• Consider: 1 license for Vista Home Basic $199 at Best Buy
• Consider: 1 Dell Mini 9 Netbook with Vista Home Basic for just $299
• Consider: 1 Dell Mini 9 Netbook with Ubuntu for just $249

So, for $199 you can get a software license for Microsoft. For just $100 more, you can get a working netbook with that software license. Or, for just $50 more, you can get that same Netbook with Linux.

If you had just $300 to spend, who wants to pick the software license?

Now, consider what this is doing to Microsoft’s margins… Your premium pricing power has just been put under pressure – not by Linux, but by the hardware underneath the OS that just dropped from days of $1,000 laptops to $299. Microsoft can’t justify doubling the price of the product just for its software license.  And Ubuntu is clearly offering hardware vendors a key counterpoint in their negotiations with Microsoft.

Microsoft is also in a bind as enforcing its premium pricing will either

1. invite priracy b/c who can look at the offerings and justify paying that much retail for the OS, and which hurts their margins more (a paying customer is better than a pirating one…)
2. 2) alienate a new set of younger, price conscious buyers entering the market (not just in the US, but around the world)

Clearly Microsoft is in need of a strategy refresh – and fast. I see the tide turning where their downstream users and upstream suppliers will create a challenging negotiation. Michael Porter would have fun with this analysis.

And with that… I may just order myself a Netbook soon. They’re almost as cheap as iPods now…

So Dell and Canonical forced them into it – but they did it. I’m honestly shocked.

Linux has hit a critical mass. It may not be taking over the desktop world, but it has at least reached “Mac” support status.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/new_linux_broadcom_wi_fi_drivers_arrive

So I would agree this report is fantastic – it provides a view into what’s going on beyond what we “think” happens. The Linux kernel community is a great success story in what Amanda calls “mass community collaboration” – even more ironic because there are many competitors, vendors, academics, hobbyists, customers and other random experts collaborating in one place.

Read the report (it’s “free as in beer”) and find out everything you wanted to know about Linux kernel development (including perhaps that IBM is the #3 contributor to the kernel). The story this report tells is a truly unique feature of the Linux community. You won’t see it anywhere in the communities or practices of other OSs, no matter how “open” they proclaim to have become.

The report is interesting in how it also debunks some myths that somehow get spread around. For instance, some have said “kernel development will slow down as the features catch up to UNIX/Windows”. Not true.

Some have said “Linux is just IBM” or “Linux is just Red Hat” trying to position Linux as dominated or caused by one entity that they’re not fond of. Again, not true (see the section of the report on Contributors).

Finally, take a look at how some end user companies are participating and reaping the benefits of a true collaborative development community. Did you know your next VW will be powered by Linux? Did you ever think the same features that make an auto’s systems “crash-proof” could also help on a server or mobile phone? The VW bullet is a pure example of innovation being applied to adjacent spaces – it would never happen in Windows, AIX or Solaris.

Companies like Sony, Nokia, and Samsung ship Linux as a component of products like video cameras, television sets, and mobile telephones. Working with the development process helps these companies ensure that Linux will continue to be a solid base for their products in the future.

Companies which are not in the information technology business can still find working with Linux beneficial. The 2.6.25 kernel will include an implementation of the PF_CAN network protocol which was contributed by Volkswagen. PF_CAN allows for reliable communications between components in an interference-prone environment – such as that found in an automobile. Linux gave Volkswagen a platform upon which it could build its networking code; the company then found it worthwhile to contribute the code back so that it could be maintained with the rest of the kernel. http://lwn.net/Articles/253425/ for more information on this work.

So with that I will end my praises and simply point you to the source over at the LF website here.

URL: http://www.news.com/Dell-Microsoft-warnings-havent-hurt-Linux-uptake/2100-7344_3-6213270.html?tag=html.alert.hed

“On the server side Linux continues to grow nicely, a bit faster than Windows,” said Dell in an interview during the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando. “We’re seeing a move to Linux in critical applications, and Linux migration has not slowed down.”

http://www.dell.com/ubuntu

Looks like Dell added a 4th system (laptop) and made some tweaks to its base systems.

http://www.dell.com

There are oddities that you could probably say Dell “missed” – complain about this or that, but one thing is clear – Dell supports Linux on desktops and laptops better than any other mainstream vendor (ahem, they’re the only one). Sure I might save $50 on my next PC from someone else, or get some different video card, but for $50 difference, I’m going to buy a Dell and then tweak where it really matters. I actually went for the base video card b/c the other upgrade option on the E520 was not a solid card. I want DVI and better 3D card capabilities to make Beryl and unstoppable.

Heck, I may even wipe the PC and reload Ubuntu. I did an “instant chat” with a Dell rep yesterday when I had a question about whether the Ubuntu 7.04 operating system was the 32-bit or 64-bit version. I was shocked that this online rep knew the answer – stunned. (btw, it’s the 32-bit version, hence I may reload Ubuntu with the 64-bit)

Anyway, there are certainly refinements to be made, but Linux users now have a major PC vendor in their camp selling mainstream systems – it’s time to prove there’s a Linux market. If you’re buying your next PC, I’d encourage you to give Dell a strong consideration. They didn’t meet 100% of my intricate hardware requests, but they met 90% and I’m willing to fix the other 8% I really need myself.

It’s finally here. Later today, Dell will offer U.S customers three different systems with Ubuntu 7.04 installed: the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n desktops and the Inspiron E1505n notebook. These systems will be available at www.dell.com/open by 4pm CST today. Starting price for the E520n desktop and the E1505n notebook is $599; the XPS 410n starts at $899.

I am very likely to purchase one of these to replace an aging Duron system I have at home. I also want to get a dual core 64-bit processor finally with VT…. KVM/Xen here I come.

They added a new announcement sign up button on the page:

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