Dell has made is impressive, including launching their first
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| Author | Content |
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| tracyanne Feb 15, 2008 4:54 PM EDT |
But still not in Australia. |
| pogson Feb 17, 2008 8:12 AM EDT |
Nor in Canada... Dell is a disappointment. They make the words of change but not the actions. Why, still, does not GNU/Linux have equal billing on their site? You have to search for Linux and be lucky, to find it. You should be able to select and OS from a list of choices, not migrate to some tiny corner of the site before GNU/Linux become visible. This is not just a GNU/Linux thing. Dell has problems with their site. Users are supposed to be in categories and cannot see products intended for other categories. How silly. If a huge corporation wants some cheap machines for some purpose, they are barred from buying them. If some small entity wants a gutsy server, no. It's off-limits. GNU/Linux gets lost in the shuffle. The same goes for thin clients. Large portions of the IT world are allergic to thin clients because there were some failures of deployments in the past, but they are hard to find on Dell's site. I just searched for thin client on dell.ca and got laptops! There is a Wyse winterm half-way down the page which is supposedly sorted by relevance. GNU/Linux and thin clients are the optimal solution for many IT deployments but Dell seems intent on pushing Wintel, no matter what. If they keep pushing customers away they will be number three pretty soon... Oops! They have accomplished that already in EMEA see http://www.itfacts.biz/category/pcs |
| gus3 Feb 17, 2008 8:19 AM EDT |
> They make the words of change but not the actions. [TOS violation pre-deleted.] |
| Abe Feb 18, 2008 7:03 AM EDT |
As long as OEMs like Dell, HP, Lenavo etc... are making their major profits by the large sales with Windows platform, and as long as they keep getting the large promotional offers from Microsoft, they will keep treating Linux as an after thought. Until the mind set in the IT industries changes, they will not see a reason to change and start offering Linux on equal basis. They are happy and content with offering Linux when there is a big computer purchase by corporations. The mind set in the IT industry, although ever so slowly, is changing. In the mean time, there are small outfits that are offering Linux with PC machines, but they are not major brand names. Average people are just not making the effort to switch to Linux because they either don't know, are afraid, don't appreciate the benefits, or simply not don't care. Best thing to change this status quo is for one or more of the Linux distributors to get into the PC business. Good candidate would Red Hat, Novell, K/Ubuntu. They just need to invest a little money and purchase a quantity of PCs from any of the brand name OEMs and offer Linux with support. Even if they make little profit on the hardware, they can increase their profits by offering software support, which they already do anyway. Dell did just that recently, but didn't take it further. When they offered Linux desktops, they relied on Ubuntu to furnish support for them. Why can't Ubuntu or Red Hat do that? If a small outfit like Zareason can do it, they sure are better situated and capable than a starter little company. If they don't do that, they would be delaying Linux proliferation and delaying the advancement of their businesses. A turtle couldn't move ahead unless it sticks its neck out. |
| dinotrac Feb 18, 2008 7:31 AM EDT |
>, they will keep treating Linux as an after thought. I think the characterization is too harsh, but sure, Linux is not on an equal footing. Like it or not, it makes sense for the vendors to treat it that way. They are in the business of selling systems, not OS's. It is the job of the OS vendor (or, in the case of FOSS, its community) to "sell" the OS. We might be seeing the winds of change at the bottom end, however. The new very-portable and inexpensive notebooks just don't leave much budget for a Windows OS. |
| Abe Feb 18, 2008 9:08 AM EDT |
Quoting:Like it or not, it makes sense for the vendors to treat it that way It might appear so on the surface, OTOH, they could advertise for Linux desktops along with support that they could charge for. That would offset the promotional funds from Microsoft and more, especially when consumers are getting many more applications on top of the hardware for less money. Quoting:The new very-portable and inexpensive notebooks just don't leave much budget for a Windows OSTrue, but inexpensive notebooks are being bought as a second mobile/portable units and not going to replace consumer's desktops for home or business use any time soon. Desktops will still be favored for long time to come. |
| tuxtom Feb 18, 2008 9:21 AM EDT |
> True, but inexpensive notebooks are being bought as a second mobile/portable units and not going to replace consumer's desktops for home or business use any time soon. Desktops will still be favored for long time to come. I'm not sure if I agree with you. I see all kinds of people and small businesses dumping desktops in droves in favor of affordable laptops as their sole computer, and many large corporations do the same and provide a docking station/monitor/keyboard for 9-5 cubicle-grind use. My desktop isn't going away, but I sit in front of the monitor more than the average citizen. If I spent that much time working on a laptop I'd have scoliosis and be legally blind. |
| NoDough Feb 18, 2008 9:25 AM EDT |
tuxtom>> If I spent that much time working on a laptop I'd have scoliosis and be legally blind. So that's what's wrong with my back and eyes. And all this time I thought it just age. |
| tuxtom Feb 18, 2008 9:28 AM EDT |
> And all this time I thought it just age. ...oh yeah. I'm still trying to remain in denial on that one. |
| Abe Feb 18, 2008 9:56 AM EDT |
Quoting:I'm not sure if I agree with you. I see all kinds of people and small businesses dumping desktops in droves in favor of affordable laptops as their sole computer,...Notice that Dino & I were talking about inexpensive notebooks not laptops (eeePC). They are not the same. Not in size and not in resources yet. Quoting:... and many large corporations do the same and provide a docking station/monitor/keyboard for 9-5 cubicle-grind use.I agree and the company I work for (10,000+) is doing just that. |
| herzeleid Feb 18, 2008 9:59 AM EDT |
> > And all this time I thought it just age. > ...oh yeah. I'm still trying to remain in denial on that one. Sounds like you need to start doing some deadlifts - fix you right up! |
| tuxtom Feb 18, 2008 10:38 AM EDT |
My bad, Abe. Those sub-notebooks are certainly not going to replace the desktop, but I think the sub-$500 15.4" dual-core laptops are to a large degree. |
| Sander_Marechal Feb 18, 2008 1:13 PM EDT |
Quoting:Those sub-notebooks are certainly not going to replace the desktop Just wait two or three years. The problem with the current new breed of UMPC is simply horsepower. It's fast enough as a second system for some light surfing but not quite fast enough for office productivity. In two or three years time the average UMPC will boast a 1.5 Ghz VIA and one or two Gb of RAM. Add to that the possibility to hook up an external monitor at 1280x1024 and you have everything you need for the average office drone. All for $350,- At my office, the people who are using desktops are all getting 15.4" laptops (Mostly Dell D521's). And those who are on laptops are all getting sub notebooks (12" Dell machines) as their main work machine. |
| tuxtom Feb 18, 2008 1:33 PM EDT |
Sander: Thing is that external monitor effectively wipes out the value of the UMPC. Might as well get a 15.4" dual-core and be done with it...prices for those will be close to $350 soon enough. It is going to be extraordinarily difficult to be productive on a 7" screen no matter how many ponies are under the hood. I'm speaking solely about the masses. I will personally always have a need (or create one) for everything mentioned, being a jack-of-all-IT-trades. I'm jonesing for an UMPC for some networking stuff I occasionally do in the field in tight spots, an x61 ThinkPad for a highly mobile workstation (air travel), the 15.4" for presentations/1-on-1 meetings and my desktop workstation for the daily grind and home entertainment. With all those laying around I would have a test network for just about any user application imaginable. |
| Abe Feb 18, 2008 1:42 PM EDT |
Quoting:Just wait two or three years. The problem with the current new breed of UMPC is simply horsepower...And the very small 7"-8" displays. May be when someone gets the expandable display right, along with increased resources, and voice actuated commands, then, it might replace everything else. |
| Abe Feb 18, 2008 1:47 PM EDT |
@Tuxtom, I should have refreshed before I posted. I agree, the small display, and keyboard are a major issue for long usage sessions. |
| tuxtom Feb 18, 2008 1:56 PM EDT |
Abe: I've been doing that a lot lately. We all have a voice, the order isn't that important. It's not like we're televised or anything. |
| hkwint Feb 18, 2008 1:57 PM EDT |
Expandable displays is being worked on. Also, I read an article about improvement in embedded processors by a Philips-spinoff called NXP (based near Sander BTW) which will make 'dedicated multicore' processors within two or three years; where one core is dedicated to Multimedia, one to the OS, one to the hardware etc. |
| jdixon Feb 18, 2008 2:47 PM EDT |
> Add to that the possibility to hook up an external monitor at 1280x1024... The Eee can already do that. Reports are that it's capable of 1600x1280. Add a USB mouse, keyboard, and flash drive; and most people could use it as their home machine. |
| Sander_Marechal Feb 18, 2008 3:51 PM EDT |
Quoting:Thing is that external monitor effectively wipes out the value of the UMPC. I don't see why. Pop it into your docking station with 21" screen and work comfortably on your desk. Pop it out and have an ultra small and handy laptop. Much better than my current 15.4" notebook. 15.4" is just too much to carry around with you in most cases. Most of the management guys at my company (those who can afford a new laptop every year) have all switched to these new small 12"-13" laptops. A few have gotten Eee's as well. They usually use the Eee when going out, just because it's so easy to carry around. My nirvana would be even smaller. Something like the OpenMoko. Use it as a smartphone when on the go. Come into the office, plop it into a docking bay and voila, instant computer. Sadly the upcoming FreeRunner isn't up to it. The video hardware can't go above 640x480 which is really too low for general desktop use. Oh well, maybe FreeRunner+1 :-) Quoting:And the very small 7"-8" displays. That's just a money factor. In three years they'll be 10" and probably all touchscreen. 10" is the size of most UMPC's anyway. Any smaller and they become unworkable as a laptop and become more like a tablet or smartphone or something. The next Eee PC will have a 10" screen IIRC. |
| rijelkentaurus Feb 18, 2008 4:02 PM EDT |
Hey, sometimes I use a Pal T|X with a folding Bluetooth keyboard, great for general web browsing, documents and reading PDFs. An Eee will feel bulky by comparison to that. (And it plays solitaire!!) |
| Steven_Rosenber Feb 18, 2008 4:53 PM EDT |
If Dell doesn't want to sell you a thin client, HP and Sun will eagerly do so ... and some of HP's are even affordable ... I use a converted Maxspeed Maxterm thin client (drives outside the box connected by extra long IDE cable and daisy-chained power cables) for most of my distro testing. It's got terrible audio and video chips, doesn't run everything (due to its early VIA C3 Samuel processor), only supports 256 MB of RAM ... but it sure is small, quiet and cheap. ... and I barely had to do anything to make it function as a regular desktop machine. As far as the Palm T|X goes, I'd love to have one, but they're too darn expensive. If they could get those out the door for $200, Palm would have a chance, but at $300, plus $100 for the Bluetooth keyboard (I have an infrared keyboard that retails for $50 for my Tungsten E, but it's just about worth the $15 I payed for it on eBay), that's too rich for what you get. Don't get me wrong, I like the extreme portability of the Palm, the low power consumption, the instant-on capability, the ability to edit MS Word files, as well as the Palm Desktop apps (although a native Linux port would be nice, though I do appreciate the overall Linux support in GNOME/Evolution and in J-Pilot). But Palm totally squandered its future by cancelling the Foleo laptop. And now we have the ASUS eee, the Everex Cloudbook ... the end is near for the non-phone PDA as a viable product. It's unfortunate, but at these prices, I can't recommend a Palm. Now if somebody can take the mini laptop to the "next level," meaning small as hell, long battery life and $200, then we're getting somewhere. |
| Abe Feb 19, 2008 10:17 AM EDT |
In our tiny little brains, the sky is the limit. |
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