This is really good to hear.  I do have some questions though.

Some components, particularly some video cards, have working 2-D open source drivers, open source 3-D drivers actively being clean-room written by the community, and closed-source 3-D drivers available from the video card manufacturer. In these instances, while we continue to encourage the development (by all parties) towards open source drivers, we will provide the closed-source drivers for people who wish to use them.

What message are you sending to graphics vendors who actively refuse to participate in open source?  What incentive do they have to make the job of open source support easier than the inevitable reverse-engineering?

What work are you doing to ensure that the vesa fallback driver provides an acceptable experience?  Many laptops usually do not provide the ability to set the resolution to that of the built-in panel using the vesa bios.

The last category is devices for which no open source drivers are available at all, such as software-based modems. In our desktops these are add-in cards, so you can substitute a hardware-based modem available from your local electronics store quite easliy. However, we can't substitute hardware-based modems in our notebooks without redesigning and significantly increasing the price of the system.

That's fine, we know how to write the necessary software to drive these devices, if we know where they are and how to talk to them.  Do we have documentation for these devices?  Will Dell work to facilitate getting this information to developers?  Many times simply asking the IHV for the documentation as an independent developet gets you flat refusal or silence in response.

Well Done for listening Dell.

As a Linux user (suse, Gentoo + yoper) I would love to have linux drivers included with hardware.

Also your choice of giving non-free 3D drivers is good - what is the point of getting a 3D card if you cannot use 3D ?
 

I don't know whether I should congratulate you on your forward thinking or thank you for being open to engaging an essential emerging market.

I think I will just say I look forward to vigorously recommending Dell for consideration on new system purchases.

Regards,

Clifton Hyatt
IT Consultant 

As a secondary note, I think the outline you have articulated here is spot on. While open drivers in the main kernel is strongly preferable I can not recommend *any* system that does not have 100% functionality to the vast majority of clients I deal with.

Your dual track approach is what is needed. As the GNU/Linux userbase swells the drivers required will become free one way or another. At this point I just need to be able to satisfy demand with the widest range of potential solutions.

Thanks for working to assist me in this.

Clifton Hyatt 

Thank you for that. I look for transparency and robustness as well as things mentioned at http://www.bollier.org/pdf/Georgetown_remarks_%20Oct2002.pdf

Perhaps you would consider certification at http://www.freeappliances.org/  ... there is no charge. 

I have a D610 with docking-station running Kubuntu 6.10. The only things I miss that's often overlooked is the undock-key and the audio-out on the docking-station not working (they work in Windows).

  Hello Matt,

        This is very encouraging. Also useful would be making it easier for the purchaser to find out what sort of hardware is included, especially for laptops. Wireless cards are not always easy to discover from the Dell WWW site, and are important.

        That said, my last two laptops (Dell) have had flawless wireless - just the hassles with 3D graphics.

     Bill Murray
 

You give me hope. If you can have the linux desktops out within the year, my next machine will be one of them.

Thanks,

Craig 

This sounds really promising.  Personally I think that this is exactly the right time to enhance the hardware support of your Dell systems.  In particular the laptops, as it is these that are most difficult to put Linux on and the most difficult to replace the uncooperative hardware.  This is the reason that the last laptop I bought, I actually paid a premium to have Ubuntu pre-installed, because then I would know for sure what would and wouldn't work.  What could be worst than spending good money on a Laptop and then finding out that the wireless can't be made to work with Linux.  That is a real show stopper and the ability to give some guarantee that that won't happen, will I am sure garner Dell a leading position in what is a growing segment of the market.

Thank you Matt. I think it is a good beginning.

You said 'There's no way to please everyone....'. Dell doesn't need to please everybody. However, as a Linux user, I am hungry to see some action from mainstream computer manufacturers. Even a little bit of effort on Dell's part, is better than doing nothing at all for your customers clamoring for choices. Your efforts are well appreciated.

Thank you for listening.

   This is great news to hear. What I would like to know is, what kind of support can we expect from Dell if we are having a problem getting hardware to work and/or, support for some problems for users who may not know Linux at all ?

Great to see this action. I want to buy one notebook in 2 - 3 weeks time, to be ready for Ubuntu 7.04, which will be out 19th  April. I also wanted to test the beta version too. What should I do? Need your advise.

Geneva, Switzerland.

I was just about to buy a laptop for myself.

I just want to say that I will hold off on that until I see what dell has to offer

Thanks Dell 

Great news! I only have one concern. Dell systems have lots of dell software on them. I'm thinking specifically of the software installed to deal with function keys, etc. I hope that Dell will work to have their hardware work using existing open source software instead of building a dell-specific alternative. For instance, docking: integrate this into linux's existing acpi setup, don't create something new. Or volume/wireless/crt-to-lcd function keys. Integrate those as well.

I was using linux back in late 90s during the "tech boom." Some companies had started to offer systems with linux pre-installed. They were disappointing, though, because they each had a very custom install. The custom scripts, etc, were typically not well polished and the systems couldn't be easily loaded with another distro with the same functionality. That's what I'm hoping won't be replicated.

I will be buying a Dell Laptop as soon as a Linux Certified one is available.

The modem is a disappointment though. The modem itself is not the problem. The problem is the $50 for the closed source drivers. Hopefully Dell will work with the community to write Open Source drivers. 

Thanks Matt,  Thats wonderful news. 

It is so close to choose among vendors these days that this will move Dell to the front of the queue for my systems recommendations to clients.  Even if they don't need Linux immediately, the assurance that it can be implemented with minimal fuss is good forward planning.

I am not a FLOSS fanatic, but I believe fully open source drivers are advantageous for reasons of security and stability.  You should realise though, that you don't need to do all the work producing a mountain of code yourself.  There are hundreds of people out-there who can write this for you, IF ONLY they had sufficient documentation. 

It is difficult for individuals to obtain such documentation in-the-clear.  We have no bargaining power, and since the product has already beeen bought, it may to the vendor to not necessarily improve sales.  Dell's MOST IMPORTANT role is to negotiate the supply of device documentation, by selecting components based on the quality of documentation publicly availability (ie sans NDA.)  It may be cost effective for you to entice developers to assist by donating pre-release hardware, so that drivers are ready for day one.  Possibly NDAs may apply during product development, which expire once the Dell product appears on the shelves. 

With regard to choice distribution, I am fairly agnostic.  I would prefer Ubuntu, but RedHat/Novell would equally work.  Community support forums are mostly sufficient, however for the case where a hardware fault actually exists, it is IMPORTANT to have some form of Linux Preinstalled (or a Recovery CD) so a known environment can be used by your technicians to evaluate warranty claims. 

This pre-installed Linux could be very minimal.  Most of the effort in supporting a distribution is integrating a wide swarth of applications software, which isn't needed just to test hardware functioning.  Even this could be community developed... with Dell just doing the QA validation. For consistency, you could make this the support partition for all your systems, including those using Windows as the main OS. 

Anyhow, its encouraging that Dell are taking steps in this direction.  There may be some stumbles along the way, but I believe that long term its going to be beneficial to Dell, as well as the rest of us.  Good luck.

Regards, Ben
 

"""We can't substitute hardware-based modems in our notebooks without redesigning and significantly increasing the price of the system."""

 Actually, some software-based modem/faxes for notebooks have completely Free/Open Source drivers. You don't need hardware-based modems. For example, the 56K softmodem in the IBM Thinkpad 600E works with the fully GPL'ed MWave driver:

http://www.linuxdocs.org/HOWTOs/mini/ACP-Modem/index.html

http://sourceforge.net/projects/acpmodem/

 Now, this Thinkpad model came out in 2001, but the technology in 56K Fax/Modems hasn't advanced much, and it's safe to say that a 56K modem in 2001 is just as good as a 56K modem on a 2007 notebook. So, why don't you just use this embedded softmodem supported by the 100% GPL'ed MWave driver?

This is great.

I'm typing this on a 256MB RAM 30GB HD Inspiron 2500 with Kubuntu and an AMP stack which replaced the supplied XP. I feel like Scotty out of Star Trek, this baby must have Dylithium crystals to run so much and remain rock solid.

Cash at bank is ready to roll for a long awaited upgrade that won't require another charitable donation to Redmond for software I don't need. It's like the twighlight zone, I was looking for a GNU/Linux HP the day before I saw the ideastorm site, now I've decided to hold off for a new Dell.

Thanks!

Congratulations and well-played, Dell!  I look forward to seeing how well you follow through on this set of initiatives, and expect this will help to maintain your position in the market.  Your expanded support for drivers has definitely attracted my attention, and I will be following this closely. 

Even though for business use we will likely continue getting Windows for the conceivable future, this will help ensure we stay interested in Dells to keep our options open. 

Bravo!

Linux support from Dell will most certainly results in support for Dell from Linux (users). With assurance I can add that as these new products move forward from planning to reality, from a personal perspective there will be no other hardware purchased by this Linux user, that does not have a Dell logo attached to it.

Thank you Dell, for this most important step forward! 

Well done Dell. Linux on DELL is a viable option now, for people who would otherwise switch to OS X.

 I really hope that DELL will support Linux on laptops by pre-installing a distribution such as Ubuntu.
 
Thank-You.
Jonathan Watmough
 

I took the survey a couple of weeks ago and at that time I chose Mandriva or Ubuntu and I realize that DELL should definitely pick FREESPIRE as the defacto LoD (Linux on Dell) distro.  It makes sense because we want to recommend these machines to regular users and the use of CNR will make their life easy.  Some will say that there are other 4 very popular distros supported by CNR but selecting the creator's of this technology default bundle will avoid the caos produced by versioning on other distros.

Thanks,

ps. One more suggestion: Please make all these Linux machines be AMD64 core.

Sweet sweet sweet!!! I am so glad Dell is doing this. I've got 2 Dells in my home and Dells are going to be all over my Christmas gift list. This is just an awesome direction that Dell's taking. It's going to be a great benefit for both the open source community and Dell as well.

Thanks so much Dell!

Thanks for listening, Dell.

I'm in the market for a new laptop.  I've previously used Thinkpads for their usual hardware compatibility with Linux.  A solid dual core Dell will do nicely for my next purchase.

 I'll be watching for the new offerings!

Thanks again!

 

The best part is if Dell starts selling a lot of these then they'll be in a position to really put pressure on the companies that don't offer open drivers.

 

Another thing occurred to me after reading a post above mine --

 The wireless chipset on Latitude D520s are the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945abg.  These are supported fine under linux, but the function key kill switch does not seem to.  Running Kubuntu 6.10, I couldn't get the killswitch to deactivate -- the card was detected, driver loaded, but dmesg and /var/log/messages showed that the killswitch was activated.  To remedy this, I rebooted and hit the function key combination immediately after the machine POSTed -- thus enabling the switch before boot.

Just something to think about.  Software vs. hardware switches.

mshade: please see the recent work on wireless enable/disable via Dell's open source libsmbios project.  From the release announcement:

Version 0.13.4 contains a new utility called "dellWirelessCtl". This utility can be used on recent Dell laptops to enable/disable Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and Cellular WAN at runtime, as well as set the boot-time settings for same. Some laptops have a physical switch that can control the wireless radios. On these laptops, dellWirelessCtl can be used to configure the switch to control wlan/bluetooth/wwan individually.

 We'd welcome testers on the libsmbios-devel and linux-desktops mailing lists (subscribe and read archives at http://lists.us.dell.com).

I'm glad that, at least you are asking and listening to our sugestion, a Linux friendly Laptop and Desktop, are at least what we hope for.

I wouldn't mind paying, let's say 50$ more for a Laptop with .HARDWARE MODEM that would work out of the box. 

Fantastic news. Dell's responsiveness to customer demand on this issue is exemplary. Looks like I will be recommending Dell systems to my clients and friends in the future. I would also like to add my voice to those requesting Dell aid the free software community by convincing IHVs to release hardware documentation wherever possible, especially in cases like software modems, wireless network adapters, and even 3d video cards (I know, I know - but I can dream can't I?). While GPL drivers are the ideal, the community can generally do just fine with docs.

On a personal note, I'll be looking for a new laptop in the not enormously distant future. Follow through on this and for the first time ever, I'll be getting a Dell.

As a system integrator, it takes a lot of the stress out of the purchasing decision to know that the hardware we buy for our servers and engineering desktops will work flawlessly with Linux.

Regardless of Linux distribution, just to have a vendor certify that a certain version of the Linux kernel contains all the necessary open drivers to match the hardware is a huge boon.

More importantly, if the hardware can support Linux - it's not too far away from supporting other open systems like FreeBSD too! So more choice for us and more purchases for Dell.
 

Good, this is what we wanted. Some might whine a little that you are not doing exactly what they want, but hey, you're in business, that's how it goes.

 You will now become my first choice for hardware because of this driver issue. Dell will become the first choice for the majority of the open source community.

 
Please stick with this. Don't give up if it doesn't work out in three weeks. It's good you are listening to what we want (need).
 

I have always assembled my own computers to avoid the Redmond tax, but if these plans carry through, I might be purchasing a Dell (I never though I'd say that!). At any rate, I am now happy that my work provides us with Dell laptops, where before I was indifferent. Good work Dell!

I would like to throw my hat in with those who recommend Ubuntu to be the distro of choice. The Ubuntu community provides fantastic support, and development is concentrated on providing a more human usable environment. 

I will be watching Dell over the next few months to see how your roll-out goes with your linux offerings.  If it is done wholeheartedly and expeditiously, I may recommend Dell linux systems to family and friends.  Currently, I build many of their desktops and install either Windows XP or Xandros (depending on their desires).  It would be nice to be able to recommend a hardware vendor whose name they are already familiar with, although I certainly have no problem with ordering from system76 or IBEX.  Still, most of the family wants a name they recognize, and a linux system from Dell would satisfy their wishes.

I'm not sure I agree with the comment above about offering Freespire.  I believe Linspire would be a better alternative for the audience Dell is going to target with their linux initiative.

 Good on you Dell.  I'm watching... and waiting.
 

Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words. Dell keeps talking and talking and talking but nothing ever happens. Stop yapping and just do it god damn it! Make Linux available on all of your machines!

Two things are VITALLY important for me:

List clearly which components are supported in-kernel/out of the box, and which aren't.

A breakdown between things that work when tweaked, and things that don't work at all would be nice.

The second, and nearly as important item is:

Make SURE the page (and any others selling Linux computers) DOES NOT SAY: "Dell Recommends Vista Home/Premium/Business"

You would lose a lot of credibility with me, and get mocked repeatedly in the press if that shows up on the Linux computer pages.
 

Great to hear that!

You guys are doing a great job communicating with the public about this, keep it up. Its exciting to watch this develop and know that we as customers had a say in it. Thanks for listening. 

Pencil me in for a linux notebook the second their available.  

Dude, you're getting a Dell with pre-installed linux.

:)

~John

This sounds great.  The explanation of drivers is exactly what I would want to hear.  My old HP Laptop can't keep up with the demands of my job and I have been thinking of getting a dual core laptop.  I think I will wait if I can get a Dell laptop with better Linux support.  The worst part of "zero Linux support" is not knowing which hardware will work.  My current HP Laptop required much "ndiswrapper" work for the wireless card.  I would not had bought it if I knew other laptops had better hardware support in Linux.

Thank you DELL!

I'm happy to be typing this from my dell inspiron e1705 running Ubuntu Feisty (beta). This laptop works like a charm, as well as a dell inspiron 6000 and inspiron b130 that I have in my household (all working flawlessly with Ubuntu.)

So what can I say, when I or my family want a laptop, we'll go with Dell (as usual) no question.

I'm a regular laptop purchaser and for some years now I've not considered a dell.  I've always ended up with a Toshiba.  In fact, for the past four or five years, I've always started and ended with Toshiba.  Why? Two reasons, reliability, and linux compatibility.  Even if the laptop in question is destined to be a windows machine, I still look at linux compatibility.  It provides future flexibility and confidence.  It's not at all uncommon for a laptop to be 're-purposed' after 12 or 18 months.

 If Dell can offer me both hw reliability and linux compatability in their laptops, I'd be more than happy to look at Dells again.  When it comes to compatibility, it's the little things that count almost as much as the big things.  Eg, the sd card reader on my latest Toshiba doesn't have a linux driver.  Not a show stopper, but enough to make me look elsewhere next time if I think an alternate vendor will do a better job with FOSS drivers.

Dell, If you can pull it off, you're back on the list.  If you do it well, you'll be the only one on the list.
 

I would love it if dell chose 2 distros in their offerings. Ideally something like Ubuntu and Fedora.

I know Dell offers RHEL on the servers but if they can also provide an option for Centos it would be just amazing.

Either way I am happy to hear about Dell being willing to provide preinstalled Linux machines.
 

> There's no way to please everyone,

This sounds a little bit as an excuse. From what I sense from your article is that

(a) Dell will rebrand ("certify") some of the existing Dell hardware as "Linux ready" and slap a Linux distro on them, but ...

(b) ... Dell will not actively go out and build systems which do only include  components that are well supported by free software drivers. So people will still have to pay for hardware of which they can only use 70% ... 90%.

(c) Dell will not actively go out and work on removing obstacles with the hardware. Instead Dell will, like any other vendor, just tell the buyer "to buy more and other hardware". E.g. "buy PostScript printers", "buy an additional modem". So buyers will have to compensate for the 10% ... 30% of not working hardware by buying more hardware or more expensive hardware.

(d) Further, Dell will not actively and seriously work with vendors and suppliers to ensure their hardware, which end up in Dell Linux systems, is in accordance with public specifications (notebook power management anyone?), and that all the small details work. Like, for example, all special function buttons on the keyboard.

(e) Dell will also not encourage (read: insist on) their vendors to release public specifications for their hardware, so that drivers could be written or adapted.

In short, Dell will do nothing different than all the "Linux hardware vendors" who came and went away in the past ten years.

Yep, you can't please everyone. If this is indeed the strategy Dell is going for, then I know you won't please me. And I predict that strategy will not help to make Dell be please about the revenue generated with Linux systems.

You have a unique chance: To leverage the buying power of Dell to get real Linux systems build by your suppliers for a mainstream price. You are throwing this chance away.

     I play fps games mostly when I get time, ET is my main right now for online fun. I do own NWN,Doom3, Quake4,Q3-Arena,Counterstrike/Half-life(Steam/Wine),
Diablo2(Wine), along with alot of the free games too. My big question is will the video card be Nvidia? And will the sound card be any good for Teamspeak2 while I'm playing? I plan on getting ET:QuakeWars, can it play something like that maybe? I don't know alot about laptops but I've been thinking about getting one to play with since the 64bit dual cores came out with maybe a  gig of ram or two. It doesn't really matter what flavor of linux is on it to me because I jump around alot with the distros for fun and the laptop keys can be easly configured to whatever anyway so I'm not really worried about the little stuff anyway. Ya, hardcore gaming is just getting a fresh face :P

Thanks all for any answers about gaming with laptops and linux in general, and thanks Dell for taking time with linux, I really hope this works for you.
 

I now have a Sony vaio laptop running ubuntu; but as soon as Dell has a linux offer ready, you cound me as a new Dell customer.

Good job Dell. 

As others have said, I don't care what you put on it.  I will install Ubuntu. :)  As you can see, there is a LOT of pent up demand.  If you had a choice on the website tomorrow, you would be slashdotted.  Just two points...

First, you actually can please everyone.  As long as we have choice...  AMD and Intel.  Nvidia and ATI (and Intel).  Installed with one distro, but drivers for others...  High end and budget...  Don't just give a small selection at one end of the product line.  After all, linux is already on more of your products than you know.  I know of 3 within arms reach.

Also, don't waste time. You have huge buzz, demand, and press RIGHT NOW.  Get this on the website before Tax day.  Get it on with real commitment.  Don't let the momentum fade.

"Dell contacted DesktopLinux.com on March 28 to let them know that the company will be releasing select desktop and notebook systems with pre-installed Linux as an option in the coming weeks."

http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS8436091466.html

Thanks for answering my question. I will wait for 2 weeks, as I am getting ready for Ubuntu 7.04.

 
From Geneva, Switzerland. 

Huzzah!

I, for one, am very pleased with the gigantic step forward that you've taken, Dell. Up untill not too long ago you wouldn't have known the difference between free and Free, but it seems that some enlightenment has arrived.

While others pick various (valid) nits, don't be discouraged. Non-free graphics drivers are problematic legally and practically, but your journey to open-ness has to start somewhere, and I applaud that start. Hopefully your sheer clout will provide some incentive for nv and ati to produce open drivers, but don't stop doing what you're doing on account of zealots who demand EVERYTHING UP FRONT RIGHT NOW — the rest of us are pleased that you're going somewhere positive.
 

Good news on the Linux offering.

Sadly I must still pay the MS tax as a requirement for work. Please also offer the option to install XP with VMware Player. That gives me the MS license to install VMware WS and run a legal copy of Windows until Vista stabilizes.

Laptop Newbe Questions said:

 I play fps games mostly when I get time, ET is my main right now for online fun. I do own NWN,Doom3, Quake4,Q3-Arena,Counterstrike/Half-life(Steam/Wine),
Diablo2(Wine),

Good news !

Hardware support from kernel.org is the way to go. Then you could sell almost all CD of the different Linux vendor. The install is so easy that an install by dell does not add any value. 

 If we could buy hardware without bad suprised, that will be great. (like the none working button to modify constrast and brigthness on laptop or the multimedia button that don't even send event and code to the x.org server, maybe all of this could be discuss and standardised thought freedesktop.org)
 

This is excellent news. Dell really are in a position to make a difference  and to take advantage of the surge in popularity of Linux.

I look forward to hearing more concrete information. 

Can I finally buy a laptop without supporting MS and make it even work with linux? This is getting interesting. I really hope too that there would be more nvidia also on laptops. I have had enough problems with ati and their "we don't care *nix" attidute. As a some sort of indie dev I really can't work with atis newest video cards, because they simply just don't work with linux.

PS: I want free software & gpl-licensed drivers too. :)

First of all I can only say:

At last!! This I feel is a big step towards making linux matter even more. I think nowadays the only reason for not using linux on the Desktop is porbably being able to play games. Since this is not the main aim of most linux users I am sure you're decision will have you gain huge popularity within the community.

I know very well, that the community (which I think myself as being part of) sometimes can hinder their own growth by being too narrow-minded and by thinking too much in black and white. I am sure you're current grey looks nice to me and will surely help to wake up a few pople in hardware industry.

Furthermore, I see that you have to choose a distribution but I would ask you to provide a choice amongst lets say popular and professional ones. Do not focus on one distribution since IMHO, some people will not like your choice, no matter what it is going to be and the way the community is at the moment might cause distress between the groups.

Again, well done. This will change things on the long term.

This is great! I'm ready to buy a Linux laptop from Dell as soon as they are available in Canada.

cheers! 

I like the effort dell is making,

However, one of the things dell really Could do is the following:

Get the creators of soft modems (and your own printer design people) to release nond-nda'd specs to the kernel developpers. Or "threaten" to take your bussiness elsewhere. 

 Linux can't do that on their own. And if dell doesn't apply the power it has, things won't change.
 

Great!

I'm quite sure the market will reward this decision, starting by me.

 
-Luca
 

Dear Matt,

When Dell states

"At least half of the comments effectively said "we want Free Software, GPL-licensed drivers which are maintained in kernel.org, for all hardware in Dell systems." This request is not new to us—it's been our standard operating procedure for the last 8 years on PowerEdge servers, which today have no closed-source drivers necessary."

and

"We will work with our hardware partners to develop, test, and maintain Free drivers, and continue to make progress towards that goal for all drivers."

you bring music to my ears and a happy tears in my eyes. OK, so I'm a being a little too sentimental, but I have used GNU/Linux since 1998 because I was sick and tired of vendor lock-in, reboots, viruses, no default file protection, no real multi-tasking, no real multi-user environment and only skin-deep differences in the software offered. The difficulties associated with none-Free drivers and the hardware I've not bought X everyone like me because of that must amount to millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Give me a D, give me an E, give me an L and give me another L - what do you get - Free (as in freedom) drivers for all your hardware - now fill up them coffers! Dell, Dell, Dell! :-D
 

Yep, another person who'll be buying a DELL laptop if this goes through (just hope it isn't preloaded with Novell...)

 Please reconsider your stance towards open-source drivers; if wireless nic makers can make gpl'ed drivers why not 3D graphics card manufacturers? (The former is much more important to me than the latter, anyway, and I suspect until we get decent open-source 3D graphics drivers, the majority of those looking to buy Linux-only machines would say the same)
 

First of all, thank you for being serious about linux!

What I'm looking for is a laptop without things I don't need. A windows license is one of those things, but there are more.

One thing I could do without is proprietary video drivers that may at some point in the future cause trouble that the manufacturer just doesn't care to fix. So I'll use free/open drivers, but that probably means I won't be able to use the latest and greatest new eyecandy. Well, I don't care, but then I'd be happier with a cheaper graphics card that doesn't support that eyecandy anyway.

I would definitely buy a computer that is 100% supported by free software, but if a computer contains components that do work but need proprietary drivers to achieve their full potential, then I'm going to compare it to other such systems and buy the cheapest I trust not to fall apart. That may be not the Dell.

Also, if Dell makes a 100% free software option possible, I'm much more likely to recommend it to others than I would be when it's just the same Dell as usual, only without windows and tested to at least work "good enough" with free software.

 Thank you for listening and good luck!

Just bought dell inspiron m640 with Vista. I even had no option to ask for XP.

I'm going to use the notebook mostly for development and my new employer even has no Windows @all!!! (unix + java). The choice of  dell was because of fedora compatibility (well after some polishing...). So I'd like to have Fedora and, possibly, XP installed. May I downgrade Vista to XP pleeeease.

 Dim.
 

Hi,

If what's written in this post is done, this will be a big step Dell makes towards Linux users. As others have noted, Dell could also make a huge step towards helping Free software by twisting its suppliers' arms a bit in order to get, if not free drivers, at least specs.

Anyway, with just what's detailed in this post happening, my next laptop is going to be from Dell. 

Good stuff.

Thanks. Looking for my new Desktop/Notebook systems Linux support certified! (yes, I need both) 

Take care about the driver and the kernel. If the kernel of Linux support your computer, than installing the distro of choice is just a matter of downloading :)

 Of course, if it comes with ubuntu I have not to download :P
 

Great to see that Dell will ship with proprietary drivers if there are no useful open source ones.  I would be very disappointed if Dell shipped the open source ATI or experimental Nvidia driver for any of those cards in the last 3 years because the open source driver offers nearly no feature advantages over the proprietary ones and there's actually a near-monthly upgrade path unlocking more functionality.

Will Dell be providing the Dell branded laptop utilities that generally come with Windows installs? (some are actually useful :))  I'd imagine that you could offer the components as pre-installed binaries with source available and then merge the changes into any upstream projects - offering a solution now and improving Linux as a whole in the future.

I want a DELL desktop with a Cell processor, all the modern PC buses and ports, and YDL pre installed.

If you can do this, you will create a Linux hardware market all of your very own, and I'll be one of your customers along with every bleeding edge Linux geek in the world. 

The abstacles that I meet for buying a laptop (that I actually need) are:

- I want it Free-Software-hardware-compatible, especialy in terms of drivers, so I can install whatever GNU/Linux distribution or other free software OS I like without encountering compatibility issues,

- I expect it to be cheap (or least cheaper that the Windows-equipped counterparts) and performing well, in terms of office use and multimedia use.

I believe Dell, after some efforts, can lead this evolution of the market, offer such a laptop, and count me among its customers.

Congratulations for those innovative, courageous and ethically right actions, I'm convinced it will pay-off in terms of business.

This is good news , I have been waiting 7 years to hear it .

 "Questa è musica per le mie orecchie"

It's an old Italian say that  mean "This is music for my ears"

Two year ago, I bought a pretty asus notebook whit  windows.
I've installed linux on it but  no way to configure ALI webcacm :-( no driver  open no driver closed. no driver at all. (distro doesn't matter) .

The next Christmas I'll buy another notebook.

After reading this column... try to guess which brand I'll buy?

heheheheehe  :-)

Hi there,

Well, we are now holding off refreshing all our equipment as we will be buying your Linux kit - we usually buy a load of machines (same model and spec) then spend a week making the correct image on one machine with all the correct drivers and settings then image all the other machines - this will be a lot better for us!

Great work!!!

Heck, I've had such luck with Dell in the past on laptops with Linux, I would have already bought an XPS1210 if it would have been offered without windows.  However, the sales people refused to offer me that option and I refuse to fight with customer service on trying to get a rebate.  Give me hardware that's supported and I'll figure the rest out.

Now, I realize that's not a viable solution for everyone but I do commend Dell making this push.   I look forward to the day I can get a laptop without windows that supports nice 3d graphics (Beryl) and has a small form factor.  until then I WILL do without.

Thanks for listening, Dell!

Kevin

STL, Missouri 

Yes, please do what you can to support Linux. We lease about 6000 PCs every 30 months for our branch offices. We are strongly considering Linux to move away from the Microsoft dependency cycle. We are a Suse shop on our servers, so our preference would be Suse for desktops, but if you get the drivers correct(and keep to fairly standard hardware), I would guess we could pretty much run any Linux.

Thanks,

Jeff

Thanks to Dell for making this a possibility. If this all comes to fruition, I plan on making my next purchase a Dell Laptop. With any luck, it'll be this summer.

 One thing that might be useful for Dell is to provide a reference version of Linux as a live CD (the distribution is not important, at least to me). This version could include utilities for testing the functionality of the system. I'm sure Dell can find a group that would help them do this. That gives the end user the flexibility of installing their favorite distribution, while having the security of a base system for triaging problems.
 

One other thought with regard to your statement:

 "The last category is devices for which no open source drivers are available at all, such as software-based modems. In our desktops these are add-in cards, so you can substitute a hardware-based modem available from your local electronics store quite easliy. However, we can't substitute hardware-based modems in our notebooks without redesigning and significantly increasing the price of the system. If it's important to you to have a hardware-based modem, you would add one into your PC Card or ExpressCard slot. "

 Modems have not significantly changed in YEARS. If you are going to put in a Win/Soft modem, work with suppliers to get an Interface/API that developers can write a driver that doesn't change every 6 months. It may need to be re-written for a new major version, but I can't image that it would be that difficult to get a Winmodem that will work under Linux if you apply the correct pressure to your suppliers. Make it a priority because there ARE businesses out there still relying on modems to get their users connected, plus there are home users who still use them on vacation. Don't let modems be the reason you don't sell Desktops and Laptops with Linux to businesses.

As recently as last week, I was considering a notebook purchase - but elected not to; part of the reason being lack of Linux support.  I have the knowledge - but I simply do not have the time to figure out and work through a notebook's idiosyncrasies.

As a software developer, I prefer a unix-based platform for the OS' strength and scripting.

I appreciate Dell's engagement with its customers.  I applaud their efforts to provide new solutions for their machines.  I will be back to purchase a Linux notebook. 

Thank you.