Dell's Linux desktop line keeps expanding

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Jul. 08, 2007

When Dell first announced that it would be releasing Ubuntu Linux-powered consumer desktops and laptops, some people saw it as more of a stunt than a serious business move. They were wrong. Dell has already expanded its consumer Linux line, and now it has announced that it will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux systems outside of the United States and for new businesses.

On Dell’s Direct2Dell site, Lionel Menchaca, Dell’s digital media manager, said, "Wanted to be clear that Dell does have plans to offer Linux to more consumers in additional locations outside the United States. More details to come later this summer. We will also offer Ubuntu to small business customers in the future. As soon as we have more details to share, I’ll blog about both topics here."

Sources close to Dell indicate that the company will be announcing international sales of Ubuntu Linux consumer systems at LinuxWorld, which will be held Aug. 6-9 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

Kevin Kettler, Dell’s chief technology officer, is scheduled to speak at LinuxWorld on Aug. 7. He’ll be discussing how Linux is moving toward broad deployment—not just in the data center, but also on the desktop. In particular, Kettler will be talking about the continuing opportunities for innovation offered by Linux coupled with virtualization technology.

It is also likely that Dell will announce exactly how it will be offering SMBs (small to midsize businesses) Ubuntu desktop Linux systems. It is also possible that Dell will announce new Ubuntu Linux-powered PCs for SMBs at the show.

While Dell has declined to announce any sales figures for its new Linux laptops and desktops, sources indicate that the sales have exceeded expectations.

"After talking to some of the key members on the Linux engineering team, it seems like there is an opportunity to provide more technical updates for folks who are interested," Menchaca said.

"Here's how we're going to do it: We'll have an expanded group of Linux engineers provide these updates that may be as short as a sentence or two that would be of interest to certain customers. These short updates may be related to a specific open-source project or may pertain to a specific Linux distribution, for instance. But instead of appearing on the main Direct2Dell home page where all other posts show up, these incremental updates will only show up in the Linux category."

To read this new feed, Menchaca said, plug the newsfeed URL to your favorite RSS reader. "That way, you'll be sure to see all Linux-related posts coming from the Dell team. What this all means is that you'll be hearing from a few different Linux engineering folks on a pretty regular basis: Matt Domsch, John Hull and Michael E. Brown will be the main contributors to the expanded Linux content on Direct2Dell."

--Steven J. Vaughan Nichols

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