Project Sputnik - I wish for...

May 9, 2012

Posted By:  StigtriX

2 Votes

Status: Acknowledged

Promote

What programs do you need?
- gEdit is a must!
- GIMP 2.8

Specs needed:
- 8GB RAM as a minimum, preferably @ 1600MHz
- intel i7 Ivy Bridge dual core with power saving for better batterylife
- Improved battery - XPS 13 has good battery life, but it can be improved
- SSD with 256GB

What bugs me?
- Issues that are hard to fix myself, therefore I suggest you go with a LTS distro, like Precise Pangolin as it will get more support and faster updates
- Low resolution screens with bad colour accuracy. The XPS 13 has an okay screen, but if one was to use the laptop for CAD or artistic work, it would need better colour reproduction and higher resolution. Normal workflow is also hampered by low resolution, making 720p unattractive.
- intel GPUs, as they don't work properly with Linux as of yet. nVIDIA has traditionally had the GPUs with the least problems related to Linux. Everything seems fine when you're working with regular programs, but as soon as GPU power is needed, it's no fun.

Support needed?
- The support needed would be related to hardware, as the software issues are taken care of by the Linux community. It would be wise to have capable DELL represants to guide customers to the right place, though.
- Support for the drivers for touchpad, web cam etc.

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  • May 9, 2012     Comment Link

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    Posted By: simon_brooke

    As others say, apt-get is your friend, so there's no need to have specific software packages preloaded. It might be nice to work with Ubuntu to suggest things which might go in developers' meta-packages, and, for my use, it would be nice to have really recent versions of Eclipse available in the repository - but these are really Ubuntu issues, not Dell issues.

    From the Dell point of view, one doesn't need lots of memory or lots of processor cycles to compile Java, and, indeed, having too much of these things may make one's code sloppy. However, I dislike waiting for the computer to do things, so I would personally treat at least 8Gb RAM and a fast processor as desiderata. A serious developer is not going to have a hugely silted up hard disk - everything bar your working set will be salted away in revision control somewhere, so a big hard disk doesn't seem to me an issue. Fast SSDs are really nice and make a big difference to perceived machine performance.

    But a wired ethernet port is an issue. Seriously. I don't have a problem with a USB-to-RJ45 dongle, provided that it works, but some solution to wired ethenet is required. Many of us work at least part of the time in environments where wifi is not considered sufficiently secure.

    Finally, do not forget the UK. If you build this thing I will buy it - just as I bought a Mini 9 when that came out with Ubuntu on. I want to persuade mainstream manufacturers to support Linux, and buying machines is one way I can help do that. But if it's for sale in the US only that doesn't make it easy for me.