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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the removing-the-microsoft-tax dept.

OMG! Ubuntu! reports

[January 11,] the company announced the immediate availability of the Dell Precision 3520 mobile workstation (that's "professional laptop" to you and [me]).

Better yet, buyers can save over $100 by choosing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS pre-loaded instead of Windows 10--now that's what you call a deal!

[...] Dell's Barton George says more Ubuntu-powered Precision workstations will go on sale in the coming months, worldwide, including an Ubuntu version of the company's stylish new Precision 5720 All-in-One desktop PC.

Unlike other vendors, Dell [doesn't] ship their Linux option on no-frills reduced-power hardware. All models in the Dell Precision lineup pack powerful 7th generation Intel Core and Intel Xeon processors, support Thunderbolt 3 (ahem, USB-C), and can be kitted out with up to 32GB RAM!

The Dell Precision 3520 is available to buy & configure right now priced from $899 (base specs, with Ubuntu 1604 LTS). It ships worldwide.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:31AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:31AM (#453626) Journal

    why Ubuntu, and not Debian? Ubuntu is built on Debian, after all. Without Debian there likely never would have been a Ubuntu. Ehhh - whatever. It's still nice that we don't have to pay the Microsoft tax.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Zz9zZ on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:52AM

    by Zz9zZ (1348) on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:52AM (#453643)

    Because Ubuntu has packaged everything to "just work" and has better support for end users. Pure Debian will leave a lot of users scratching their heads as they try and learn some rudimentary linux admin stuff. Also modding you up because how on earth is your comment off topic??

    --
    ~Tilting at windmills~
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:39AM

      by frojack (1554) on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:39AM (#453660) Journal

      This!

      For every level of derivative distro that stands between you and the base distro you gain levels of polish, bug protection, and ease of use.

      True there are some distros that simply repackage the crapload kicked out the door by the distro they are based on, but those don't last long.

      Ubuntu isn't my cup of tea, but they have withstood the test of time. I'd rather get a machine with freedos installed, or bare naked drives. But for 100 dollars off I'd take the time to nuke the ubuntu.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:42AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:42AM (#453663)

        Nitpick: you'd be nuking anything else anyway so no extra effort required :P

        • (Score: 2) by fubari on Saturday January 14 2017, @11:13PM

          by fubari (4551) on Saturday January 14 2017, @11:13PM (#453948)
          r.e. same effort: True, same effort to nuke Win10 vs. Ubuntu.
          r.e. same cost: False, different cost... As much as I dislike Win10, I would not pay $100 more for the pleasure of nuking Win10 vs. Ubuntu. (TFA is about how the laptop Ubuntu costs $100 less).

          As an aside, if you do choose Ubuntu be you may want to de-select the Microsfot Office purchase option. :-)
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by romlok on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:08PM

        by romlok (1241) on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:08PM (#453776)

        I'd rather get a machine with freedos installed, or bare naked drives.

        The advantage of getting one with Ubuntu pre-installed is that Dell have a legal obligation that the machines they sell are "fit for purpose". That means that the supplied hardware needs to be tested to work with Linux.
        If it's shipped bare, then they could legitimately make the argument that it was expected that you were going to be installing Windows (being the monopoly OS), so the hardware only need be supported under that OS.

        • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday January 18 2017, @05:38PM

          by frojack (1554) on Wednesday January 18 2017, @05:38PM (#455544) Journal

          Go look at the first link.

          It links to dell's /us/business/ site. Not the UK site.
          Fit for purpose is an extremely difficult thing to prove in the UK, and not even a concept in the US.

          --
          No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:42AM

      by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:42AM (#453699) Journal

      Just my personal opinion, but unless you really want to push Unity, I think Ubuntu is unfortunately not a great choice. For users who know what they're doing, Debian is probably superior. For Linux beginners, it seems most find Linux Mint to be a lot more intuitive and polished than Ubuntu.

      Ubuntu went out on a limb with Unity, and it does have some cool ideas, but most people fleeing Windows are probably trying to get away from Microsoft's continuous shifts in desktop interface, and Unity is likely to be equally confusing. Mint, on the other hand, seems dedicated to serving the new Linux user community and keeping a relatively stable interface over time (while keeping a true "just works" philosophy).

      • (Score: 2) by bradley13 on Saturday January 14 2017, @09:30AM

        by bradley13 (3053) on Saturday January 14 2017, @09:30AM (#453749) Homepage Journal

        Agreed: I don't understand why Ubuntu wanted to develop and push Unity. There are already plenty of great desktops out there - we didn't need yet another one.

        That said, one shouldn't forget that Ubuntu is available with other desktops. My preferred solution is Xubuntu (Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop). That provides a "classic" desktop that just stays out of the way and lets you get work done.

        --
        Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by dlb on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:56AM

    by dlb (4790) on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:56AM (#453646)
    The nice thing here, regardless of the distro, is that they are selling a computer preinstalled with Linux, which means that the hardware is probably going to work well with Linux. Reinstalling the distro of one's choice should only take a pendrive and an hour or so.
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @02:00AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @02:00AM (#453671)

      One note though: before actually nuking the preinstalled Linux, check what packages and drivers are used. It is also helps to check out the config files and kernel configuration. With all that information in hand, it can make setting stuff up and slimming down excess installed by default in the distribution you do choose.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:11AM

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:11AM (#453687) Homepage

        Traditionally, dating back to 2003, Dell boxen have served me well with better-than-Windows Linux installs. As one example, with Linux, my audio card worked out of the box without having to download drivers as one would have to do in a Windows installation.

        Dell use standard well-understood hardware* which lends itself well to Linux. Another of my fondest memories of Linux was that it operated all functions of my Wal-Mart bought HP all in one USB-connected printer without having to install any drivers, a task unsuitable for Windows.

        And as the booze is kicking in, I'm laughing pretty hard at all this Windows-like discussion: Does Linux work with this hardware? Sheeeeit, what is this, 1997? Linux is running teavees and supercomputers.

        Linux has worked better than Windows with hardware for quite awhile now, although there is a major caveat in my argument: Linux has been invaded by fifth-columnists shitting it up and making things worse, and Windows is using their H1-B armies to try and "ape," so to speak, the convenience of Linux.

        * Maybe not now. Can somebody warn me if that's the case??

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @04:38AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @04:38AM (#453705)

          I understand that, but I remember the days of having to fiddle with the conf files for X and whatnot. Additionally, installers for generic distributions tend to install everything under the sun to make sure they work. You are probably right about it being unnecessary, but I've been bit before (in the Fedora Core days) so I'm probably overly cautious when it comes to overwriting OEM Linux installs.

        • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday January 14 2017, @05:57PM

          by Gaaark (41) on Saturday January 14 2017, @05:57PM (#453852) Journal

          I had to laugh: one day i bought a new printer. It was a linux compatible, as well as winxp compat (of course, lol). Plugged it into my wifes winxp computer and spent an hour downloading an update to Internet explorer (wtf??? do i need to update the browser for???), then a half hour installing driver after driver and rebooting each time.
          1.5 hours wasted.

          Plugged it into my ubuntu box and 20 seconds later it was up and running.

          Also, i miss corel linux: so nice, and sweet to look at (for an early linux) and use. :(

          --
          --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:57AM

    by Pino P (4721) on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:57AM (#453647) Journal

    I can think of a couple reasons, both related to a little more pragmatism toward proprietary software on Canonical's part: "open source" philosophy rather than the "software freedom" associated with distributions such as Debian and the more purist Trisquel.

    Ubuntu makes it easier to find and install proprietary hardware drivers from the restricted section of its repository, particularly graphics and WLAN drivers. This allows a PC maker to bundle, say, NVIDIA graphics rather than sticking to Intel integrated graphics, which have historically had less throughput.

    Ubuntu offers both a fork of Debian unstable and its own repository of applications in self-contained Snap packages. Though snapd can install Snap packages on other X11/Linux distributions, they're best supported on Ubuntu. Because snapd isolates each application from the rest of the system, it can apply updates transactionally, and it can limit the attack surface associated with running proprietary applications. Some types of software cannot be distributed as free software from day one [pineight.com] because of market realities, particularly games, players for rented movies, and income tax return preparation wizards.

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:37AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:37AM (#453659)

      Some types of software cannot be distributed as free software from day one because of market realities, particularly games, players for rented movies, and income tax return preparation wizards.

      Then those types of software should not be used until they are free software. If they can't deal with that, then they should disappear from existence. I have absolutely zero sympathy for people who engage in deeply unethical activities just to make money, especially when the 'pragmatic' arguments don't even make sense. I despise this notion that we should ignore ethics in favor of technological, amoral pragmatism.

      For tax software, the government should simply develop free software for that purpose; it would benefit everyone more in the long run than freedom-denying proprietary software.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @04:15AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @04:15AM (#457943)

        There is nothing unethical about creating things in exchange for putting food on the table. It is the foundation of every economy and has been since before the invention of money.

      • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Tuesday January 24 2017, @04:19AM

        by Pino P (4721) on Tuesday January 24 2017, @04:19AM (#457944) Journal

        For tax software, the government should simply develop free software for that purpose

        In a jurisdiction where nearly every legislator of the majority party has signed a "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" to oppose any and all measures that increase the tax rate, where should the government find the money to develop said software?

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:49AM

      by frojack (1554) on Saturday January 14 2017, @01:49AM (#453667) Journal

      Snap has some serious issues, its not as clear of an advantage as you might think.

      In the long run it will prove unsupportable as packaged drift toward obsolescence and others emerge and you find you can't get rid of any of them because the Snap dependency model is weak and function retarded.

      Also, any throughput advantage by Nvidia over Intel is soaked up by the install and upgrade nightmare Nvidia imposed over the life of the machine. EACH such upgrade puts your machine at risk of booting to black screen. How would you like the tech support job of talking to some little old lady in Kentucky through a Nvidia recovery. I've done that and it sucks.

      For anything other than gaming, give me a drop dead simple intel graphics card every time.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday January 14 2017, @04:40AM

        by Snotnose (1623) on Saturday January 14 2017, @04:40AM (#453707)

        How would you like the tech support job of talking to some little old lady in Kentucky through a Nvidia recovery. I've done that and it sucks.

        Hell, I've done that with my dad looking over my shoulder telling me everything I was doing wrong, when I was the Linux wiz and he was the analog electronics wiz. It sucked.

        --
        Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
      • (Score: 1) by dr_barnowl on Sunday January 15 2017, @08:08AM

        by dr_barnowl (1568) on Sunday January 15 2017, @08:08AM (#454040)

        +1, thankfully I set my mother up with SSH plus dynamic DNS for remote support purposes, so when her legacy nvidia driver shims stopped compiling for the new kernels, I could switch her to nouveau remotely. And nouveau had improved enough to be usable.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @03:37AM (#453697)

    Ubuntu has better support for Norton Antivirus and the Ask toolbar.

  • (Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Saturday January 14 2017, @07:28PM

    by linkdude64 (5482) on Saturday January 14 2017, @07:28PM (#453876)

    I suppose the beauty is that you can feel free to install a different OS on the laptop at any time?

  • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday January 14 2017, @10:36PM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Saturday January 14 2017, @10:36PM (#453937) Homepage

    Ubuntu is by far the most used Linux distro for personal computers. Does it not make sense for Dell to pick the most used Linux distro to install by default?

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