Linux

• Dell XPS 1530n and Studio 15n Now Available with Ubuntu 8.04

  Thu. Aug. 07, 2008
  by Daniel Judd, Product Group Strategist

  Today is the day. For customers in the United States who interested in compelling notebooks with 15.4” Hi-def widescreen displays the Dell XPS M1530n and Studio 15n notebooks are now available with Ubuntu 8.04 factory installed. US customers can check out these systems and more at www.dell.com/ubuntu (or click on the Ubuntu image below).

  Thanks again to the Linux community for the continued support (and purchase) of Dell systems with Linux pre-installed. Your interest and direct feedback enables better solutions on a broader array of platforms. Hope to see you at LinuxWorld!

  
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• Dell at LinuxWorld this Week

  Mon. Aug. 04, 2008
  by John Hull, Manager of Linux OS Engineering

  As many of you know, the 2008 LinuxWorld Conference and Expo is taking place this week in San Franciscso. Several of us at Dell will be attending to take part in the "Desktop Linux" track. I'll be part of a panel discussion titled "OEM Desktop Panel Discussion - We’re shipping Linux on PCs: Now What?" on Wednesday morning at 11:30, while Daniel Judd and Cole Crawford are hosting a session titled "The Client Linux Desktop: A Dell Case Study", on Thursday morning at 10:15. If you're attending the conference, please stop by and chat with us; we'd love to meet you and get your feedback.
  
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• Ubuntu 8.04 Offering—Technical Details

  Thu. Jul. 24, 2008
  by John Hull, Manager of Linux OS Engineering

  I'd like to follow up our Ubuntu 8.04 post with a quick update on the technical details for what we have added with this release. We have continued to build and improve upon on what we did for our Ubuntu 7.10 offering, and here are some of the highlights:

  • We have added Fluendo GStreamer codecs for mp3, wma, and wmv playback. This will allow you to play media of those types in your favorite media player on the system. These codecs are in addition to the LinDVD DVD player application that we're continuing to offer as a standard part of every Ubuntu 8.04 system.
  • Biometric fingerprint readers are now supported on the XPS laptops. We have all of the necessary software installed and ready to use; you just have to easily configure the software to recognize your fingerprint.
  • ATI Graphics options are available on the Inspiron 530n, and will also be available on the Studio 15n. We're using the close-source fglrx driver to give full OpenGL support
  • HDMI audio output is now supported with NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards, so you'll now be able to output both audio and video to your home A/V equipment. As many of you know for HDMI, the audio output is directed out what is essentially an HDMI video port, so the graphics drivers need to know how to interact with the audio controller. We worked with both NVIDIA and ATI to get their graphics drivers to work with the HDMI ports on our systems, and we find HDMI to work well with both. Unfortunately, HDMI audio does not yet work with Intel graphics cards.

  I'll add more in a few weeks once we start selling The XPS 1530n and Studio 15n with Ubuntu 8.04.
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• Select Systems Now Available with Ubuntu 8.04

  Fri. Jul. 18, 2008
  by Daniel Judd, Product Group Strategist

  After months of testing and development we are ready to release Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) on select Dell consumer systems. For consumers in the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, United Kingdom and many Latin American countries (like Mexico and Colombia) Ubuntu 8.04 will be offered on the XPS M1330N and Inspiron 1525N notebooks and the Inspiron 530N  Click on any of the country links above or go to www.dell.com/ubuntu to place your order. :)

  In early August, we will also add the XPS M1530n and Studio 15n to the line-up. This is just in time for LinuxWorld where we will participate in a number of the conference sessions. That will be your chance to hear directly about what’s been accomplished over the last year and where we see it going in 2009.

  In her post, Anne Camden mentions some of the new features the Ubuntu 8.04 brings. Beyond that, we took steps to make our Linux images more accessible to a global audience by including the ability to select your language during the first boot process. While this does not mean we’re shipping in every country (yet) it’s a step in the right direction. Stay tuned for a technical details post from John Hull will provide a good overview of the work we did on the new release. Similar post from him on Ubuntu 7.04 and 7.10 releases have proved to be pretty popular with the Linux community.
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• Dell at Red Hat Summit and FUDCon

  Tue. Jun. 17, 2008
  by Matt Domsch, Linux Technology Strategist

  This week, Dell will be out "in force" at the Red Hat Summit in Boston.  If you're attending the show, be sure to stop by the Dell booth in the expo area, where we'll have one of our new PowerEdge M1000e modular blade enclosures on hand, as well as a Precision M6300 mobile workstation (coincidentally sold with Red Hat Enterprise Linux installed).  We'll be giving away green swag bags, so come take a look at what we've got.

  Thursday will be a busy day.  During lunch, we will be offering a "Lunch-n-Learn" session, where you can talk to Dell engineers like myself, and ask us anything you like about Dell & Linux.  At 4pm, Robert Hentosh and Peter Lillian present Get IT Faster, Run IT Better, Grow IT Smarter, focusing on Dell's High Performance Compute Cluster and High Availability solutions built with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.  Also at 4pm, I'll be presenting Getting the Bits Out: Fedora Mirror Manager in the Open Source Software track.  Of course, this would have to conflict with Fedora user and Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst who is speaking in the FUDCon area at the same time.  Such is my luck.

  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I'll be involved in the Fedora User and Developer Conference.  With over 150 people lined up (and you're welcome to come even if you haven't pre-registered), it should be the largest US-based FUDCon ever.  There will be a lot of work hammering out ideas and features for Fedora 10 and beyond, but it's always a good time.  There may even be some last-minute campaigning by the good candidates for the Fedora Project Board (be sure to vote!).  Just beware the ninjas!

  I hope to see you there.
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• Dell at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit

  Tue. Apr. 08, 2008
  by John Hull, Manager of Linux OS Engineering

  The Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit runs April 8-10 this week here in Austin, and a number of people from Dell will be attending to discuss the current status and future direction of Linux. On Tuesday, Matt Domsch will be participating in a panel discussion titled "State of Linux Roundtable – Kernel Hackers", while I will be participating in a discussion on titled "We're Shipping Linux on PCs -- Now What?". Others from Dell will also be participating in other sessions throughout the week. If you happen to be attending the event as well, please come up and chat with us.
  
  Matt and I will be blogging more about the events this week to give our take on the summit.The full schedule for the summit can be found here.
  
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• Ubuntu 7.10 Now Available to Customers in China on the Inspiron 530 Desktop

  Mon. Mar. 03, 2008
  by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

  Earlier today, we began offering Ubuntu 7.10 on the Inspiron 530n desktop to customers in China. We did this because many Dell China customers have asked about it there.

  Ubuntu 7.10 offers many new functions. such as DVD playback. Update from Lionel: My apologies, we are not supporting DVD playback in China.

  In the time since we introduced Ubuntu 7.10 in the United States, the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Latin America and Canada, our engineers have been testing Ubuntu so we could offer it there. Dell China Ubuntu customers can call Dell for basic installation and configuration help. Canonical will provide one year tech support. Customers in China can get more details about the operating system at Canonical's Ubuntu website here.

  Last year, we introduced Optiplex 330 and 755 preinstalled with SUSE Linux Desktop 10. This is another step in that process.
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• Dell Ubuntu Systems Launching in Canada and Latin America

  Thu. Feb. 21, 2008
  by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

  Several new developments on the Linux front today.

  We're introducing Ubuntu 7.10-based Dell systems in Canada and Latin America. Beyond that, we're introducing the Inspiron 1525n to customers in the United States. Like Daniel mentioned earlier this week, the 1525n is already available to customers in the U.K., Spain, France and Germany. All of these systems will include built-in DVD playback capability.

  Lots of customers like Jimmy and Simon have asked for Ubuntu support in Canada. Now Dell Canada customers can order the Inspiron 1525n, XPS M1330n and the Inspiron 530 desktop. More information is here: http://www.dell.ca/open

  In Latin America, initially we will offer the Inspiron 1525n and the Inspiron 530n desktop to customers in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Right now, customers can order systems via phone by clicking on that country and clicking the Sales Support, then Call Sales. Systems will be availble online to Latin American customers in the coming weeks. See this post in DellenDirecto for more details.

  Update, February 22: These Ubuntu systems are available across Latin America, not just the countries I listed above.
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• Welcome the Inspiron 1525 to the Dell Ubuntu Family

  Mon. Feb. 18, 2008
  by Daniel Judd, Product Group Strategist

  Earlier today, we added the Inspiron 1525 notebook to our family of Ubuntu products.  And as with our other systems shipping Ubuntu 7.10, Dell is including built-in DVD playback capabilities so that you can get the most out of your new Dell.

  Customers in the UK, France, Spain, and Germany may place orders today. Later this month, the US Ubuntu website will also be updated with Inspiron 1525. The growth in Linux sales has enabled us to expand Linux onto more platforms over the last year. Thanks again for your support.
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• Ubuntu 7.10 on the XPS M1330, Ubuntu Coming to Customers in Spain

  Wed. Jan. 23, 2008
  by Daniel Judd, Product Group Strategist

  Since we've began offering Ubuntu on some consumer systems, two clear areas of feedback from the IdeaStorm community and Direct2Dell readers have been: offer Ubuntu on more hardware, and offer it worldwide.This Ubuntu-related post is still the third most commented post in Direct2Dell's history-many  of the 654 comments are asking for it in more countries.

  Now Ubuntu 7.10 is making it's way to our XPS 1330 laptop and Dell will begin offering Ubuntu in Spain.

  Starting today, customers in Germany, United Kingdom, France and now Spain can purchaseUbuntu Linux 7.10 with built-in DVD playback on the XPS 1330n (in addition to the previously-released Inspiron 530n desktop system.  For U.S. customers, you'll have to hold on a week or so.

  Update, January 30: As of last night, the XPS M1330 with Ubuntu is now available for customers in the United States at www.dell.com/ubuntu.

  Update, February 18: Today we started offering the NVIDIA 8400M GS graphics card as an option for Ubuntu customers.

  

  Ubuntu 7.10 runs great on the XPS M1330. It has more power, more style.  Take a look at the Dell UK Ubuntu website for more details.

  Thank you to the Linux community for the support. Your purchases and your commitment is the driving force behind this expansion, and is the key to more in the future. 
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