If all Dell did was offer Ubuntu as an OS option globally on all of it’s desktops and laptops it would do more for the spread of Linux than all the smaller OEM/System builders put together. Now by that I don’t mean any disrespect to the smaller players. I just can’t buy your product. If I can’t buy it. It’s no good to me.

Yes…a larger OEM could in fact fund a linux distribution development completely. HP, a former Canonical customer has figured that out and bought up webOS in the Palm purchase to do exactly that. It’s only a matter of time before Dell figures that out.

And I would argue that Dell’s expenses when it comes to linux are probably in line with its interests in the platform and their bottom line.

But we are digressing…

That 2 percent of revenue is admirable. You should probably talk about that in detail on your site about that. Can you give us a detailed accounting of which projects get a financial boost in your donation effort? I don’t expect you to get specific dollar amounts but a rollcall of projects which have benefited from your corporate largesse would be nice to see. I could then use it to browbeat other OEMs to match your performance.

And it’s still not really a direct answer to the specific question. If prosperous Ubuntu OEMs aren’t contracting with Canonical for OEM services, then there is a fundamental breakdown in how the economics of Ubuntu development is sustained. People pay for Ubuntu pre-installed hardware…money changes hands…money doesn’t flow back into underwriting the release development process which OEMs are relying on to put product out at all. Fundamental breakdown in the business model Canonical is perusing which puts a heavy emphasis on providing OEM services while at the same time making it difficult for independent business interests to pay for and control Ubuntu development infrastructure.

Right now, in your opinion, as a business that is leveraging the value proposition that the Ubuntu project provides, what is the most cost-effective value for money way that you can help underwrite and sustain the ability of the Ubuntu to keep moving forward with releases?

-jef

I don’t think you grasp the size difference between Dell and ZaReason. While I can’t go into many specifics, ZaReason donated around 2% of our revenue in July. If Dell were to donate that much they could fund Canonical completely. I think you’ll agree that one Dell engineer is not in the same ballpark.

I cried foul? I’m on record as saying Dell is and continues to be the best OEM partner that Canonical has. Whether you take that as good thing or a bad thing, its up to you. And to be clear I’m not happy to watch any OEM shrink its linux offerings, nor have I ever said that I was.

I have the same concern I’ve had for Canonical’s business plan to service OEMs as I have had from day one. When its easier for competent OEMS like ZaReason and like System76 to be self-servicing and provide better integrated products than the OEMs who contract with Canonical..that really doesn’t speak to the value of Canonical’s OEM services at all. That’s a problem.

Don’t confuse my concern for Canonical’s business plan with Ubuntu as a project. I am concerned for Ubuntu insofar as the project continues to be dependent solely on Canonical’s ability to provide the financial support to keep the lights on. If there was a way for successful Ubuntu OEMs to provide material support of the project in terms of infrastructure and bandwidth that didn’t have to come in the form of service contracts with Canonical…things would look a lot different.

And Canonical isn’t the only software vendor in the space. Canonical is going to be going head to head with deviceVM’s linux based splashtop with Ubuntu-lite. Is it wrong to point out that’s going to be a tough fight for Canonical? Splashtop is linux just as Ubuntu-lite is linux. Why exactly should I cheer for one over the other?

And on ARM, where Android has huge mindshare right now..where device formfactors are continuing to morph from netbook into tablets…Canonical still plans to compete there with an Ubuntu ARM offering. Is it wrong to point out that’s going to be a tough fight for Canonical? Android is linux just as Ubuntu is linux… why should I cheer for one over the other?

I have one question – when Amazon removed the Kindle from it’s website a day or so ago, did anyone scream “OMG Amazon has discontinued the Kindle!!!”? No. Why? Because smart people realize that sku’s change like the wind and in the ever present changing of technology so will the sku’s at Dell.

I imagine Canonical is flattered with all of the hoopla. It proves they are doing some things right. When @jef (and others) cries foul, he’s showing that he’s threatened by the success of Ubuntu and his comments simply prove the point without anyone having to say anything more.

Are you prepared to go on record with the number of linux system you have sold in the last year and a record of material contribution to individual upstream projects? That’s the only way to verify the claim. And a bold claim it is. Can you aggregate it into X number of dollars per system sold last year went to materially supporting upstream open source projects?

Your statement is still a dodge of the specific issue of materially supporting Ubuntu’s ability to turn the crank and make sausage every six months. Are you contracting with Canonical for OEM services?

An important part of Canonical’s business is supposedly servicing OEMs.. if OEMs like yours can live and prosper without those services where does that leave Ubuntu exactly? You are prospering right? Is your business breakeven or better on a quarterly-to-quarterly basis (accounting for yearly trends in consumer purchasing?) There’s a deep irony in the thought that OEMs can make a profit selling hardware with Ubuntu pre-installed but Canonical can’t turn a profit servicing those OEMs.

Obviously you can’t materially help with release infrastructure costs without contracting with Canonical. But are you staffing Ubuntu development team manpower or MOTU manpower to provide human capital into the release process.

-jef

ZaReason donates both time and money to projects in the Open Source community. If you compare investment to the community per system sold, I would offer that ZaReason’s support is far greater than Dell’s. And we are also continually looking for ways to increase this support.

–Earl @ ZaReason

Also: see the link I provided above for Dell’s contributions to Open Source. They aren’t that many, and they aren’t nearly as massive as RedHat’s, or IBM’s (to put it in the context of a hardware manufacturer). But they contribute the right way, by feeding upstream projects. In particular, DKMS is widely used by Linux distros. Their goal is for every Dell piece of hardware to be supported _upstream_, not by their own proprietary little extensions. This is great.