Are Dell and Red Hat Discussing a Desktop Linux Deal?

I am choosing my words carefully for this blog entry. I don't know for certain if Dell (DELL) plans to pre-load Red Hat (RHT) Linux on desktop and mobile PCs. But circumstantial evidence pointing to that possibility is mounting. Here are the facts.

First, Dell has publicly stated that it plans to announce a Linux desktop strategy within a few weeks. The company wrapped up a Linux customer survey on March 23. Shortly thereafter, Dell announced that it was prepping Linux desktops and notebooks. Wonderful. Three cheers for freedom of choice in the software market.

But which Linux will Dell choose? Michael Dell himself is running Ubuntu Linux at home--in addition to three Windows-based PCs. So there's growing speculation that Dell will offer Ubuntu on selected systems. If it's good enough for Michael, it's good enough for the rest of us--right?

But wait. Hold everything. Now, sources close to Red Hat tell me the company could have some desktop-related news to share in a few weeks or by the summer at the latest.

So let's review the situation: Dell is prepping Linux desktops. Red Hat is prepping potential desktop PC news. Hmmm. Coincidence, right? Could be... but I suspect otherwise. Red Hat's strong position on corporate servers makes it a natural option for administrator workstations from Dell. And it's possible to imagine Dell offering a mix of Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux on certain desktops and notebooks.

Where does that leave Novell (NOVL) SuSE Linux? I'm still digging around Dell's desktop and mobile businesses for the answer to that question.

Comments

[Himanshu Pa...:]

Joe,

Michael Dell invested $100 Million into Redhat back in 2005. The money wasn't invested by Dell the company but by Michael Dell's private investment firm. However, I am not sure what the status of the investment at this point.

money.cnn.com/2005/05/...

2007 Apr 24 10:24 AM

[Malkiel:]

In the long run, what the public expects of a Linux desktop competitor to Windows is that it let them run all their favorite games and softwares without having to become programmers to configure them. I don't think they mind having paid for their copy of their desktop Linux os as long as it is easy to use and let's them do what they want to do. Red Hat or something like it would be a better choice than Ubuntu, but Ubuntu has captured the public imagination at the moment because it's free and easy to get.

But Ubuntu may become the problem rather than the solution--Shuttleworth and the shell company he set up to manage the project, Canonical, are not willing to take the codec and driver problem head on by paying something for rights to use certain proprietary bits that are essential for a satisfactory user experience. You simply don't provide a "movie player" software that doesn't have dvd movie codecs included by default. Your "open source" music players and office suite applications all need to have the Microsoft file formats and fonts included by default. Requiring too much monkey business from end users will not put enough pressure on the industry to use open source software, but it will eventually drive off the masses who are giving the software a go as an alternative to Vista.

My suggestion to Dell would be to offer only a comprehensive Linux like Red Hat that can truly stand up to Windows and hope it catches on. Ubuntu isn't ready to carry the shield, and its project managers can't seem to escape the losing logic of "open source uber alles" that retards the function of their os.

2007 Apr 24 11:31 AM

[Joe Panettieri:]

Thank you for pointing out Mr. Dell's investment in Red Hat. I had forgotten about that piece of info and will check the status.
-jp

2007 Apr 24 12:39 PM