These Links Matter to You. Wednesday May 2 2007

• even old-school business analyst Forrester says organizations are using open source for "mission critical applications." A less breathless, more helpful informative summary here, courtesy the very articulate Matt Asay.
• ya habla Español Dell. puro en directo. Dell's new Spanish blog, Dell en Directo. You already know about the English juan.
  
• Arizona State uses Drupal, and documents their set-up
• Dell's improved Linux forums (I haven't figured out how they're improved yet. Taking their word for it. It's possible they're manipulating me in a state of post-Ubuntu-announcement bliss.
• some belated notes on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
  

Labels: community, dell, dellendirecto, forrester, forums, linux, matt asay, research, ubuntu

  ¶ 9:12 PM Links to this post

  Dell's new Ubuntu deal, and vendor support. Do we still need vendor support? Some interesting thoughts over on Slashdot's coverage of the Dell/ Ubuntu announcement.
For one user, the announcement is actually a deciding factor in a purchasing decision:

Personally, I have resisted the siren call of Dell for a long time. This changes my mind. I need a new machine and this could be just the ticket -- it was either that or refurb an old HP with a new HD and a copy of Feisty Fawn. I like the idea of it pre-loaded.

And yeah, that's the kind of response Dell and Ubuntu want to hear. But I think it's time we really question the value and definition of support in the way it's been thought of in the past. Support is extremely overvalued, and lack of support is too often used as a reason to squash a great tool or piece of software. Let's examine our commercial support relationships and think of what we really get out of them. Are our bugs fixed faster? Features added more quickly? Do we find out about upcoming products from our vendros before the blogosphere does? When we have a configuration question, whose documentation is more helpful? Community sites and mailing lists, or the official documentation?

I'm very excited that Dell and Ubuntu have a relationship with each other now, and there's no way it can hurt the quality of Linux on Dell hardware. But let's not wait for announcements like this before we feel comfortable pursuing technologies that otherwise trump their commercially supported peers.

related:

Dell interview with Mark Shuttleworth about the announcement, how Linux gets adopted differently in different parts of the world.

Labels: business, business model, canonical, community, dell, disruptive, information technology, linux, support, ubuntu

  ¶ 10:47 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Dell + Ubuntu: Let's contain ourselves, people!
I'm as giddy as the rest of y'all. Yes, Dell will pre-install Ubuntu on Dell hardware.
Some of us have been waiting for this news for a while, either in the affirmative or the negative. After all, it was over a month ago when Dell closed its Linux survey. A bunch of different commercial and community-based distros rallied to get their Linux represented. And then silence. Dell didn't let us know how, when, or what they'd do with the data. They thanked us, but dat about it.
So it was very exciting to hear this evening first a rumor via Dell, and a confirmation via Canonical that yes, Dell will support Ubuntu.

But let's be gracious here :D. DesktopLinux.com wrote "Dell to choose Ubuntu," in a tone suggesting only one Linux could be chosen. Mos def some of this language is left over from the Dell's own Linux survey, where one could vote for only one flavor of Linux for Dell to install. But remember bug #1 people. It isn't that Fedora has majority market share :D. Let's hope Dell's experience of offering Ubuntu is so delightful, they get involved with other flavors of Linux, and get on the right side of bug #1 ;D

Labels: business model, dell, disruptive, hardware, linux, open source, support, ubuntu

  ¶ 10:57 PM Links to this post

  Dell to preload Ubuntu Linux on some hardware

Labels: business, business model, canonical, community, dell, disruptive, information technology, linux, support, ubuntu

  ¶ 5:54 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  These Links Matter To You. Tuesday, February 27, 2007

• Parallels Desktop out of beta! (Mac-tel users rejoice, and read pstam's review)
• You can hack your VMware .vmx file to enable experimental 3D support (very cool of VMware to talk about the semi-underground video making the rounds)
• using MySpace for a VMware/NetApp blog ? (of course!)
• Did you know there is a "major" virtualization conference? It's called "Virtualization Conference." really.
• As of February 27th, 2007, 8 of the top 8 vote-getting initiatives on Dell's IdeaStorm website are about getting Linux pre-installed, other open source software pre-installed, Windows software not-installed, and improving Linux support (sheesh, can the drum beat any louder?)
  

Labels: dell, linux, open source, parallels, virtualization, vmware

  ¶ 9:10 PM Links to this post