Slashdot Is Just Telling It Like It Is

The headlines from Slashdot these last two days couldn't be more accurate in taking the software pulse:

1. Microsoft Sees Linux As Bigger Competitor Than Apple

And they absolutely should. This is not a smear of Apple. This is just a statement of an obvious fact: Only open source can offer value that could ever take out Microsoft. Open source opens the way to lower costs and the ability to customise for your needs. You can't do this with Apple. With Apple it is proprietary vs. proprietary, Microsoft vs. Apple, a game Apple can never win. Open source becomes a team, where you are included, vs. one company. That makes a big difference.

Ultimately, this is why Microsoft is toying with open source themselves. It will be their only life raft in the future.

2. 1 of 3 Dell Inspiron Mini Netbooks Sold With Linux

Because of the customizability mentioned above, any company, HP, Dell, Google, you name it can quickly get Linux working on state of the art, new architectures for very low cost. They have, and are giving Microsoft a run for their money in the netbooks world.

3. Red Hat Returns To the Linux Desktop

This is big news. Red Hat has way more money then Ubuntu could dream of. In fact, they are now worth as much as Sun! Ubuntu still has the desktop command, but with Red Hat back in the desktop game, things mat get really interesting. Which leads to #4 below:

4. Microsoft and Red Hat Team Up On Virtualization

Why this partnership? Because Red Hat is pulling the rug out from under Windows in the Enterprise world. Read the Slashdot entry. What is happening is companies want to switch to Red Hat, but keep a couple Windows computers around for people who need them. This deal will make companies be able to make the Windows->Red Hat + A few Windows machines possible in an official way.

5. $100 Linux Wall-Wart Now Available

This was semi-successful in the past. Wal-Mart is making another Linux push. Once Wal-Mart finds an effective way to sell Linux computers, this will be a big deal.

So the moral of the story is:

A.) How to make open source profitable is in its infancy.
B.) Now that it has shown to be profitable, and a better value for end users, propriety beware.
C.) This will end in an open source world. The only question is whether Microsoft will develop an open source strategy to deal with Linux in the future.

Ubuntu Dells Selling Well, Will Expand

The Ubuntu desktops are selling better than predicted. There have been a couple of articles over the week that have made this claim,(I won't cite them) but now there is hard evidence to support this: Dell will now expand their Ubuntu product line. In addition, HP is rumored to announce it will start selling Ubuntu computers though the article below states this may not be true. (Read Further, click link)

This from Reuters:

BOSTON (Reuters) - Dell Inc (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will soon offer more personal computers that use the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Windows, said the founder of a company that offers Linux support services.

Mark Shuttleworth, who created a version of Linux software named Ubuntu, said Dell is happy with the demand it has seen for Linux PCs that were introduced in May.

Dell, the world's second-largest PC maker after Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research), now offers three consumer PCs that run Ubuntu Linux.

"What's been announced to date is not the full extent of what we will see over the next couple of weeks and months," Shuttleworth said an interview late on Wednesday.

"There are additional offerings in the pipeline," he said. Shuttleworth founded Canonical Inc to provide support for Ubuntu Linux.

A Dell spokeswoman, Anne Camden, declined comment, saying the company does not discuss products in the pipeline.

She added that Dell was pleased with customer response to its Linux PCs. She said Dell believed the bulk of the machines were sold to open-source software enthusiasts, while some first-time Linux users have purchased them as well.

Dell launches three Ubuntu Linux PCs

May 24, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- Dell Inc. officially launched its first three consumer PCs running the Ubuntu 7.04 Linux OS on Thursday -- two desktops and an Inspiron E1505n notebook PC.

The PCs are available in the U.S. from Dell's Web site at http://www.dell.com/open. The laptop starts at US$599, while the two desktops, the Dimension E520 and XPS 410n, start from $599 and $849 each, respectively.

A comparable Inspiron Laptop running Windows starts at $699. You will save going with Ubuntu.

It's Official: Dell Will Officially Support Ubuntu!!!

That's right, read about it here, here and here. Mix this with Ubuntu Live which will be a conference held in Portland July 22-24 where hundreds of the top computer companies will come to have talks on how they can incorporate Ubuntu into their business model and we will see it happen:

1. By the next major Ubuntu release of 2008 all the pieces will be in place for the computer world to take Ubuntu seriously and will begin supporting it as they do Mac and Windows.
2. By the Next+1 Major Ubuntu release of 2010 the Linux migration can begin!!!
   

Dell Will Support Linux.

Dell has responded to the high demand that they sell computers with Linux pre-installed and fully supported. They will start with Novell's SUSE Linux and add support for other distributions in the future. :)

Dell's Most Requested Item: Support Linux

Dell has a webpage devoted to their user's requests called Dell Idea Storm. The most requested feature is to put pre-installed Linux on their computers. If Dell started selling their computers with Linux pre-installed and fully supported that would be revolutionary. One of the biggest hurdles Linux faces is this: people have to install Linux and configure it to work with their hardware themselves. It can be a major pain in the neck so if Dell did this for you it would really help.

My prediction is still be in force: by 2008 Linux will be standardized, via the Linux Standard Base, enough that major vendors can begin making every piece of their software work on Linux that currently works on Windows and Macs. Then after two more years of this, by 2010, Linux will offer an open source alternative which rivals all other OS's.

Linux will Just Work in all ways Windows does and Dell will pre-install it for you!