Get the facts about Ubuntu
Linux submitted by gustavoang
05/26/07
Dear Dell:
Thank you so much for offering GNU/Linux preloaded, but please, provide your clients with accurate information about this operating system:
1.- You said: "For advanced users and tech enthusiasts, we’re happy to offer a new open-source operating system"
Grab an everyday computer user and ask him to use Ubuntu. Then ask him how difficult it was for him to use it. Even monkeys can use Ubuntu!
How do you know that those who asked you to offer GNU/Linux preloaded are advanced users and tech enthusiasts? Please, show me your research.
2.- You said: "A downside is that some open source software requires intermediate or advanced knowledge to use".
Just like proprietary software!
- Do you think Windows bluescreens are easily dealt by an everyday computer user?
- Among Windows users it's quite normal to reinstall Windows once a year (at least)... Is it easy for them?
- Do Windows users get rid of adware, spyware and viruses easily?
- Is it easy for them to setup and use firewalls (a must-have in Windows)?
3.- You said: "may not be compatible with the same software applications and hardware as Windows operating systems'
You should add: "However, a huge amount of hardware works out-of-the-box on GNU/Linux, unlike Windows. Also, installing software on GNU/Linux is far easier than Windows".
If you're going to keep that message against GNU/Linux, please add this one about Windows: "Windows may not be compatible with the same software applications as GNU/Linux distributions and some hardware will not work out of the box on Windows, unlike GNU/Linux. Also, you don't have to worry about badware if you use GNU/Linux and you would enjoy freedom in computing, unlike Windows".
Why do you only talk about GNU/Linux drawbacks? Is Windows perfect in your opinion?
By the way, why is it so hard to find a GNU/Linux preloaded computer on your website?
Thank you so much for your attention.
Best regards,
Gustavo Narea.
Madrid, Spain.
GNU/Linux rocks! http://www.getgnulinux.org/
1000
Linux Open Office Thunder Bird Email and FireFox or Opera Browser
Linux, Software submitted by millert
03/20/07
Look I remember when computers where fun and creativity was rampet. My real first was a Commodore 64 and then moved to Amiga. I played with the BASIC language that came free with both. I then bought AMOS BASIC and with these I wrote several programs. It was fun till Commodore went out of business leaving a huge user base out to dry. Other computer companies also died. Creativity really dried up among many users discourged by the little offerings by Micrsoft. Compared to what all those other computers offered Microsoft paled in significance. Business kept Microsoft alive and users had little choice. UNTIL NOW! Dell you can bring human creativity back if you really work at it. You must think outside of the box so get out of it! Many creative people just for the love of creativity have developed so much wonderful software both free and commerical in the Linux world. Please Dell take the leadand bring humanity to a level that can ounce again be respected!
280
Support for Open Document Format
Operating Systems, Software submitted by lordshipmayhem
06/12/07
Dell should encourage support for Open Document Format:
- provide a page listing the benefits of ODF over proprietary formats (OOXML and other Microsoft "standards")
- Link to the home pages of applications that support ODF (OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, KOffice)
ODF is designed to be both platform and application agnostic: anyone who wants to write one, can create applications that allow you to use any ODF file, without losing file formatting. The objective is to allow any user to keep access to their data even if the maintainer of the application the data was saved in ends up going out of business or ending support for the application in question.
I don't know about you, but I have some files that were written in word processing software that no longer exists, in a couple of cases on platforms that don't exist outside of the hands of museums and collectors. Those files are at best extremely difficult if not utterly impossible to open now.
3670
GNU/Linux + AMD64 + NVIDIA/ATI Graphic
Desktops, Gaming, Linux, Operating Systems submitted by ebrahim
07/06/07
I've seen ideas about "GNU/Linux + AMD" and "GNU/Linux gaming system", but I think this combination would be great:
GNU/Linux + AMD64 + NVIDIA/ATI Graphic
especially on DELL laptops. For example imagine this notebook:
OS: Ubuntu 7.04 GNU/Linux
CPU: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
Graphic: NVIDIA GeForce 8800M
RAM: 2 x 2GB
or this one as a cheaper choice:
OS: Ubuntu 7.04 GNU/Linux
CPU: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52
Graphic: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600
RAM: 2 x 1GB
470
Ad Campaign: What can you do with Ubuntu?
Advertising and Marketing, Linux submitted by limulus
09/04/07
There are currently ideas under review, such as "make ubuntu shine" which relate to advertising Dell's Ubuntu systems. If Dell decides to do some ads, here's an idea for an ad campaign:
"What can you do with Ubuntu?"
Find one or more people who have bought a Dell Ubuntu system and have them show off what they can do with their systems; string the clips those together into a commercial. Some themes that should become obvious:
* easy software installation and updates
* command line not necessary (Ubuntu is very much a GUI OS)
* compiling software not necessary
* full range of applications
* 3rd party proprietary apps, like Flash and Google Earth
* all the little games you could ever want (e.g. Sudoku)
* 'it just works'
* "wobbly windows" and other spiffy cool effects for fun :)
[see also my other ad campaign ideas: Families Switching to Ubuntu and Meet Mark Shuttleworth ]
1730
Stop recommending Vista
submitted by steveoc
11/20/07
One of my workstations died last week, so I quickly got to work on a replacement box. 5 year old machine, worked fine 24x7 for 5 years straight, and one of the capacitors was now ready to pop on the motherboard. RIP workstation.
I stopped by dell.com to check out the offerings, as I wanted something reliable, good value, and a quick and painless sale. Fortunately, Dell have many good products that fit these simple requirements.
However, the blatant and cheesy Microsoft 'recommendations' all over the site made me feel insulted. Im there to buy DELL hardware - NOT Microsoft software. I dont care about Microsoft, and I dont see why I should have to put up with seeing THEIR adverts all over YOUR site.
In the end I gave up, grabbed the car keys, and headed into town where I just bought the bits and prices that I needed to get the old workstation running again (new mobo, CPU, RAM). The whole exersize took a few hours, most of which was trying to find a park on a busy friday arvo, but basically the whole experience was pleasantly free of Microsoft adverts, so I didnt mind.
There was no sign on the parking meter saying 'Adelaide City Council recommends Vista', so I was happy to put money in the parking meter.
At the computer shop, I wasnt the only one with the same idea - the computer shop was absolutely chock a block full of people, all knowing exactly what they needed, and queuing up with armfulls of componennts and the cash to pay for them.
The computer shop had rows and rows of motherboards that were just advertised as motherboards - NOTHING there about Vista.
I grabbed a cheap dual core processor off the table, an AMD X2 4000+ for next to nothing. The packaging described it as a 64bit dual core processor, which is exactly what it was. Not a Vista processor - just a processor, which is all I was after. On the table next to the hard drives I noticed a big stack of free PCLinuxOS CD's with a simple note 'Operating System - Try Me - Im Free'. Nice work !
The RAM sticks I bought were just RAM sticks, not Vista sticks. Thats all I wanted, and so thats all I got.
I then drove back to work at the airport, where the signs all refer to airlines .. not Microsoft Vista. There is nothing at the airport about Vista, thank goodness. Put the workstation back together, booted up fine (into gentoo linux) .. and there was no mention of Vista anywhere in the BIOS boot messages, grub, or the linux kernel.
What is there not to understand ? A computer is a computer is a computer. It is not a Vista machine, its just a computer. We the customers want computers, so why cant you just sell us computers ? Whats with all this Vista nonsense that is not in any way relevant to what we want to buy ? Why should we have to drive into town and do it ourselves just to be free of Microsoft advertising ?
We, YOUR CUSTOMERS, are not stupid incompetent fools who need to be hand held and offered 'recommendations' for things that we honestly do not need. We are quite capable of making our own decisions about what software we need to do our jobs., and quite frankly, our choices with regards to software are not your problem.
Can you please stick to your core business and just offer us great hardware deals, and let us worry about how we use your hardware, without the inferred insult of a Microsoft 'recommendation'.
That would be awesome - Thank You.
80
ZERO Noise Water Cooling Laptops
Environment, New Product Ideas submitted by ruvenss
05/28/07
  
Make a cooling system with less decibels than any other Laptop on the market. Use cooling materials, as an option, so customers can choose to pay more for a non noisy laptop.
A cooling system for every part of the laptop, even sharing the weight of the components on the screen side,. imagine a flat battery on the whole LCD screen back, now with that free space on the chassis you can split the harware components so they can breath better, also include a flat gel cooling system, to improve performance, battery life, and reduce the noise as much as possible.
480
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) .
7070
Laptop & Desktop Boot in seconds from Flash Drives
Broadband and Mobility, Desktops and Laptops submitted by reg
02/19/07
Have laptops and PCs that boot quickly & quietly from fast internal flash drives,
and run the whole OS and application programs in RAM.
The New Dell PC will boot from internal Fast USB 2.0 flash drives in just a few seconds.
The Hard drive can stay powered down, completely off, unless the user needs to store some extra large files (video, photos).
Laptop Battery life is measured in days, not hours.
Have 2 Recessed USB 2.0 Slots.
Two USB Flash Drives would fit neatly into the laptop.
In this way the whole OS and Apps run in RAM, and stores data files on an 8 GB flash drive.
The 8GB is used transparently as the 'On Line' Storage, with a hard drive acting as secondary storage.
This gives desktops and laptops much greater speed and power savings.
<font> On-Line/Near-Line Storage Model for Laptops</font>
1. OS and App all run from RAM (so the machine should have 2GB+ of RAM)
2. Modified files are worked on in RAM, and stored on the Flash Drive
3. Older (non-system) files, that are 'inactive', get pushed down to the hard drive,
Hard Drive files are stored with on-the-fly hardware compression / decompression (back to RAM), with the flash drive file replaced with a pointer to the hard drive file.
Data is always safely copied down to the hard drive on shut down.
The flash drive is removeable and upgradeable, so later if someone wants to upgrade to a 32GB flash drive, just unplug and plug in the new one.
On-line / Near-Line storage works great on very large data servers, where data is mostly write once, read infrequently.
(Also known as Write Once, Read Mostly - WORM drives.)
It's time such ideas are put into practice for desktops and laptops.
You can run your Dell Laptop TODAY from 100% Flash Drive - Pen Drive using Puppy Linux.
www.puppylinux.org delivers a complete, small, fast Linux Distribution including all major tools in under 90MB. You can add Open Office, GIMP, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc and they all fit right in a USB Flash Drive.
Pupply Linux Applications.
Download Puppy Linux so you Can Try Flash Drive Dell Notebooks Today.
3488
Stripped down, fast Linux Box
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops, Linux submitted by pawprintz
02/17/07 **REVIEWED**
How about a fast, Internet ready Linux desktop. Small form factor, pretty monitor, mouse & keyboard, the O.S., OpenOffice & Firefox. Cheap'n'fast
Dell sees the value of this idea, and is keeping the sugestions for a Linux small form factor on the radar. john_h will let the community know of any new information as it comes.
67550
Provide Linux Drivers for all your Hardware
Linux submitted by gergnz
02/19/07 **IN PROGRESS**
I don't care whether the OS is pre-installed or not, I want all the hardware to be totally supported in the Linux kernel without in mucking around. I currently have a Dell M1210 and I wish the modem would work, just in case I need it. The web cam would work, just in case I need it. At least the Intel wireless card is totally supported. Thanks Intel!!
Drivers are available for Linux to make some but not all hardware work. We continue to work with our partners to provide for better hardware support. See more specifics from john_h.
82097
Advertise Ubuntu a little more loudly
Advertising and Marketing, Linux submitted by zhinker
05/16/07 **NOT NOW**
I may be wrong about this but it doesn't seem to me like Dell's done any sort of advertising at all for the new Ubuntu pc's that it'll be rolling out soon, except for it's initial declaration I haven't heard a word about on any non-linux media (everyone using linux knows about it of course).
Unless Dell is planning on marketing this solely to linux users, it might want to let the rest of the world know that it's going to be selling Ubuntu soon (a simple photo and note on their website would be enough to make a bunch of pc buyers at least interested, and the ad wouldn't even cost anything). The problem with going after only current linux users is that you're substantially lowering your market base (which of course, is already pretty low--I realize this is just an experiment) to people who might already have pc's their perfectly happy with for the next couple of years, and I'm also worried that this perceived lack of interest might give Dell, and hence other pc manufacturers, the idea that selling linux computers is still a failing enterprise.
That's my 2 cents
5100
Why Can't Dell Put Linux On Their Really Serious Notebooks?
Linux, Service and Support, Laptops submitted by kenjennings
08/09/07
These guys can do it...
http://www.emperorlinux.com/mfgr/dell/rhino/
Dell Latitude D830 or Precision M90
# up to 17" WUXGA w/ X @ 1920x1200
# Full Linux support: 1667 - 2333 MHz Core 2 Duo
# Full Linux support: 512 - 4 G RAM, expands to 4 G
# Full Linux support: 60 - 160 GB Hard Drive
# Full Linux support: DVDROM Drive, or CDRW/DVD Drive, or DVD+/-RW Drive
# Specification: 6.3 - 8.6 pounds
# Full Linux support: 10/100/1000 Mbps ethernet
# Full Linux support: 802.11a/b/g (54Mbps) WiFi
# Specification: Linux Pre-Configured (dual boot available)
# Specification: EmperorLinux user's manual
# Specification: Three year warranty & One year tech support
They've got everything working on Linux. Maybe Dell should partner with these guys to get a better selection of Linux-able Dell notebooks.
3110
Gobuntu Compatable System
Linux, Desktops and Laptops submitted by dpic
11/28/07
Take linux to a new level and support Gobuntu!
"Gobuntu is a GNU/Linux operating system, derived from Ubuntu, that endeavors to adhere to the Free Software Foundations four freedoms and intends to provide a base for other free software platforms to build upon with minimal modification required. It does this by only including open-source non-restricted software. This means there will be no firmware, drivers, applications, or content included in Gobuntu that does not include the full source or whose license does not provide the right to use, study, modify, and redistribute the body of work."
This means offering Gobuntu pre-installed and fully compatible with at least one laptop and one desktop as well as compatible with at least one printer.
After adding support for Ubuntu, Gobuntu should be very easy to offer.
140
Have Firefox pre-installed as default browser
Software submitted by robinjfisher
02/19/07 **REVIEWED**
Does what it says on the tin! Most people only use IE because they aren't aware of other browsers - they think Internet Explorer is the Internet! What would really drive take up of alternative browsers is if Firefox was pre-installed as the default browser so that when people look for the "Internet" in Windows, they are using FF.
Firefox advocates at Dell have initiated discussions and driven action around exploring alternative internet browsers and experiences. As you can tell from our response to the Linux community, open source continues to be a part of our conversations about new products and services.
115743
Offer Ubuntu on the XPS M1330 laptop
Linux, XPS products, Laptops submitted by technikal
06/26/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**
Offer the coolest OS on your coolest laptop. I'd be great to buy such a cool laptop knowing ubuntu would work flawlessly on it. Maybe even add Beryl into the default install so that the graphics on the screen were as nice to look at as the laptop itself. I'd even take a dual-boot with Vista - just something to assure me that on the system is Linux ready.
Check out the Idea in Action update.
1680
Dont eliminate XP just yet
Operating Systems submitted by javaprog07
02/17/07 **IMPLEMENTED**
Ok, well I know I may be chastised for bringing this up, but vista is still a young operating system with its own problems etc... I would like to see both Home and Business computers, especially notebooks have an XP Home and Pro option on top of Vista until it has at least been out for a year. For those seasoned users like me who just feel that you need to let a new OS mature before jumping right in. I am planning on buying a new notebook, and I would like to insure I wont have to format it on arrival just to have XP.
Check out the Idea in Action to find out more about Dell offering XP.
26690
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