Stan Beer
Friday, 25 May 2007 06:04
Opinion and Analysis
At a time when much of the world is salivating with excitement over the release of Dell's new Ubuntu Linux computers in the US, it's ironic that the market in which Ubuntu originated, Europe, still has not received word on when the new Dell boxes will be available.
Likewise, here in Australia local Dell
representatives confirm that they still have no word on when the Ubuntu
boxes will be available.
Is there some unwritten rule that US consumers always have to be the
first to get their hands on new products? Yes, the US is a huge market
but then again so is Europe. In fact, arguably, Europe, where there is
particularly strong anti-Microsoft sentiment, is a market which could
be more receptive than the US to a pre-installed Linux computer.
In fact, releasing the Dell Ubuntu range in the US to great fanfare
while ignoring Europe and other markets could be a poor strategic
decision for the hardware manufacturer. Unless Dell is already
committed to a global rollout, if US sales are uninspiring then what
happens? Does the viability of Dell Ubuntu hinge solely on what happens
in the US?
I'm still waiting on word from Dell as to when Europe will get to see Dell
Ubuntu. And, of course, we would love to see Dell's Ubuntu boxes here
in Australia ASAP.
I don't buy into the argument that releasing Ubuntu computers is just a
Dell PR stunt. However, if Dell really wants its Linux boxes to
succeed, then it has to think globally and make them available to the
world right now.