Dell ha scelto Ubuntu!

 

Ancora non è ufficiale, ma possiamo considerarlo tale: Dell (www.dell.com), il secondo produttore al mondo di PC, ha scelto Ubuntu per lanciare l’offerta di PC con Linux Preinstallato.

Dell inizierà offrendo:

– Desktop “Essential” (link), ovvero un desktop compatto e potente;
– Desktop “Dimension” (link), simile all’ Essential;
– Portatili “Inspiron” (link), di dimensioni e potenza medie.

Alcune fonti:
DesktopLinux
Fabian Rodriguez

Io spero veramente che sia la volta buona, e che questo porti ad una larga diffusione di Ubuntu, e la fine del predominio Windows.

Odio il predominio Windows solo perchè costringe gli utenti all’uso di formati e software proprietari, e questo è un danno per le libertà delle persone. Come già detto altre volte, rispetto Microsoft in quanto azienda.

Ho il timore, tuttavia, che questo passo nasconda dei pericoli, e che non sia questa la “maniera Ubuntu” di fare le cose.

Vi allego qui sotto una mia lettera a Mark Shuttleworth (in inglese), in cui condivido con lui le mie perplessità. Liberi di leggerla, e volendo anche di commentare.

Greetings Mark,
I’d like to share with you some thoughts on Ubuntu PC.

Managing to sell and maintain PCs with Ubuntu preinstalled (instead of Windows) is a difficult task, but I think there is a key to penetrate Microsoft’s egemony in the market.

There are rumors about Dell and Mark Shuttleworth (YOU) talking about Ubuntu on Dell PCs. I think that Dell will never be the right partner, because Microsoft has a powerful twist on Dell, and so it could prevent Dell from doing things in favor of the diffusion of Ubuntu, or boycott it in many ways.
Dell has an extraordinary platform to sell hardware worldwide, and this one could really be beneficial. How to use Dell’s strength, without being undermined by Microsoft?

The key is the same key which is moving Ubuntu up in the enterprise market: you provide the neutral platform, they develop on it. You provide Ubuntu, completely free and without future restrictions, they develop and maintain software products for Ubuntu because it can be good for our business.
That is to say: you provide a neutral platform to manage hardware and sales for many small/medium Indipendent Hardware Vendors, and they do the rest.

Let’s dream for a moment, and say that this platform already exists.
I’m Bill Whatsoever, and I’m the owner of a small company, about 40 employees, that sells hardware to customers, of which half of them are private, and the other half are business clients.
Up to now, I sold PCs, printers, scanners, cameras, monitors, webcams, mouses, keyboards, external storages, video cards, laptops with Windows preinstalled.
I want to catch customers that demand Linux on their hardware, but I want to be able to manage them without extra efforts, or with efforts that are paid by more revenues.
Here’s how.
I use the Ubuntu PC Platform, which allows me to:
– upload a disk image of a system in which I installed and optimized Ubuntu;
– download a disk image of a system installed by someone else (to use it);
– train my employees to correctly install and configure Ubuntu, with tests and a certification webpage for them (something like LPI for example);
– look for trained technicians if I want to hire them, or find online technicians on-demand;
– use the forum, in which hundreds of small companies like mine look for help in installing, configuring, solving problems on Ubuntu PCs;
– Remotely assist clients (only clients that activated a special “Remote Desktop”), automatically billing them with my standard fee that goes automatically on my bank account;
– have access to tons of articles, tutorials, images, videos about installing/upgrading/etcetera;
– buy or sell hardware that other companies will sell to final customers;
– consult a list of perfectly compatible hardware (printers, scanners, etcetera);
– have fun!

With this Platform, hundreds of companies will rival with Dell, HP and others, and will probably succeed in some cases.
It’s the power of the new business model of Ubuntu and of Open Source.

I’m sure this short presentation seems trivial, but I think behind it there is a nice solution waiting to blossom. :-)

Best,

Simone