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Re: ready to use debian or ubuntu laptop reccomendations?

Michael M. wrote:

Paul Johnson wrote:

On Thursday 02 March 2006 01:20, Star King of the Grape Trees wrote:


I am very certain that Dell does sell servers that optionally have
Linux, and even says this on their website.
Nothing but lip service. I tried this week, still no dice. They advertise it on their website, but Dell will not, under any circumstance, sell you a preinstalled Linux box. You can even call them and ask questions, they'll as politely as possible tell you that you're a freaking moron for even thinking they do. 

Two years have passed, not one bit has changed:
http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20040918105850387
Dell sells Linux workstations to businesses, they don't sell Linux desktops to average joes. I suspect it's a support issue. Unless there is some Linux vendor willing and able to provide entry-level OS support, I don't blame Dell for not wanting to take that on themselves. Dell is huge and consequently somewhat limited in its flexibility, like most (all?) large companies.
A few years ago I had a Dell and had a problem with a fan that I had to call tech support about. The rep I spoke with said with surprise, "Oh, you know about computers!" just because I knew how to get into the bios. Right now, people who use Linux are a self-selecting group. We aren't all gurus or technophiles -- goodness knows I'm not! -- but we are willing to read documentation, troubleshoot, read log files, mess around with configs and so on to get things working. The typical Dell customer is not. The typical Dell customer doesn't want to know about apt-get this or dpkg that or Sarge, Etch, multiverse, universe, etc. Typical Dell customers will think their computers are broken when they refuse to play a particular .wmv file they found in a Yahoo! Group. 

I suspect it will be many years before any of this changes.


this is what de the dutch dell site tells us:

Koop on line of bel 020 674 4987
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*Dell and Novell Expand Partnership to Provide Customers Certified SUSE LINUX Platforms and Services*
SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 on Select Dell PowerEdge Servers Extends Customer Choice and Value 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round Rock, Texas and Waltham, Massachusetts, oktober 27, 2004
Dell and Novell today announced an agreement to offer Novell SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 certified on select Dell PowerEdge servers worldwide.
This announcement provides Dell and Novell customers with more choice for fully-supported Linux platform deployments, and at the best value in the industry. Dell provides a single point of contact for customers' support needs; Dell Services will also assist customers throughout the lifecycle of their deployments.
Dell customers will be able to purchase Novell SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 with their single-and dual-processor PowerEdge servers. The agreement reinforces Dell and Novell's longstanding collaboration to provide customers with superior standards-based computing platforms, and extends this value and expertise to customers deploying SUSE LINUX for their business applications.
"Today's announcement marks an important expansion of Dell and Novell's longstanding industry relationship," said Al Gillen, research director, System Software, at IDC. "It provides Dell Linux customers more platform choice for fully supported operating systems, and gives Novell customers a new option for deploying Linux in their IT infrastructure."
Linda York, vice president of global alliances marketing in Dell's Product Group, said that SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 on Dell PowerEdge servers provides customers another robust and scalable enterprise platform to replace costly proprietary UNIX-based systems or to deploy Linux for the first time.
"This is another great example of Dell and Novell's ability to work together to move standards-based computing further into the data center," said York. 

Increased Customer Choice, Industry-leading Value
For $175 per single-CPU server annual maintenance subscription and $269 for a dual CPU subscription, Dell and Novell offer Linux customers additional choice on Dell's award-winning PowerEdge 1850, 2800 and 2850 servers. SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 is the first enterprise-class Linux server to leverage the performance, scalability and security features of the new Linux 2.6 kernel. This new platform is ideal for customers deploying Web farms, IT infrastructures and custom applications. The operating system will be bundled with the server at the time of purchase. A joint service agreement between the two companies provides customers with the same levels of award-winning support for SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 as all other operating systems.
Novell's acquisition of SUSE LINUX in January 2004 set the stage for this logical next step in the longstanding Dell and Novell relationship. "Dell's decision to collaborate with Novell on Linux is a vote of confidence in our Linux strategy and is great news for customers around the world,"" said David Patrick, vice president, Linux, Open Source and Platform Services at Novell. "Existing Novell customers get new options for their future hardware platform needs, while new customers gain a top-notch enterprise Linux offering on one of the most robust server platforms in the world, backed by Novell's global ecosystem of enterprise-level Linux services." 

Global Services
Novell SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 will be supported by Dell Services (www.dell.com/services), through a collaborative support agreement with Novell technical support that provides customers a single point of contact for all issues. This helps customers realize a more efficient, effective, scalable and productive enterprise environment. Customized Dell offerings streamline and integrate activities across the entire product lifecycle, such as system planning and design, implementation and training and support and disposal.
SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 will be available with Dell PowerEdge 1850, 2800 and 2850 servers worldwide in the fourth quarter. For more information on Dell/Novell solutions, services and tools, please visit: www.dell.com/novell or www.novell.com/dell . 

About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is a premier provider of products and services required for customers worldwide to build their information-technology and Internet infrastructures. Company revenue for the past four quarters totaled $45.4 billion. Dell, through its direct business model, designs, manufactures and customizes products and services to customer requirements, and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained www.dell.com <http://www.dell.com>. 

About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell Nsure), Web application development (Novell exteNd) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell Ngage). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE LINUX brands, Novell provides a full range of Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net -- a world without information boundaries -- helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com.
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