Since when is Dell Gutsy Gibbon not Ubuntu?

Stan Beer
Thursday, 20 December 2007 15:19

Opinion and Analysis

The problem for Dell as I see it is that it wants to sell Linux PCs that can be used out of the box. After all, that's the idea of selling pre-installed Ubuntu PCs - no? If a PC with an optical drive can't even play back encrypted DVDs when you take delivery and switch it on then it is not a fully functional computer compared to a Windows or Mac box.

Getting an Ubuntu box to play encrypted DVDs is not rocket science. You just have to download the required codecs from the Ubuntu software repository. The problem is that because of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act this is illegal in the US - most Ubuntu users in the US do it anyway. For US company Dell, however, it would appear that there is no way the company can legally give its customers plug and play DVD playback other than bundling a proprietary solution like LinDVD (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Personally, I don't have a problem with this. If desktop Linux is going to grow in the marketplace, then companies like Dell pushing products that are attractive to non-technical consumers are essential. Ubuntu PCs that have encrypted DVD playback installed out of the box are essential.

It's all very well for Linux stalwarts to say that Dell should at least offer purchasers the choice of buying an Ubuntu PC without LinDVD for say $20 less. But what would be the point? The type of user that wants an Ubuntu PC without DVD playback installed is probably likely to be someone who could easily install Ubuntu on his/her own. Those of us who've done it already know how easy it is.

I know there are plenty who will disagree with me but I'm of the view that the Linux community cannot afford to be too precious about issues like this. Does it really matter that Dell provides an extra bit of software on its Ubuntu boxes - it's still running Gutsy Gibbon isn't it? It's still not running Windows.

What is the purpose of selling a pre-installed Linux box anyway if not to encourage new users to break away from the monopolistic mould of Microsoft Windows? If it takes a relatively minor proprietary software package to win new users over to Linux, then so be it.

Asus, which currently has the most successful Linux PC on market to date, the Eee PC, runs a version of the not free Xandros distribution. Should we complain that all of sudden hundreds of thousands of users are buying these little Linux boxes that run a distro sold by a company that does business with Microsoft? Maybe but would we rather see those new Linux users buying Windows or Mac boxes?

I'll say it once again. If Linux on the desktop is to have any hope of making a serious impact on Microsoft's market share, then it needs to have companies like Dell and Asus pushing it out to the mass consumer markets of the world. Those consumers are simply not concerned with the niceties, political correctness and purity of the version of Linux on their machines. All they want is a computer that works out of the box. And as far as I can tell, that is what Dell is trying to deliver.