7 ms·

Why are there no OEMs making strictly ubuntu machines? There's System76, but they're too complicated (20 different choices). Go look at hardware partners and

Why are there no OEMs making strictly ubuntu machines? There's System76, but they're too complicated (20 different choices). Go look at hardware partners and there are no north american system builders! That's what Ubuntu is missing. Guys like us will install it, but if they want to be adopted by normal people it has to come with the system. You'll never get a strong commitment from big guys like DELL. They're too worried about pissing off MSFT. I'll tell ya, Ubuntu Netbook Edition is the best interface for "simple computing" out there. It's like an iPhone for your desktop computer. I almost want to do a live test where I sit people down with windows 7 and Ubuntu Netbook Edition. I bet you Ubuntu Netbook Edition will win almost every time.

jonknee 17y ago
Support cost is the only thing I can think of. And pressure from MS. I looked just today for an Ubuntu laptop and ran into the exact issue you describe. Dell has Ubuntu on two netbooks, but that's it. Not that I can't install on my own, but I don't want to pay for Windows if I'm not going to use it (and knowing all the hardware is supported is a nice plus).
- jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
  pressure from MS is the biggest part.
  - jonknee 17y ago
    That seems anti-competitive... Have you heard if they play hardball on OEM contracts if Linux is also an option? If a company has to pay more for each of its millions of Windows licenses because Ubuntu is an option I could definitely understand why we're not seeing any options.
    - rbanffy 17y ago
      I doubt that is documented in e-mails, but I wouldn't be surprised if during lunch with OEM license seller and OEM license buyer, something like this was somehow mentioned. MS is known for playing dirty.
- bugs 17y ago
  Sadly you get a discount from windows on most machines... same specs but the windows equivalent is usually cheaper.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    The OEM license is paid in full by the adware/crapware that comes installed over it. One more reason to uninstall Windows (besides Windows)
    - rsheridan6 17y ago
      I don't see why they can't install crapware on Linux, cut out MS, and cut prices for customers while keeping a bigger cut for themselves.
      - nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
        Crapware authors are too dumb, or too busy making money from Windows OEMs, to care about writing software for Linux.
      - rbanffy 17y ago
        They could, but that could, perhaps, increase the OEM license prices for that manufacturer. Microsoft doesn't take being cut out lightly.
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
axod 17y ago
I agree @ Ubuntu Netbook Remix. The other thing I just don't understand is why are netbook manufacturers still putting crappy nonstandard little known restrictive linux distros on their netbook? I bought an Acer Aspire One, which came with linpus I think, which was ridiculous. Installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and now it's fantastic.
- jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
  i use it on my tv. i fucking love it.
- rsheridan6 17y ago
  Hmm, maybe linpus (never heard of it, but what a horrible name, makes me think of a wound with purulent discharge) offers a better crapware kickback or something like that.
pingswept 17y ago
In 2007, I bought a Dell XPS 410 that came straight from Dell with Ubuntu installed. It works great. http://pingswept.org/2007/06/03/finally-booting-pre-installed-linux-on-an-oem-pc/ http://pingswept.org/2007/06/03/finally-booting-pre-installe...
rsheridan6 17y ago
Dell did make a serious Ubuntu effort in 2007. They had a fair selection of Ubuntu machines, but they didn't make any money. Other OEMs dropped their plans to sell Ubuntu, and all you can get with Ubuntu from Dell now is a few netbooks. I bought one when they were brand new (in fact, I'm using it right now). It was not ready for prime time - there were suspend/hibernate problems, among other issues. I could not have recommended it. That with Dapper Drake. Karmic works a lot better, but it's so bloated that I can barely use it. I had to get rid of GNOME and run fluxbox, and I don't use Firefox anymore because it takes fully half of my RAM (not that that's Ubuntu's fault). But I think regular Ubuntu would be ready for prime time on a faster machine. The only thing really holding it back now is inertia and software compatibility. But I expect that it will be awhile before OEMs want to try again. Canonical shouldn't have pushed it to OEMs before it was ready.
- cookiecaper 17y ago
  Don't blame Ubuntu for the suspend/resume or other hardware compatibility problems. Dell sold you a system with hardware and software that conflict. Suspend, hibernate, et al work fine on almost all properly configured combinations of hardware under Linux. If Dell chose to sell you a system with an incomplete configuration or unsupported hardware, that's their fault, not Ubuntu's. I don't know that I'm entirely convinced that Dell's program was on the level for Ubuntu, or that it's a fair representation of what would happen with a serious Ubuntu OEM.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    A assure you it's not. My Acer Aspire One netbook worked almost flawlessly with Linux right out of the box without any significant effort from the manufacturer (it came with Windows). The only problem I experience is when I set the desktop to exactly 2048 pixels while using Compiz. It will probably be solved by the next release. Selling a box with Linux that doesn't work properly with Linux sounds like an excellent way to get a rebate on the OEM prices of Windows licenses.
  - rsheridan6 17y ago
    Dell shouldn't have sold the system like that, but it should work when you do a fresh install of Ubuntu. If it doesn't, then the system is only good until you reinstall the OS, even if Dell did some post-vanilla install configuration. It didn't work after reinstalling the OS. It does with Karmic, which shows that it's not a hardware problem. I stand by my statement. But Dell is also not blameless, and my next computer was not a Dell (and won't be).
kylemathews 17y ago
I just installed UNR for my mom last night -- she loves it. She said it was "beautiful" and very easy to use.
cookiecaper 17y ago
We need an Apple that peddles Linux systems is what it boils down to. Someone needs to swoop in, add sexy branding, make it attractive to hipsters/teenagers/some other trend-setting crowd, and everything would work out just fine. The Mac/Apple fad is all about style and message. We need a company that will add style and message, that will make simple choices available to consumers (Apple has only a few different consumer-level computers, all with preset configurations), and something that has the withal to market it like crazy. Consumers don't know or care about advanced functionality or technical considerations -- if your device can run the few applications that are relevant to their niche, then all systems are go; the company that performs those relatively basic technical requirements in the way that is most attractive to the end user is going to come out on top. That means sleek design and branding (probably above everything else), simplicity in choices, and high usability. If you want your platform to succeed, you need to do the same kind of thing. Shuttleworth's investment in Canonical is good and has helped technically, but now, if he really wants to bring Linux mainstream, he needs to make a computer company that follows in Apple's footsteps. That's the way to make a dent in the market these days. Microsoft would be nothing if they were a startup now, their strategies wouldn't pay off in this environment.
- lygaret 17y ago
  I really disagree with this. I'm a developer, I spend 90% of my computing time in Vim and Terminal. I use a Macbook as my primary computer, and tend to bring it to work with me. I try to go to Linux probably twice a year, and have for a long time. I use a mac because despite the tools I use being written originally for Linux, they work better on OS X. I've never neen unable to connect to a wireless network, I've never had problems with sleep/suspend, I've never even thought about upgrading the kernel. The things I need to do to the system, I can, and everything else works so well that I can forget it's there. The Mac/Apple fad is all about things actually working. Windows crashes, Linux makes you think too hard about things that you're not doing. When things work, they're sexy, and that's how you can sell it to the masses, but the Zune is sexy too, and see how well pure style sells.
  - cookiecaper 17y ago

jonknee 17y ago

Support cost is the only thing I can think of. And pressure from MS. I looked just today for an Ubuntu laptop and ran into the exact issue you describe. Dell has Ubuntu on two netbooks, but that's it. Not that I can't install on my own, but I don't want to pay for Windows if I'm not going to use it (and knowing all the hardware is supported is a nice plus).

jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
pressure from MS is the biggest part.
- jonknee 17y ago
  That seems anti-competitive... Have you heard if they play hardball on OEM contracts if Linux is also an option? If a company has to pay more for each of its millions of Windows licenses because Ubuntu is an option I could definitely understand why we're not seeing any options.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    I doubt that is documented in e-mails, but I wouldn't be surprised if during lunch with OEM license seller and OEM license buyer, something like this was somehow mentioned. MS is known for playing dirty.
bugs 17y ago
Sadly you get a discount from windows on most machines... same specs but the windows equivalent is usually cheaper.
- rbanffy 17y ago
  The OEM license is paid in full by the adware/crapware that comes installed over it. One more reason to uninstall Windows (besides Windows)
  - rsheridan6 17y ago
    I don't see why they can't install crapware on Linux, cut out MS, and cut prices for customers while keeping a bigger cut for themselves.
    - nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
      Crapware authors are too dumb, or too busy making money from Windows OEMs, to care about writing software for Linux.
    - rbanffy 17y ago
      They could, but that could, perhaps, increase the OEM license prices for that manufacturer. Microsoft doesn't take being cut out lightly.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]

axod 17y ago

I agree @ Ubuntu Netbook Remix. The other thing I just don't understand is why are netbook manufacturers still putting crappy nonstandard little known restrictive linux distros on their netbook? I bought an Acer Aspire One, which came with linpus I think, which was ridiculous. Installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and now it's fantastic.

jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
i use it on my tv. i fucking love it.
rsheridan6 17y ago
Hmm, maybe linpus (never heard of it, but what a horrible name, makes me think of a wound with purulent discharge) offers a better crapware kickback or something like that.

pingswept 17y ago

In 2007, I bought a Dell XPS 410 that came straight from Dell with Ubuntu installed. It works great. http://pingswept.org/2007/06/03/finally-booting-pre-installed-linux-on-an-oem-pc/ http://pingswept.org/2007/06/03/finally-booting-pre-installe...

rsheridan6 17y ago

Dell did make a serious Ubuntu effort in 2007. They had a fair selection of Ubuntu machines, but they didn't make any money. Other OEMs dropped their plans to sell Ubuntu, and all you can get with Ubuntu from Dell now is a few netbooks. I bought one when they were brand new (in fact, I'm using it right now). It was not ready for prime time - there were suspend/hibernate problems, among other issues. I could not have recommended it. That with Dapper Drake. Karmic works a lot better, but it's so bloated that I can barely use it. I had to get rid of GNOME and run fluxbox, and I don't use Firefox anymore because it takes fully half of my RAM (not that that's Ubuntu's fault). But I think regular Ubuntu would be ready for prime time on a faster machine. The only thing really holding it back now is inertia and software compatibility. But I expect that it will be awhile before OEMs want to try again. Canonical shouldn't have pushed it to OEMs before it was ready.

cookiecaper 17y ago
Don't blame Ubuntu for the suspend/resume or other hardware compatibility problems. Dell sold you a system with hardware and software that conflict. Suspend, hibernate, et al work fine on almost all properly configured combinations of hardware under Linux. If Dell chose to sell you a system with an incomplete configuration or unsupported hardware, that's their fault, not Ubuntu's. I don't know that I'm entirely convinced that Dell's program was on the level for Ubuntu, or that it's a fair representation of what would happen with a serious Ubuntu OEM.
- rbanffy 17y ago
  A assure you it's not. My Acer Aspire One netbook worked almost flawlessly with Linux right out of the box without any significant effort from the manufacturer (it came with Windows). The only problem I experience is when I set the desktop to exactly 2048 pixels while using Compiz. It will probably be solved by the next release. Selling a box with Linux that doesn't work properly with Linux sounds like an excellent way to get a rebate on the OEM prices of Windows licenses.
- rsheridan6 17y ago
  Dell shouldn't have sold the system like that, but it should work when you do a fresh install of Ubuntu. If it doesn't, then the system is only good until you reinstall the OS, even if Dell did some post-vanilla install configuration. It didn't work after reinstalling the OS. It does with Karmic, which shows that it's not a hardware problem. I stand by my statement. But Dell is also not blameless, and my next computer was not a Dell (and won't be).

kylemathews 17y ago

I just installed UNR for my mom last night -- she loves it. She said it was "beautiful" and very easy to use.

cookiecaper 17y ago

We need an Apple that peddles Linux systems is what it boils down to. Someone needs to swoop in, add sexy branding, make it attractive to hipsters/teenagers/some other trend-setting crowd, and everything would work out just fine. The Mac/Apple fad is all about style and message. We need a company that will add style and message, that will make simple choices available to consumers (Apple has only a few different consumer-level computers, all with preset configurations), and something that has the withal to market it like crazy. Consumers don't know or care about advanced functionality or technical considerations -- if your device can run the few applications that are relevant to their niche, then all systems are go; the company that performs those relatively basic technical requirements in the way that is most attractive to the end user is going to come out on top. That means sleek design and branding (probably above everything else), simplicity in choices, and high usability. If you want your platform to succeed, you need to do the same kind of thing. Shuttleworth's investment in Canonical is good and has helped technically, but now, if he really wants to bring Linux mainstream, he needs to make a computer company that follows in Apple's footsteps. That's the way to make a dent in the market these days. Microsoft would be nothing if they were a startup now, their strategies wouldn't pay off in this environment.

lygaret 17y ago
I really disagree with this. I'm a developer, I spend 90% of my computing time in Vim and Terminal. I use a Macbook as my primary computer, and tend to bring it to work with me. I try to go to Linux probably twice a year, and have for a long time. I use a mac because despite the tools I use being written originally for Linux, they work better on OS X. I've never neen unable to connect to a wireless network, I've never had problems with sleep/suspend, I've never even thought about upgrading the kernel. The things I need to do to the system, I can, and everything else works so well that I can forget it's there. The Mac/Apple fad is all about things actually working. Windows crashes, Linux makes you think too hard about things that you're not doing. When things work, they're sexy, and that's how you can sell it to the masses, but the Zune is sexy too, and see how well pure style sells.
- cookiecaper 17y ago