Dell Computer Excellent Linux Adventures

"I think it's great that a prominent OEM like Dell is releasing a Linux based laptop," said Google+ blogger Linux Rants. "I think they all should, and they should market those computers to the general population." The average consumer would surely be interested in Linux's many advantages "if only they knew about them."

The weather outside may be frightful, to adapt a phrase for the scorched and overheated world here in the Northern hemisphere, but there's no denying that July turned out to be delightful for our favorite operating system.

Not only did Linux get a heaping helping of recognition in the big Higgs Boson announcement recently, but we also saw MeeGo make an exciting new comeback in the mobile world.

Then, of course, there's the growing crack in the castle wall in Redmond.

Those items alone have surely been enough to lift even the most dour Linux fan's spirits, but there's more! Yes indeed, the latest news now is the apparent return of none other than Dell to the desktop Linux world.

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'Project Sputnik'

First there was Project Sputnik, which was launched as a pilot project in May but just recently graduated and became a real, working product plan.

The result: Coming from Dell this fall will be a developer-oriented laptop preloaded with Ubuntu Linux "Precise Pangolin."

Hitting the news wires more recently, meanwhile, is word that Dell is venturing even deeper back into the Linux waters with laptops featuring Red Hat Enterprise Linux as well.

Have Linux bloggers been pleased? Let's just say that more than a few tables have been danced upon in recent days down at the blogosphere's Broken Windows Lounge.

Linux Girl stopped dancing just long enough to take a small poll.

'I Think It's Great'

"It's nice to see Dell trying, again," opined Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza. "With the average user spending most of their time in Chrome, which is now the supported source of flash on Linux, there's less reason than ever before to avoid it."

Ideally, "I'd like to see them offer at least three options so that we can see what the market really wants: a Mini and a loaded-for-bear system are what I'd add to pad the lineup," Espinoza said.

Indeed, "I think it's great that a prominent OEM like Dell is releasing a Linux based laptop," agreed Google+ blogger Linux Rants. "I think they all should, and they should market those computers to the general population."

'Marketing Could Be the Tipping Point'

The average consumer would surely be interested in Linux's many advantages "if only they knew about them," Linux Rants said.

In fact, "marketing from OEMs could be the tipping point to the same old Catch 22 we always find ourselves in: No one uses Linux because their software isn't available (and they don't want to switch to alternatives), but their software isn't available because not enough people use Linux," he suggested.

The main downside associated with Project Sputnik "is that Dell is marketing the laptop to the segment of the population that would just take a regular laptop and reimage it with Linux anyway," Linux Rants pointed out. "I hope this project will be just one of the first in a long line of Linux based products from multiple OEMs."