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Contribute Code to Ubuntu

210 points posted to New Product Ideas, Operating Systems - Multiboot by loneowais Jul 23

I always wanted Dell to make a Ubuntu based OS for Dell System like Apple have. But why should Dell so such a thing when it already has a great OS like ubuntu.

I think Dell should not just remaster ubuntu but customize it & add new features to it for Dell system.

This code should be then supplied to Cannonical so that they can benifit from it & make a great software even greater.

aikiwolfie
Jul 23		 Dell sort of does this already with drivers and the recovery ISO is second to none. Really simple to use. But a few more commercial applications would be nice. Something for video editing.
claudio_ch
Jul 23		 I am tempted to demote this idea... but will refrain from it. Reason for a demote: I see Dell as a hardware company in contrast to Apple which supplies a more restricted range of computer but with own OS and applications, and so I would rather have them stick to what they can best.

The only part where I want them to contribute is in the driver area, to make sure all of their hardware works with Ubuntu or any other free OS.
jmxz
Jul 23		 Dell already does this indirectly.
Typically to the upstream projects which Ubuntu (and Red Hat, etc) then picks up.

Here's a list of some of their contributions: http://linux.dell.com/contributions.shtml

I think the way Dell's doing it (contributing to the kernel, or other relevant upstream packages) is a better approach since then all the distros benefit.
loneowais
Jul 24		 If Dell bundle their own software like the Dell Support Center, Dell Webcam Manager with a Windows PC..Why don't they let Ubuntu users take the same advantage?..They can easily compile those apps for linux or just port them using wine, eg google's Picasa
aikiwolfie
Jul 24		 No they can't just compile them for Linux. Windows and Linux are like chalk and cheese. The APIs are totally different which is why they aren't compatible. Wine is for when there's no other option. Porting apps is fraught with the complexities of not killing it in the process. It's much better to have natively designed and compiled applications.

Dell Support Center isn't needed in Ubuntu. The update manager keeps all applications installed from registered sources up to date. Applications, the OS and hardware drivers. Everything. There's also no need for Dell Webcam Manager. Gnome has it's own webcam application called Cheese. It works a treat, can record video and take photos and even has some special effects.
loneowais
Jul 24		 Its rubbush to say Gnome has its own Webcam manager...Xp & Vista also have their own webcam managers + 100 are available over the net.
If dell ships a webcam manager for windows , it should do the same for linux. (Webcam manager is just an example).
phubert
Jul 25		 However, I thing we've really got to remember that Dell isn't a software company... and it ain't GOOGLE!
aikiwolfie
Jul 25		 I can understand duplication of effort if previous efforts have been rubbish. But Cheese is actually pretty good.

Dell do develop software. Mostly drivers and utilities. But they do develop software. I don't like these statements with sucha narrow vision of what Dell is or isn't. This is meant to be IdeaStorm.
phubert
Jul 25		 Well, aikiwolfie, I certainly didn't mean to offend, but Dell doesn't derive revenue from software it develops. Hence, it isn't a software company.
aikiwolfie
Jul 25		 I'm not offended. Those statements just close down all possibility for improvement at Dell. At one time Dell didn't build PCs for consumers. Now they do. At one time those PCs weren't very nice looking. Now they hold their own with the best at least. Successful businesses need to change and diversify so survive.

Now we're headed for economic recession it might be a good time to look at other markets. Writing code can bring in a lot of profit. Look at Microsofts success. Linux is a newly expanding market on the desktop. Many applications could easily be done better. People will and do pay for Linux software. Why shouldn't Dell do this? They have 10 years of Linux engineering experience!
jmxz
Jul 25		 @aikiwolfie: "Dell didn't build PCs for consumers."

Huh? From the 286 my brother bought from them (in 1986, if I recall) they built PCs for consumers. They advertised in the back of magazines like Byte.
jmxz
Jul 25		 And regarding the whole "Dell isn't a software company" tangent -- IMHO that's a major shortcoming with Dell.

The software *is* the profitable part of a computer.

Dell (profit margin 4.76%) is giving the profitable part of the computer to Microsoft (profit margin 29%) while it's competitors like Apple (profit margin 15%) and IBM (profit margin 11%) enjoy not only the low-profit hardware-reselling like Dell, but keep the high-profit software piece as well.
phubert
Jul 28		 So, they should, instead, develop great alternative packages for LINUX that ALSO run on Windows and undercut Microsoft?

There's an interview with a Novell developer addressing problems with OpenOffice and Sun... so, could Dell be more open than Sun????

http://derstandard.at/?url=/?
 
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