[tlug] Dell's Ubuntu strategy

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Same thread, appropriate subject.

Jonathan Byrne writes:

 > Now Dell has been told on a big way by people that "If you build
 > it, we will come."

Who are they listening to?  Surely not individuals.  Most sane people
will put a significant positive value on the Windows install.  Eg, I
develop and support cross-platform software, and need a testing box.
I guess I'd consider a "free" copy of Windows worth about half the
street price (I don't buy consumer machines very often these days), so
I'd be looking for about that in a discount on a box without it, Linux
preinstall or barebones.  Most individuals will have some such reason,
so they'll *require* a discount.

Also, Ubuntu is a good distribution, but lots of individuals may see
it as just a more convenient platform for bootstrapping Gentoo than
Windows Vista.

Maybe state and local governments (like Massachusetts)?  Universities?
K-12 schools?  NGOs?

 > If people don't actually buy Dell systems with Linux on them (and,
 > importantly, *keep* Linux on them), Dell might find itself once
 > again in a position where it has to exit the Linux business.

Why do you think "keeping" Linux is so important?  You think they're
going to install Windows, and then the next time they buy a computer,
buy it with Windows pre-installed?  I kind of figure that the "big
way" has to come from companies, governments, and NPOs, and *they*
will have a hard time backtracking.  Bureaucratic inertia for at least
a year after purchase, complementary systems once they get going.

 > Margins on consumer-level hardware are very thin, and it may be to
 > some extent the better margin they can make on a Linux machine that
 > has led them to try it.

I have to think that is the case, and I have to think that they're
aiming at companies and public sector organizations that want to move
to Open Document standards and the like.  Sure, Dell *will* offer a
competitive discount, but unlike a consumer who faces the risk of
losing interoperability, the larger organization can plan on a
homogeneous system (internally), so once the functionality is in
place, they're willing to pay the same amount whichever OS they go
with.  (That's an exaggeration, of course, but the organization can
take advantage of internal network externalities, so their value for a
Linux system is likely to be on average a lot closer to their value
for a Windows system than the ordinary consumer.)

So in that market, Dell can adjust the discount strategically, whereas
if they're selling to me, there's a certain discount they must offer
or I'm not especially interested.  I mean, Ubuntu, Windows, either way
it's coming off (well, in the Windows case it'll probably get cut to a
20GB partition) and Gentoo or Debian or NetBSD (plus Xen) is going in.
(The point is not that my tastes rule; it's that I suspect Dell has to
worry that there are "too many" people who similarly, perhaps with
different distros in mind.)

 > If Dell executes well on this, I think that we, the Linux consumers, 
 > need to step up in turn and reward them for what they've done.

Make it your litmus test in the next election. :-)