By Michael Kanellos, 7 July 2004 08:25
NEWS A PC dealer in Europe has begun selling Dell desktops equipped with Linux, but Dell emphasised that the systems were customised by the dealer and that this isn't the first time this has happened.
Questar, an Italian-based computer seller, has begun to ship Optiplex business desktops loaded with Linspire 4.5, a version of Linux, and a copy of OpenOffice, an open-source alternative to Microsoft's Office software package. The basic Questar computer, with a 2.4GHz Celeron processor, sells for about 560.
Dell spokesman Jeremy Bolen acknowledged that Questar is selling Dell PCs with Linux, but noted Dell's dealers are allowed to customise their machines. Although Dell mostly sells its PCs directly to customers, the Texas-based PC giant has an army of integrators and resellers that sell its machines.
Bolen added that this isn't the first time Dell PCs have come with Linux and that Dell isn't itself selling the machines, an inaccuracy that appeared in several news reports and seems to have come from language in Questar's press release.
Dell will honour the warranties on the hardware but will not provide service and support for any issues with the software. "It is not Dell factory installed," Bolen explained.
Michael Kanellos writes for News.com
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
Well, if they cannot even install Linux, why should we buy Dell?
2. anonymous
Michael Dell is such a wimp.
sell Linux pre-installed, and tell microsoft to take a hike.
3. Jason Bourn
"Michael Dell is such a wimp..." No Michael Dell is a business man. and you cant piss off the main software source of your company and think that it is good business.
4. Simon McTurk
I have a few ponts here:
a) Linux is open source so if you want it you can get it yourself, free.
B) you can buy machines from dell without an OS, so you don't have to pay for the MSFT version.
c) Even if Dell wanted to start shipping crappy Linux they will almost certainly have contrats them tie them to MSFT products for X amount of time.
Most of the people in the world want a box that works when you plug it in, not a headache that isn't compatible with anything.!
5. CrazyRusty
Coming from the land of Microsoft...
Dell did offer Red Hat with its desktop systems but stopped because of poor demand. It is purely a business decision. The same reason why they have not rushed into the blade server or major SAN markets (they do some small SAN stuff on the side). If they cannot or are not making a reasonable profit, there is no reason to jump into it or keep running with it. Once Linux becomes stronger, which will most undoubtedly happen, I am sure Dell will re-establish its Linux ties.
6. Phil M
Leave Linux to the geeks. MS is for serious people that do not have the time to mess with their PC. MS have done more to globalise standards than Linus could ever dream of.