Evolutionary Goo

Most technical people end up being the IT support staff for their immediate and extended families. I am no exception. For years I felt like the best choice to recommend to family members was to go to Dell’s web site with a budget in mind and build a Windows PC that fits that budget. I would help out with the accessories and let them know about the service contracts that were available. For the most part it worked out pretty well. The process didn’t take up too much of my time, my family member got a pretty decent and technically up to date PC at a good price. And the support wasn’t too bad either.

Today that has all changed. Dell and Windows is no longer my default choice. In the past year I recommended Dell with Windows Vista to two family members and they have each had problems. The problems aren’t all Vista’s either as some were related to software that came pre-installed by Dell. Regardless of what the problems were and whose fault they were, the problems happened and they cost me valuable personal time as I assisted my family members in getting the problems resolved.

If asked today what system to buy, I think I would still list Dell and Windows as an option. However, I would be asking more questions like, “Do you have a copy of Windows XP that you can run on your new computer?” or “Have you thought about paying more and getting a really cool Mac Book?”. I might even ask, “Have you ever heard of Linux or Ubuntu?”. And I would definitely mention that using a quality, local PC builder, like J & B Technologies in St. Louis, has all sorts of benefits over using a national company like Dell or HP.

Dells is giving in to customer demand again and installing the Ubuntu distribution of Linux onto some of its PCs. I’ve been using Ubuntu for some time and find Ubuntu to be a nice desktop and easy to use. I wouldn’t recommend using it to replace Windows on your grandparent’s PC, but Ubuntu is a great alternative for alpha geeks tired of Windows and looking to save some money. On somewhat of a side note, I have been running Eclipse and Firefox on Ubuntu. It is amazing how these two applications almost make me forget what operating system I’m in.

Dell has announced they will be selling PCs and laptops with Linux installed. They haven’t announced the details yet, so I’m very interested in hearing what distribution they decide on.

What I find interesting about this story is how strong consumer demand for Linux swayed Dell into this decision. A few years ago in the heyday of Microsoft/Intel/Dell, I would not have thought this was possible.