A blog entry over on ZDnet makes the case that Amazon.com and Dell are Canonical’s two most important Ubuntu partners. I firmly agree. Here’s why.
Dell’s support of Ubuntu was a key reason why we launched WorksWithU. When Dell announced its first Ubuntu desktops in mid-2007 — the very year Microsoft shipped Windows Vista — Nine Lives Media Inc. (WorksWithU’s parent) realized Ubuntu was very likely the real deal.
Yes, we know small Ubuntu PC makers like ZaReason and System76 have earned loyal followings and praise from Ubuntu users. But Dell’s entry into the market was a wake-up call for the PC industry and even for Microsoft.
We quietly beta tested an Ubuntu news site — called All About Ubuntu — for about a year, before branding around WorksWithU in mid-2008. Dell’s move into the Ubuntu market convinced us this was a market in need of a media brand that educates readers about ongoing Ubuntu trends.
Ubuntu 9.10 for the Clouds
Now comes word that Ubuntu 9.10, slated for delivery in October 2009, will leverage Amazon’s cloud services. MSPmentor (a WorksWithU sister site) closely tracks Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). MSPmentor believes VARs and managed service providers will shift their customers to on-premise systems (such as Ubuntu servers, desktops and netbooks) blended with cloud services (such as EC2).
Money Matters
ZDnet says Amazon’s cloud service is actually profitable. I haven’t been able to confirm that on my own. But even if the service is losing money at the moment, Amazon’s cloud is growing fast and seems to leverage a solid business model that will generate recurring revenue and profits for years to come. Meanwhile, Dell remains one of the strongest brands in IT — despite recent stumbles that have trigged quarterly losses from time to time.
ZDnet is right: Canonical’s two most important partners — for the moment — certainly appear to be Amazon and Dell.
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Dell support for Ubuntu has been “look warm” at best. They initially marketed it to Linux enthusiasts while at the same time claiming it was the most consumer friendly version. They hived it off in the basement of Dell.com instead of pushing it on the front page. Which is still pretty much the case today.
The number of systems Dell offers world wide with Ubuntu varies from 6 in the USA to 3 in Europe and none almost everywhere else. Prices have been up and down like a yo-yo and the vast majority of marketing materials have been straight copies of the Windows versions. In some cases Windows only features were even still being quoted.
Ubuntu has benefited from a lot of the behind the scenes work Dell does for Linux. But Dell were doing that anyway. They’ve been selling Red Hat based laptops and servers since 2000. The laptops were never easy to find. But they’ve existed since 2000.
If Dell are one of Canonicals most important partners? I’d say Canonical has a lot of work a head of it to strengthen that relationship.
More important than Dell is Intel. Whom Canonical have been working very closely with to Microsofts’ annoyance. Intel are partnering with Canonical and others to develop their MID platform. Canonical need Intel to remain interested in Linux since Intels silicon is everywhere. When an Intel driver isn’t available for Linux it often spells disaster.
Dells own Studio Hybrid is an example of this. The version of the X3100 graphics chip the Hybrid uses doesn’t have a Linux driver. As a result getting Linux to run on the machine is very difficult. It becomes a throwback to the old days of messing around on the command console. Not the sort of thing you buy a media center for.
I agree with the previous comment that Dell is lukewarm at best. In Canada where I live, Dell has rolled over for Microsoft. Microsoft has invested in Dell and has minority shares but enough to push Vista in Canada and I suspect elsewhere.
The result has been that ads for Dell all tout Vista which previously nobody would touch with a ten foot pole. Their TV ads are not just displaying Vista, but actually try to sell it as a Dell-Microsoft partnership. And that I think is far more realistic than suggesting that Dell cares about Canonical.
Dell is suffering and are looking for ways to make money. If Ubuntu can help them they will take advantage of it. If not, it is goodbye Ubuntu and hello Microsoft.
Stay real.
I continue to be upbeat about Dell’s commitment to Ubuntu. Remember: Dell shipped Ubuntu on selected PCs the very year Microsoft launched Windows Vista. That took guts.
Is Dell perfect? Certainly not. Does LunuxCanuck have a point: Yes, Dell will only support Ubuntu if it leads to revenue/profits for the PC giant.
But isn’t that the case with ALL PC companies? Why would a hardware maker support/offer an operating system if there wasn’t a financial upside???