Dell Now Distributing Linux With Workstations

[Sarah]

In the past, Dell would distribute workstations with a Windows OS or no OS. Today, Linux users have the option of ordering a system with Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS, with support, as seen here.

The RHEL WS provided comes with 2.6.9 Linux kernel, the OpenOffice.org office suite, the Firefox Web browser, several email clients, including Evolution, and the GNOME desktop installed, but the option of KDE available.

While these may not be the best machines available, I still think this is a great step forward for Linux in general. A lot of people that would otherwise try or use Linux have been put off by the fact that they would need to do the installation process on their own. The installation process for Linux isn't always easy, as it can sometimes be difficult to get it to support certain hardware.

I look forward to the day when we'll have the option of other distros at several different companies. I hope that Dell really will succeed at setting a new trend in computer distribution.

[Gorath Sodom]

I think this is a pretty good idea. Dell's influence in not only the IT world but home PC world should help further skyrocket Linux's popularity, and rightfully so. I've played around with Red Hat 9, Fedora Core 4, and Whoppix 2.1 and ultimately is a solid system from my experience, surprising considering the low cost of the platform. In fact, if my print device wasn't Windows proprietary, I wouldn't hesitate to wipe my Windows partitions and replace them with a Linux distro.

And open source apps such OpenOffice.org, The Gimp, Firefox, and Thunderbird are choice utilities for me, even with Windows.

[Sarah]

What print device do you use? I'm sure there's some way around the "Windows Proprietary." If there isn't, get yourself down to your local electronics recycler and buy one that is compatible.

If you're up for a little extra work, but an even more solid OS, try out Gentoo Linux. Customizable galore.

[Secret Azn Man]

Dell got tired of being Microsoft's bitch.

Dell used to be adamant of offering only Windows XP and Intel processors but have been recently rumored to possibly offering machines with other OSes and AMD processors. Hell, Dell even went on record saying if Apple licensed Mac OS X to other OEMs, Dell would love to put Mac OS X on their machines.

While I think it's good that Dell is offering workstations with a distro of Linux, I think it would be better if they offered Linux on consumer desktops. Because for the workstation crowd of professionals, Linux is already pretty well known. But I know Linux needs to break into consumer desktop market of the masses. If Dell offered Linux on their consumer desktops and laptops, I'd say it'd help put Linux on the map as far as mainstream is concerned.

[Sarah]

I agree that it would be far better if it went in their desktop lines, but this is still a huge step forward. It's still possible for the average consumer to buy the work stations.

If it goes well enough, there's definitely a chance we'll see different distros of Linux and possibly Mac. Then, the battle to phase out Windows will begin! >.>

[Gorath Sodom]

Gentoo sure does have reputation as the most hardcore distro for the most 1337 Linux users.

What print device do you use? I'm sure there's some way around the "Windows Proprietary."

Dell A960 All-in-One, which is a Lexmark in disguise if I'm not mistaken. I've searched for drivers and patches and have had zero luck, so chances are I will need to get another print device.

[awall]

Originally Posted by Sarah

If you're up for a little extra work, but an even more solid OS, try out Gentoo Linux. Customizable galore.

Originally Posted by KOS-MOS

Gentoo sure does have reputation as the most hardcore distro for the most 1337 Linux users.

It does. And frankly, I'm not all that impressed. I'm using it right now and sure, I prefer it overall to Fedora Core (which is what I used before) and much prefer it to Windows XP (which is what I used before that), but... I've spent more time than I care to pawing through various forums trying to find a post that would tell me how to get ACPI working or have it recognize my joystick or my mouse wheel or stuff like that.

The argument for Gentoo is that it's customizible as heck, and I can respect that and see how some people might like that. However, I'm learning that it's more important to me to be easily configurable, even if I don't get that many options, rather than offering me a bajillion ways to incorrectly set things up. I've already messed up my USE flags and I'm tired of rooting through every config file on my machine trying to figure out where I've mis-set some critical variable.

Okay, end rant. My point? One of the huge selling points of Windows (and even moreso, MacOS) is that, while they may not be as powerful as Linux, they're much easier to use. KDE rocks, but since Linux isn't centered around it the same way that other OS's are centered around their desktop software, you wind up having to dig under the hood and resort to the command line to fix things much more frequently. This is the stigma that Linux has been branded with and, whether valid or not, it's why people are afraid of it and thus, why Dell believes it won't sell as well as Windows machines.

The short version of what I'm saying is that techies can use Linux just fine - hence it ships on workstations - but most people who are savvy enough to be using Linux as a desktop machine are also savvy enough to download and install it themselves.

Don't get me wrong - I think it'd be awesome if they started offering some simple distro - not Gentoo, but maybe Fedora or Suse - but Dell is just afraid that the market for those things is too small to be worthwhile.