[nzlug] Dell and Linux

[Simon Bridge]

On Fri, 2007-03-30 at 16:37 +1200, Nevyn wrote:
> On 3/30/07, Simon Bridge <corwin at ihug.co.nz> wrote:
> > On Fri, 2007-03-30 at 12:54 +1200, Robin Sheat wrote:
> >
> > > <war type="distro">I just hope they ship a good desktop distro, like Ubuntu on
> > > it.</war>
> >
> > You basil evtard!
> > In the survey:
> > > prospective buyers can describe just what model of Dell computer
> > > they'd like to buy and what version of Linux they'd like to see
> > > pre-installed and configured. Options include the commercial version
> > > of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, Red Hat Linux Enterprise Desktop and
> > > community-supported Red Hat Fedora, OpenSUSE or Ubuntu Linux.
> > >
> >
> > Ubuntu OEM would be attractive, and they already have experience with
> > SUSE.
> 
> I've gotten excited about this sort of thing before - back when
> Walmart were selling computers preinstalled with Lindows/Linspire. My
> main issue with this sort of thing is that often the systems sold are
> weeny 'lil systems. Sure I like cheap but it's not because of the
> money that I use Linux. What I really want is the choice. Not a
> "you're using Linux so this machine without the bells and whistles is
> for you" and a "you want the bells and whistles so you must want to
> run Windows" generalisation.
> 
> In otherwords, I think I'll to see what dell have to offer before
> getting too excited.

The media mood is cautiously optimistic. It looks better than dells last
attempt at desktop linux and they have been selling suse linux for
higher end business machines.

I took some trouble to find direct quotes of the stats -
http://www.performancepccanada.com/?defaultarticle=1087&defaultnode=516&layout=20&pagefunction=Load%20Layout&formfields[sect_title]=Editorial

> "More than 70% of survey respondents said they would use a Dell system
> with a Linux operating system for both home and office use."
This is important wording because practically all the journalists,
including the guy who quoted this, have got it wrong. You see, the
survey was about linux only. But it also asked what it would be used
for. And this says that out of all people who responded, 70% would buy
preinstalled linux from dell *and* use them for home or office.

The survey was announced March 13, ran from March 23 to 30, and about
100,000 people responded. 

Most journalists have assumed this means that 70% of dell customers have
opted for linux. Not so. The survey wanted to know where to market
pre-installed linux machines, and the responce is to market them at the
home or office desktop.

> "A majority of survey respondents said that existing community-based
> support forums would meet their technical support needs for a tested
> and validated Linux operating system on a Dell system."
... which is interesting in that there is no figure. It does tell us
there were a great deal of tech/net savvy linuxers in the sample.

The figure could be 35% yes, 34% no, and 31% no-response. Again the
journos get it wrong and assume that "majority" means "more than 50%".

Perhaps someone could blog this?