ubuntu on my computer: open source for education
Education, Linux submitted by raymako
03/23/07 **UNDER REVIEW**
I am a french teacher working in the south of France .The school's computers are Dell and Nec computers.
Like most of my colleagues, I am using "opensource" (free) softwares, and specially Ubuntu for 2 years.
It works perfectly and the pupils who tried Ubuntu like it very much. I hope it will be possible to buy a Dell computer without Windows very soon and I hope that all the Dell computers of my school will use Ubuntu.
Not only because Ubuntu is free (even if it's not insignificant in a french school...) , but because working with Ubuntu forces you to understand and to think how and why you are using your (Dell) computer.
I know that I'm speaking and writing english language like a spanish cow, so I'm sorry.
I just want to finish my message with this: please be the first big computer manufacturer offering Ubuntu or Windows (which is very performant, but not the only one and specially at school) .
7080
linux hardware support
Dell, Linux, Monitors and Displays, Operating Systems submitted by xiandrow
06/06/07
There has been a lot of headway in the Linux support area of computer technology in the last few years. It would be awesome to see Dell lead the pack in general Linux driver support. I would be a more regular customer! The hardware on my Dell Inspiron 1501doesn't fully support Linux. Graphics and Wireless drivers are badly needed. This is a good machine, but Vista just isn't up to par yet.
1640
TheOpenCD.org should be an option for any Dell OS, regardless if Windows or Ubuntu
Linux, Operating Systems, Software submitted by jorge
05/26/07
Dell should offer the TheOpenCD.org CD as an option for customers to select when configuring their purchase. Again, irrelevant of Windows or Ubuntu. TheOpenCD offers the following Software Suites for Free and without the usual Bloatware that irritates customers:
Design - Blender, GNU Image Manipulation Program, Inkscape, NVU, Scribus, Tux Paint.
Games - Battle for Wesnoth, Enigma, Neverball, Sokoban YASC.
Internet - Azureus, FileZilla, Firefox, Gaim, HTTrack, RSSOwl, Thunderbird, TightVNC, WinSCP.
Multimedia - Audacity, Celestia, Really Slick Screensavers, Stellarium.
Productivity - MoinMoin, OpenOffice.org, PDFCreator, Notepad2.
Utilities - 7-zip, Abakt, Clamwin, GTK+, HealthMonitor, Workrave.
Due to an unpredictable change I alter my idea to !
TheOpenDisc.com CD should be given out if TheOpenCD.org is not complete enough for you! Its pretty much the same thing, opensource software for the price of Free yet many more apps! So a win win for all! Yeay!
TheOpenDisc
2380
Linux Laptops with the Cost-Effective AMD Processors
Linux, Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by lamar_air
06/18/07
Linux supporters are often attracted to linux OS distros for a number of reasons but some of the more popular are its open source licensing agreement, stability, and cost. There is also often a focus on supporting a company who is not a market dominator and growing support towards the rivalries. For the hardware side of your linux laptop the AMD processor can often offer the same performances as the Dell dominating Intel but at a lower cost.
An Ubuntu-AMD laptop could be a popular request.
Software Engineer - Canada
1880
Offer preinstalled LinuxBIOS
Linux submitted by sveinungkv
07/10/07
LinuxBIOS (http://linuxbios.org/) replaces BIOS or EFI. It does the first initialization of the hardware before it loads its payload. The payload could be anything, from the Linux kernel to a boot loader. It has the following advantages:
1. Boot time. Normal BIOSes are not very fast. In addition, the OS will often repeat what the BIOS just did in case the BIOS did it wrong. LinuxBIOS only do the first initialization before it gives control to its payload.
2. Freedom. LinuxBIOS is Free Software, released under the GPL.
3. Trust. EFI can connect to the internet and download a new copy of itself. EFI can also monitor and override what the OS is allowed to do. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsW88Efgmlk
4. Security. Sine LinuxBIOS is free software, it is possible to fix security errors in the BIOS for everyone, not just the vendor. This also applies to hardware errors that are fixable in firmware, see the Intel Dual Core situation where we now can not do anything ourself but must wait for the BIOS vendors to fix it: http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=118296441702631
5. Customizable. LinuxBIOS can be customized to do what the user wants since it is free software and is designed to carry any payload.
I know this is not an option on Windows since Windows don't support LinuxBIOS yet, but it would be nice to have LinuxBIOS as an option for the GNU/Linux systems. The customer should be informed about the boot time benefit (those that would want it for other reasons are likely capable to install it on their own) and be warned that it would make it impossible to install Windows on the computer later.
PS! Sorry about my English, it is not my native language
510
Offer all Vista options on all PCs
Operating Systems submitted by winoffice
07/20/07
Offer all Vista options on all PCs.
Often, the only choice you get is Home Premium (sometimes Home Basic or Business). To get Ultimate, you need to get an expensive XPS system. We want all choices available, and that is what Dell does not offer. Please offer all Vista choices (this means Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate) on all Dell PCs, just as you offered all XP choices on all computers when Vista was not out there yet!
(By the way, to Linux fans, please note that everywhere I said "offer!" The default, however, could be Ubuntu or something else, if you wish.)
170
Dell Tablet PC
Laptops submitted by gautam
02/16/07 **IMPLEMENTED**
The XPS and E series notebooks are great, but a move into making 12.1 and 14.1 inch tablet PC convertible notebooks would be fantastic. I can easily see the m1210 and the e1405 being ported to the tablet medium.
Check out what Glenn from the tablet team has to say about the Latitude XT.
13193
Fully Upgradeable Laptop
Laptops submitted by badblood
05/19/07
Produce a Laptop where everything can be upgraded. Asus is doing it - and here it is:
You name it: Processor, LCD, hard drive, memory, graphics card, optical drive -- take the old one out and put a new component it, all within minutes. The notebook is designed around the core principle of it being easy to upgrade.
Maybe you already have a flexible computer like this one?
3160
Make your legal team restrain themselves when they're trying to silence bloggers who are trying to help people buy from Dell.
Dell, Dell Community submitted by jmxz
06/15/07 **IMPLEMENTED**
Yesterday Dell sent the following letter to a blog that was giving advice on how to better order from the confusing Dell web site (like clarifying pros and cons of when you should go to the Small Business vs Home Office sections; and when you might do even better going to a Dell Kiosk- which Dell's own web site never makes clear). Rather than a take down notice from Legal, a polite email from Marketing with corrections to the inaccurate parts and specific requests to remove the confidential information would have been:
Better for the Blogger - because he wouldn't feel threatened.
Better for Dell - because the article never would have been so widely publicized (I learned of it only because of the takedown notice).
Better for Dell Customers - because the rest of the non-confidential information in the article could still help them.
- - - - - - - - - -
from Tracy Holland
to ben@consumerist.com
date Jun 14, 2007 4:39 PM
subject Posting by former Dell employee
Dear Ben,
Please remove the posting located at the following
http://consumerist.com/consumer/insiders/22-confessions-of-a-former-dell-sale...< contains information that is confidential and proprietary to Dell.
While not all aspects of the entry are accurate, ostensibly an ex-employee posted Dell's confidential information in violation of his or her employment agreement and confidentiality obligations (which prohibit the disclosure of such information both during and after the period of employment).
We would appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. Please confirm that the posting has been removed by the end of the day tomorrow.
Thank you, and please give me a call if you would like to discuss further.
Tracy Holland
Tracy J. Holland
Counsel
Dell Inc.
- - - - - - - - - -
While some of the information wasn't correct; the blogger has been continually updating the article fixing inaccuracies as they're pointed out to him. Your legal team also referred to "confidential information" but never specified what was the offending confidential information that should be removed. It's a bit hard to guess what parts of that posting might have been considered confidential; because it seems like just about all the info in the article can be found (just with difficulty) browsing the Dell web site and Kiosks.
Ideas for your legal team:
* For the case of this article - point out the "confidential" information (if there really is any) and I'm confident the blogger will remove that confidential information while keeping the rest of the helpful advice (which helps your customers buy Dells) up there.
* In general - try to restrain yourselves from legal threats on Bloggers. It would probably have been nicer if someone from Dell Marketing asked the person to correct things; and the whole thing would have probably gone away quietly -- instead of being very visible on many high profile places on the internet and on mailing lists now.
We hold ourselves at Dell and all our employees to high ethical standards and believe ex-employees have an obligation to uphold those standards. We live and learn in this new world of blogs and appreciate your suggestion.
3820
Extend offers like Linux pre-installation to the UK & Europe
Dell, Linux submitted by leftcase
05/03/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**
First of all - well done Dell for listening to the people and making some brave decisions about the operating systems you provide your computers with.
Supplying pre-installed Linux (and XP instead of Vista for that matter) goes a good way towards giving customers what they want.
One thing that is slightly irritating however is that none of these offers are available outside of the US. Browsing through peoples comments, blogs and the Dell forums reveals that many people from the UK (for example), want the opportunity to get pre-installed Linux on their new Dell PCs.
The UK and Europe marketplace is not insignificant, and many people feel that you should extend your offer to this market too.
Please see Ideas In Action for additional information. Ubuntu Linux in other countries is coming soon.
7960
Mr. Jarvis take action now.
Advertising and Marketing submitted by badblood
07/15/07
Mark Jarvis serves as chief marketing officer at Dell, overseeing the company's global marketing effort spanning consumer and commercial businesses. In this role, Mr. Jarvis is responsible for global brand, online and communications. As a member of the Dell executive leadership team, Mr. Jarvis reports to Michael Dell as a consultant.
Mr. Jarvis is failing to promote Ubuntu sufficiently through the web or through TV.
Mr. Jarvis take action now, market Ubuntu as a general consumer option, not as the toy of geeks. Mr Jarvis promote Ubuntu on television, on billboards, on radio.
330
Letter to Dell in regards to IdeaStorm
IdeaStorm submitted by jorge
07/16/07
Dear Dell, (specifically Mike and the Managers)
Dell's IdeaStorm project is a great way for Dell customers to interact with Dell's future on product enhancements, marketing, development, advertising, and many more. The site is a great avenue for your customers to voice their opinions and thoughts on these new and current offerings from Dell. Where the site fails is in its interaction with Dell moderators and its rules and application of its rules. As an IdeaStorm poster I've seen many occasions where posters aid the moderators and provide insight into keeping it running smoothly or improving its flaws which falls on deaf ears and continues to bog down the site. The moderators are rampant on deleting ideas posted yet anything in their DELETED REQUESTS category (a category where posters can designate their idea to be deleted on their own decision) remains for months. Posters who have posted in error or a badly thought out ideas cannot get their error ideas removed through this avenue yet the category exists for this functionality which is non-existent. The site is also rampant on duplicate ideas which are identical down to the text in the title and body yet the moderators cannot find them even though they are right next to each other and posted within seconds of each other. Then there are the countless other duplicate ideas which due to the clutter are re-posted due to a badly formulated idea posting scheme which does not take into account the already thousands of ideas, which is bound to have an idea there already (not always). Again, posters have provided assistance on these features if not down right re-created a duplicate website with these features to aid in reducing the clutter and it has also fallen on deaf ears.
Your moderators have stated they have no technical abilities to repair or add these features so our question to you is why would you have people who do not have the capabilities to run a website run a website? Is there no one at Dell who can work on a website? Maybe Dell should hire/contract out to a known website webmaster developer?
Your moderators also seem intent on removing content from a few posters for some unknown reason yet leave content which violates the terms of the site on for months, even after its been noted though the Report abuse function. The moderators can read a profane comment and leave it for months but once one of the select few posts something their attention is brought to like like a sticker to a Dell computer. The moderators seem intent on reading only ideas and comments from a few of the posters and leave everything alone. Does Dell want us to use new accounts every time instead of the same account to post?
Thanks for reading Dell (not dell_adminX's you should not of read this so go on and pretend it does not exist because you should be busy gathering duplicate ideas instead of wasting your time reading my posts like they were earth shattering news stories relating to your job duties)
220
Ubuntu PCs need more video card options
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Linux, Desktops and Laptops submitted by nkmhutirv
06/13/07
Dell desktops and notebooks preloaded with Ubuntu should have more video cards to choose from!
I do not know how Nvidia 7300LE compares to other video cards, but I do not belive TurboCache is suitable even for the most casual gaming.TurboCache's memory sharing technology is just not suitable. Yes, I do play 3d accelerated games from time to time on Ubuntu! You could offer some Nvidia 7600, 7800 or some other medium range video card. Nothing fancy, just something to allow some 3d effects.
Even Dell PCs preloaded with FreeDos have 2 video cards to choose from:
128MB ATI Radeon X1300 [Included in Price]
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro [add $50 or $2/month1]
With Ubuntu PCs you have to choose between a range of just one video card:
correction: you have 2 options:
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 [Included in Price]
256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache [add $50 or $2/month1]
But what's the difference between them? I want to play games 1-2 years old. I do not belive this will be posible with this kind of cards.
You could say Dell does not address gamers, but Dell's Windows based PCs have a lot more advanced video cards: "Stunning 3D graphics performance with the latest single and dual graphics cards in the market available". Unfortunately such advanced graphics is available only to Vista users, not even XP buyers!
Have you seen the noise (fuzz, amazement) 3d effects in Ubuntu have generated? You see, Ubuntu users appreciate 3d acceleration in Linux. Don't restrict them to just integrated graphics and TurboCache!
2700
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