February 3, 2011 wags007

Application Installers Unite…..

According to this article we found, meetings are starting to happen and people are trying to move towards a common Application Installer. So their could be the end of the “My package manager is better than yours is” debates? Well it’s a bit early to tell but it does sound like the big distros are talking about settling on a common package format. If they do go forward with this we can only hope that it’s adoption moves faster than LSB(Linux Standards Base). It would definitely go a long way to help adoption of Linux as a platform. For instance, only seeing one line on download pages like Windows and Mac have would help newbies or people thinking about trying linux be less afraid. When you can create app stores that only have to carry one type of package they become a lot easier to create. We here at linuxinstall.net hope that every linux install will get easier over time.

What do you think? What problems will one package format have? What hidden benefits are there? What hidden problems?

October 5, 2010 wags007

Cool Case Study of a small company using Linux…

This is a great example of how one company has progressed down it’s path towards using Linux. It’s a great article becuase they discuss not only the things that worked but the things that didn’t. Overall thought it could be a great help if your struggling to get Linux in the door or get more Linux running.

September 1, 2010 wags007

Is Corporate America letting the Linux Desktop die on the vine?

This article over at Linuxinsder.com makes some great points about what we need to do to get Linux on the Desktop in most companies. At the same time it tends to drift into some unrealistic rationale behind making the switch. I would love to see Linux on every desktop. The problem is getting your users to understand. I am relatively sure that about 70% of most companies could be converted tomorrow. The problem is that they are all going to have a different screen when they login. For most of us Tech’s our response to that is so what? For most of the “normal” people however it can completely ruin their day. To avoid this would require a considerable amount training. So until companies are ready to bite the bullet and do the training we won’t see a lot of movement on this front.

July 26, 2010 wags007

Is Dell dropping support for Linux?

Starting with this article over at pcpr.co.uk on July 24th, several other venues have been reporting that Dell has stopped selling Ubuntu based PC’s through the Web Site. Being from the US I can’t see the UK site easily so I checked out the US Store. Now I personally have issues with the usablity of the Dell Web Site for any purchase. Just try to build one of the cheap pc’s from their Newspaper adds without using the cheat codes on the add. There is still a Ubuntu Page on the US Web Site which links to a Mini and Inspiron running Ubuntu 10.4. There is a Dell Studio XPS 7100 model that also comes with Ubuntu 10.4 found here. It’s kind of weird cause I searched for Ubuntu and that was the first result and a recommended link. When I go to the Studio XPS 7100 links other places on Dell’s Web Site Windows is an option. I have had similar issues when trying to buy a computer with XP and it would only let me choose Vista. Had I called the phone line they would have put XP on the computer for me. So the real issue may just be that Dell’s website is hard or in some cases virutally impossible to use if you aren’t looking for a Windows based Desktop. Let’s also not forget they never did sell Linux on every machine from the Web Site. They are keeping the models up to date with 10.4 is reassuring and points to the fact that while they might not want to expand the offering they are still offering the machines.

When you look at Servers it’s a whole different story. They offer linux as an option for every server model I brought up tonight. I personally purchased 6 servers back in the 2001-2002 timeframe with Red Hat sold with them. Since then I have been having great success with linux on all of my Dell servers.

What is impressive is that Dell fully supports Linux with Drivers. The value of this shouldn’t be under appericated. Even if they won’t pre-install it they will support it.

So my plea to Dell is simple. Fix your website please so everyone can choose from all of the options available. Hiding options isn’t helping you sell computers.

Update on 2010-07-28 04:46 by Brian “Wags” Wagner

Here are some additional links I found tonight backing up what I said and that Dell is not dropping Linux Support:

The Inquirer posted this story which linked to this story

July 7, 2010 wags007