Dell article
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| SFN Mar 08, 2006 5:18 AM EDT |
Most of what Michael Dell is saying makes sense. They truly can't afford/be bothered to support all distros and I think we all know that the "you picked the wrong one" scenario is not remotely farfetched. Here's the one quote that isn't sitting right. Quoting:"Microsoft has not talked to us about Linux. If they did, I wouldn't care. It's none of their business," concluded Dell.That's certainly the way it should be but I find it hard to buy. Forget that it's Dell and Microsoft or even computers and software that we're talking about. Imagine any business and any two vendors in that business linked as closely as MS and Dell. Can you honestly see one vendor stating to the press that how they conduct their business is none of the other vendor's business? With a straight face, I mean. I guess it remains to be seen just how genuine Mr. Dell is being. If what he has said in this article is true, we can't really expect any more from them at this point. Sure we can say that Dell could be doing so much more to further the cause but Dell is not in business to further a cause. They are in business to sell computers. More acurately, they are in business to make money. |
| jdixon Mar 08, 2006 5:47 AM EDT |
> They truly can't afford/be bothered to support all distros... They don't have too. Offer support for Red Hat, Novell, and Debian and tell everyone else they're on their own. By making sure their hardware works with those three, they would guarantee that the hardware could be made to work with other distributions. I guarantee that Gentoo, Slackware, Mandriva, et. al., would step to the plate with support for those machines. But no, the we can't support every distribution myth is too useful to those who really don't want to offer Linux support. |
| SFN Mar 08, 2006 5:51 AM EDT |
Quoting:and tell everyone else they're on their own While that is exactly what they SHOULD do, they would end up being vilified by a ton of Linux users. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people - and that includes the vast majority of Linux users - are whiners. Sure, Dell could buck up, take the heat and do what they are going to anyway but why should they? They COULD just say ignore Linux altogether and avoid the headache completely. |
| SFN Mar 08, 2006 6:00 AM EDT |
Thanks for titling that, whoever you are. Perhaps a prompt about your post not conmtaining a title might be a good idea? Or even the ability to add a title when editing your own post. |
| r_a_trip Mar 08, 2006 8:45 AM EDT |
Quoting:While that is exactly what they SHOULD do, they would end up being vilified by a ton of Linux users. What would be the difference? Right now they are vilified by almost all GNU/Linux users for being the biggest MS pusher. Dell could simply state that it only makes business sense for them to support Red Hat, Novell and distro X (be that Mandriva, Ubuntu, Xandros or LinSpire). If the hardware works on the first two, the rest should work too. The community can be reasonable about it if it is communicated right. |
| SFN Mar 08, 2006 11:06 AM EDT |
Can be? Yes. Will be? That's a completely different story. |
| tuxtom Mar 08, 2006 12:38 PM EDT |
Regardless, it has got to start somewhere, and RedHat, Novell and aruguably Debian are the logical places to begin. The reason I say "arguably' regarding Debian is that it is not a major "corporate" player, even though there might be several minor corporate players distributing distros based on it. Personally, I would not want to support the plethora of smaller distros out there, and I include Xandros, Ubuntu, etc. Personally, I prefer Debian and its derivatives, but it really doesn't make sense for an OEM to support them. Over time, this may change, but it is unlikely to change if the big Linux players don't get the momentum going with the big OEM's. Targeting the corporate user base initially will ultimately lead to consumer support for their hardware. I do agree that there will be a lot of whiners...but there will ultimately less whiners: The RedHat and Suse users' whining will be silenced...and there are a lot of them, even if this isn't where they all hang out. Most Debian folks wouldn't be calling Dell anyway...we are much more community-oriented and find solutions amongst ourselves. |
| tadelste Mar 08, 2006 3:27 PM EDT |
tuxtom: I'm not so certain that Debian isn't a major corporate player if you're talking about number of installations. If you mean that Debian doesn't have a central corporate sponsor behind it, then I agree. But, Debian stable runs some giant enterprise applications especially when orgs with their own Linux staffs decide they don't need the support of an outside vendor. I can think of some instances like Lawrance Livermore and the City of Munich. People who play do it yourself IT, don't need Red Hat and Novell. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Debian bigot. Well, it runs on two of my servers. Seriously, I'm as happy for RH and Novell as I am anyone. We need companies with a billion dollaar in sales and another with a billion in the bank. Another thing; Xandros has made itself a hit on the corporate desktop because of its remarkable compatibility with an OS out of Deadmond. That has a Debian base and it has a lot of corporate desktop users. Sun was considering ditching SUSE for JDS 3 and putting Debian under it. Don't be surprised if that winds up happening. I won't say if I know anything about it. But, that's a possibility if Dell finally decides to buy big iron Sun. |
| tuxtom Mar 09, 2006 7:30 PM EDT |
tadelste, I was strictly referring to Debian not having a large, central corporate sponsor behind it. Xandros may be a wonderful MS replacement desktop, but your average corporation or home user has never heard of it, even if it is starting to gain popularity. Almost everyone knows the names Novell and RedHat, even if they have never used them. I agree whole-heardedly that Debian stable has a HUGE base, and it is, indeed, my first choice for a server installation. From a technical standpoint, I'd rather see Debian supported. However, this issue is driven by marketing and limited resources/knowledge. As mentioned earlier, it has to start somewhere, and the big corporate-named distros are the logical place to start offering support. Your average corporate IT department or home user will likely choose a big name that is more familiar. Over time, and once the vendor has more experience providing end-user support for Linux, other distros are sure to follow. Thoughts? |
| tadelste Mar 10, 2006 8:10 AM EDT |
tuxtom, My thoughts go to price. Otherwise, we agree. |
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