexier hardware and proprietary shims to ensure that everything works as expected.
@Joe:
Good article.
Just a minor quibble: smartbooks will not run Windows XP. They may run Windows CE but not XP.
Just playing around, I went through customization setups of the mini 10, one with xp and one with ubuntu, and one thing occured to me. Why do they cost the same? You can get download Ubuntu free, shouldn’t it be cheaper?
Gil: Good catch/correction. Sorry about the error. Snapdragon’s documentation mentions Windows Mobile support (essentially CE, as you point out). I was wrong to mention XP.
Dell won’t sell Ubuntu option in Australia including the Dell minis. Australia is not some backwater too we have one of the highest percentage of Firefox users, i.e. people are more IT aware.
Dell will not be putting 9.10 on any netbook with a GMA500 chipset unless someone fixes the drivers. It took me half a day to get my Mini 12 to function properly with 9.04. Unless Dell can pressure Intel to come up with a new Poulsbo driver it will not function with 9.10 because the kernel and xorg versions will be too new.
I hope they do, as it will mean I will be able to upgrade as well. And Dell is the only player with enough muscle to make it happen.
When I purchased my M1330n from Dell it cost me £1700+. That’s expensive for a 13″ laptop here in the UK. So cost for me when choosing Ubuntu wasn’t a factor. I agree with Joe when he says we need to stop talking about cost and start talking about value.
I am however not convinced by Dells reassurances about Linux. I very much get the impression Dell are only involved with selling Linux based systems to consumers because the have to be. Their competitors are doing it to one degree or another so Dell must also offer something. They can’t afford to be left out.
The way Dell operates is also a clear source of frustration for it’s customers. Dells web presence is from my perspective entirely US orientated. When it comes to the web Dell seems to forget it’s a global player. The web is a “global community” with no borders. Dell needs to learn that lesson fast.
If something is available in the USA, I expect it to be available here in the UK.
@Leo: exactly…if MS would stop pressuring hardware manuf to drop OS’s other than Windows – Ubuntu might stand a chance
@GregE: Intel has been doing a great job supporting Linux the right way (open source drivers, open specs), and they continue to do so. Gotta love that. However, they screwed up with the GMA500, big time:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_itemamp;px=NzQzMg
@anechoic: yes, but vendors are growing increasingly tired of MS’ tyranny: IBM pushing Linux on servers for the last 10 years, Dell trying hard, phone makers like Nokia with Linux initiatives, and the list goes, I think they’ll burn MS alive as soon as they can … (and yes, I realize it will take time)
“Smartbooks can run a range of operating systems — Google Android, Windows XP, Ubuntu and more.”
Smartbooks are based on ARM processors, which are not x86 compatible. As such, they will *not* run Windows XP.
Indeed, Microsoft is again pushing to redefine a netbook as a not-so-small x86 notebook, so it will have enough memory and CPU capacity to run Windows 7 (which has lighter requirements than Vista, of course, but quite significantly heavier requirements than XP). They have ceded the original netbook space to Linux, in the apparent belief that this market is not worth pursuing. We’ll see.
Offering Windows CE for smartbooks is Microsoft’s only announced strategy, and it is a weak strategy at best. The interesting competition in smartbooks is likely to be between Ubuntu and Android / Chrome – Linux distributions all.
We live in interesting times indeed.
Face it, Dell is acting like a MS subsidiary! Even if you go to http://www.dell.com/ubuntu there is a link to Windows before you get to shop Ubuntu. When you click on Shop for Ubuntu, you are sent to a page that lacks any Desktop computers running Ubuntu. Here in the USA we’re in Back-To-School mode and MS-Dell removed the 530N, and has not replaced it. So for those that claim Dell is just changing models…enough. Could anyone imagine a couple of months with out selling any desktop computers with Windows????
Dell is doing it’s best to be MS-Dell!
Cozmo,
I respectfully disagree. Dell certainly makes mistakes from time to time. But I do think they are committed to selling what users want — even non-Microsoft system.
Yes, Dell’s Ubuntu page emphasizes an opt-out to Windows but I believe that’s because Dell wants to make absolutely sure customers know what they are buying.
I agree with you: Dell has poorly handled the Ubuntu desktop model disappearance. And I’m disappointed to notice that Dell’s consumer newspaper advertising inserts in the U.S. no longer mention Ubuntu on netbooks.
But I sense that Dell is working behind the scenes to determine if/when to preload Ubuntu 9.04 on selected systems. I hope my glass-half-full opinion of Dell’s Ubuntu effort is correct…
22 August 2009: Dell now only has one netbook and one laptop configured with Ubuntu. Nice going MS-Dell…
Dell only has two small portable computers with Ubuntu on the USA home site. Who said Dell is sticking with Ubuntu? Still better than MS-Hp’s product line, I suppose.
I will complite my ND As a computer scientist by nov. 2010, I wish dell will give me the oportunity to do my IT with them.