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Why Dell’s Gamble On Linux Laptops Has Paid Off

posted by mrpg on Friday November 17 2017, @05:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the but-isn't-it-free? dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Dude, you're gettin' a Dell!

The whole juggernaut that is now Linux on Dell started as the brainchild of two core individuals, Barton George (Senior Principal Engineer) and Jared Dominguez (OS Architect and Linux Engineer).

It was their vision that began it all back in 2012. It was long hours, uncertain futures and sheer belief that people really did want Linux laptops that sustained them. Here is the untold story of how Dell gained the top spot in preinstalled Linux on laptops.

[...] This first attempt at Linux on laptops failed mainly because most non-technical users were blinded by the cheap price and didn't understand what they were actually buying.

[...] This time the duo had the right initial market. It was big, commercial web-scale operators and their developers who were crying out for a fully supported Linux laptop.

People who do technical work, like Linux. People who don't, don't.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 17 2017, @08:30PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 17 2017, @08:30PM (#598368)

    First, identify all the vendors for all the hardware in the computer.

    OK, next go to all the vendors of all the hardware in the computer, and download all their drivers for all the hardware in the computer.

    Third, save all the drivers for all the hardware in the computer on separate media.

    Fourth, go buy a retail copy of the OS of your choice (Hahahaaa, who are we kidding, it's the OS of Microsoft's choice, as per their update rules).

    Fifth, install that OS, and with it all the drivers for all the hardware in the computer that you bought.

    Sixth, activate your OS with Microsoft (because important reasons).

    Oh, also don't install any of the vendor crapware on your system. Even though it comes with the drivers. Duh!

    See? Windows! It's easy and convenient!

    I don't like Windows, and I recommend installation of a free operating system.

    But arguments like this don't help. It is clear that you have not actually done this process, and are just making this shit up.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Grishnakh on Friday November 17 2017, @08:52PM (3 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Friday November 17 2017, @08:52PM (#598380)

    He's not making anything up; that's exactly how it used to be back in the 2000/XP days.

    Supposedly it's not as bad now, but I only had to do that back in the XP days so that's the way I remember it.

    • (Score: 2) by choose another one on Friday November 17 2017, @09:23PM

      by choose another one (515) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 17 2017, @09:23PM (#598397)

      He's not making anything up; that's exactly how it used to be back in the 2000/XP days.

      Not exactly - the fourth step is wrong. Back in the 2000/XP days you could buy a clean "OEM" copy of windows for around 10% of the full retail version price, some made you buy it with hardware (e.g. a cheap mouse) but still way way less than paying for full retail.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @04:44AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @04:44AM (#598843)

      He's not making anything up; that's exactly how it used to be back in the 2000/XP days.

      GGP could not have been talking about Windows 2000, because windows 2000 and earlier did not have activation.

      But even if we're talking about Windows XP GGP's argument is still bullshit because Windows XP is 16 years old -- and we should be comparing it with its contemporaries. Windows installation sucked, but installing any flavour of GNU/Linux in 2001 sucked too, probably moreso. Things really are much improved now.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @12:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @12:25PM (#598906)

        when win7 came out, by the time the first windows preinstalled PC recognized the network printer, I had installed successfully installed sidux on other three PCs.