Dell has quietly stopped offering the Linux operating system as an
option on its desktop and laptop PCs, blaming low demand.
Dell has championed the open-source operating system through
investments in companies such as Red Hat and the Linux desktop
software maker Eazel, which has recently gone out of business.
Founder and chief executive officer Michael Dell gave a speech at
the LinuxWorld conference last year in San Jose, California, where
he remarked that "the only thing growing faster than Linux is Linux
on Dell".
While the company has seen strong sales of Linux on workstations
and servers this year, sales of desktops and laptops loaded with
Linux have been few, Dell spokeswoman Sarah Lavender said. The
vendor dropped Linux from its PCs and laptops about six weeks ago
but did not announce the move publicly, she said.
The link on the Dell Web site that says, "Buy a system with Red Hat
Linux" has not worked since at least 22 June, and users who inquire
about the operating system at Dell's sales support line are told
that Linux is no longer an option.
Customers buying 50 or more PCs can, however, have them installed
with Linux if they go through a specific ordering process, Lavender
said.
Dell had hoped that more of its server customers buying Linux would
also purchase desktops running the operating system.
"We anticipated a little more spillover in demand from the people
buying servers," Lavender said. "Our customers did not seem to want
it, though; the numbers didn't add up."
Linux advocates have long hoped their operating system of choice
would gain ground on the desktop against Microsoft's Windows. This
vision, however, is beginning to fade with Eazel going out of
business earlier this year and one of the world's largest PC
sellers and biggest Linux champions scaling back its support for
the operating system.