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Using a distro version as a selling point is so weird to me. Do a majority of linux users really care that the baseline, pre-installed OS is now 22.04? Is it no

Using a distro version as a selling point is so weird to me. Do a majority of linux users really care that the baseline, pre-installed OS is now 22.04? Is it not more appealing to just come out and say "hey, we have shiny new hardware, all components work great as of kernel x.xx"?

e3bc54b2 4y ago
With Ubuntu being absolute worst crapshoot of Desktop Linux nowadays, while still riding the glory from days of yore, it kinda makes sense. Dell isn't targeting Linux veterans, they're targeting people who have heard of this Linux thing and get led to Ubuntu by Google.
Freak_NL 4y ago
Yes it matters. Just knowing that it works with one of the most popular LTS distro versions is a major selling point. For me it was the reason I bought the XPS 13 with Ubuntu 20.04 a while back. I use Ubuntu myself, so not having to reinstall anything saved time too.
aendruk 4y ago
Since they’re also promoting Canonical’s app store I figure some advertising must have been part of the deal. 22.04 LTS is a useful reference though, even when planning to use another distro.
nsteel 4y ago
My problems installing new Ubuntu releases on (at the time) latest XPS hardware were due to the version of the wifi drivers packaged in Ubuntu. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I don't recall the kernel version helping, I had to grab newer driver debs from the testing repo until the next Ubuntu version was released. But you make a fair point because I can't find a similar announcement last month for the certification completion itself. There is probably a strategy behind that, we might simply not understand what Dell is trying to achieve with their developer edition.
paranoidrobot 4y ago
It's also about support. You buy one of these, and then 2 months later call up Dell and say the Wifi on laptop is not working, then it can go one of two ways. If you're running Ubuntu 22.04, then you'd be justified in demanding they support it, and repair/replace as appropriate. If you're running $SomeOtherRandomDistro, then their support team you're dealing with may not have the right tools/processes to test and diagnose the issue. It would, I would argue, be justified for them to reject your support request until you can show it failing in Ubuntu 22.04. Assuming it wasn't something obviously physically wrong with the device.
fomine3 4y ago
Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32516826 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32516826 > Dell ships a closed-source, user-space driver in the Ubuntu build it offers on the XPS 13.
- usr1106 4y ago
  And that causes high CPU load when using the camera. Not really Dell's fault. Intel has become incredibly bad with Linux support for some of their newer hardware.
robertlagrant 4y ago
It would be nice to not pay Microsoft every time you want a Linux laptop, I suppose.

e3bc54b2 4y ago

With Ubuntu being absolute worst crapshoot of Desktop Linux nowadays, while still riding the glory from days of yore, it kinda makes sense. Dell isn't targeting Linux veterans, they're targeting people who have heard of this Linux thing and get led to Ubuntu by Google.

Freak_NL 4y ago

Yes it matters. Just knowing that it works with one of the most popular LTS distro versions is a major selling point. For me it was the reason I bought the XPS 13 with Ubuntu 20.04 a while back. I use Ubuntu myself, so not having to reinstall anything saved time too.

aendruk 4y ago

Since they’re also promoting Canonical’s app store I figure some advertising must have been part of the deal. 22.04 LTS is a useful reference though, even when planning to use another distro.

nsteel 4y ago

My problems installing new Ubuntu releases on (at the time) latest XPS hardware were due to the version of the wifi drivers packaged in Ubuntu. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I don't recall the kernel version helping, I had to grab newer driver debs from the testing repo until the next Ubuntu version was released. But you make a fair point because I can't find a similar announcement last month for the certification completion itself. There is probably a strategy behind that, we might simply not understand what Dell is trying to achieve with their developer edition.

paranoidrobot 4y ago

It's also about support. You buy one of these, and then 2 months later call up Dell and say the Wifi on laptop is not working, then it can go one of two ways. If you're running Ubuntu 22.04, then you'd be justified in demanding they support it, and repair/replace as appropriate. If you're running $SomeOtherRandomDistro, then their support team you're dealing with may not have the right tools/processes to test and diagnose the issue. It would, I would argue, be justified for them to reject your support request until you can show it failing in Ubuntu 22.04. Assuming it wasn't something obviously physically wrong with the device.

fomine3 4y ago

Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32516826 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32516826 > Dell ships a closed-source, user-space driver in the Ubuntu build it offers on the XPS 13.

usr1106 4y ago
And that causes high CPU load when using the camera. Not really Dell's fault. Intel has become incredibly bad with Linux support for some of their newer hardware.

robertlagrant 4y ago

It would be nice to not pay Microsoft every time you want a Linux laptop, I suppose.