The way to go would definitely be partnering, and Dell is an obvious choice. There could be a "Ubuntu by Dell" brand, with a "white-label" Dell store under the

The way to go would definitely be partnering, and Dell is an obvious choice. There could be a "Ubuntu by Dell" brand, with a "white-label" Dell store under the Ubuntu domain, and they would work together to make sure all hardware is fully supported, is tested and ships with sensible defaults. On the other side, Dell would work with Canonical to make sure only supportable components are sourced, and even, over time, apply mild pressure on its suppliers to provide decent drivers. Dell (or whoever does this) could win considerable dev/geek sympathy and mindshare with a move like this.