You may have wondered why I didn’t blog about this before the BBC and other major news outlets picked it up. Well, to be honest, it is half disbelief, a quarter from me peeing my pants in excitement every time I think about it, and a quarter that I just have been busy with other things in life not related to my computer.
Anyway, this is for real. Dell is going to pre-install ubuntu linux (the linux I run) on some of its models including a low-end desktop, a mid-ranged desktop, and a value laptop. You can check out the announcement on dells site, get some more info from the BBC, and then get the founder and CEO of canonical (who develops the ubuntu distribution) perspective with the links below.
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu?c=us&cs=19&l=en&
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6610901.stm
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/114
So, to all those nay-sayers who thought I was blowing smoke for the last couple of years when I said it was almost time for linux to hit big…I say “HAH, suck on this one time.”
That makes the score: Ben and Rob 537,243 for all predictions made in the 1 to 5 year time-frame. Non-technical arm-chair futurists 23.
This is only good for the entire world. The developing world can’t afford Microsoft or Apple, and if dell pre-installs Linux it means more hardware will get more support from the manufacturers for Linux, which only makes Linux that much better on the whole. And that helps lower the bar of entry for Linux to get into more places like those developing countries.
I love it.