Linux now forms a quarter of Dell's server business and is growing fast, the company says. Should Microsoft be worried? Long hailed as the provider of choice for companies looking for PC solutions based on Intel hardware and Microsoft software, Dell says that Linux now makes up 25 percent of its enterprise market. The company also claims to have made inroads in the Linux services market and to have reached a comfort level with Linux systems where it can now solve over 90 percent of Red Hat Linux service calls without need to involve Red Hat.
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Unfortunately, I'm not sure it is that simple.
Solaris have worked well in the data center for a much longer time than Linux, that doesn't mean that it runs on that many desktops.
The key to Linux adoptation on the desktop is applications, preferably cross platform apps, as most organizations will not switch desktop OS over night.
The other problem is file formats, the applications must be able to handle old document formats. This alone will keep Microsoft at least on some desktops for a very long time.
Member since:2005-11-14
Not really comparable: until *very* recently Solaris was simply not viable as a desktop.
You run CDE and look at the monitor only if you are using a dedicated workstation, but don't expect people to like it. In my experience the only solaris workstation ever seen were the ones linked to medical machines in hospitals.
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> if they use cross-platform applications, why would they switch?
They would switch if and because Linux is better than other OSes. Honestly, do you want companies to switch to linux because "it has better applications, although the underlying platform sucks"? Then linux would be in the exact position that the DOS-based windows line (95, 98, ME) was.
Member since:2006-02-15
I think it does make sense to an extent. The requirements for a server are quite different from that of a desktop. This is different from being successful in one market (ie business desktops) and getting into a different market (home desktops) where requirements are more similar.
I do think the battle for the desktop is much tougher than for the server. If you think about it, there has never been a shift in market dominance from the Microsoft PC since IBM effectively declared PCs as something more than a toy.
I hope that open standards and cross platform application development continues to flouish. This will further make the underlying operating system less relevant and open up choice which is good. 
Member since:
2005-07-18
Linux is now "over a quarter of what we sell", said Parker.
Exellent!
Virtually all of the business has come from customer migrations from proprietary Unix environments, from companies such as IBM and Sun.
Oh! That's cannibalization. Bad. But it's still good that Dell is selling GNU/Linux. That means that they are paying attention to hardware compatibility and open source driver issues. I will definitely check them out the next time I shop for a PC.
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Well, true, but it can still be considered cannibalization within the fraternity of UNIX-like systems. I was kind of hoping some people were opting to buy Linux instead of Windows, which would mean actual market-share growth. But when UNIX users switch to GNU/Linux, it's just a reorganization within the wider UNIX world, which may or may not be healthy.
Member since:
2006-05-09
I think it's time for Dell to stop being a follower and join the real technology leaders of the computer industry (e.g., Intel, Apple, AMD, MS, TI, IBM, etc...) I think it is time that Dell set up a prominent OS/software/hardware research organization whose goal is to take computing up to its next level. Unless and until Dell comes up with some decisive breakthrough in computing, it will continue to be known as a mere follower, not a leader, forever playing second fiddle to the big boys.
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I don't think that Dell needs to be a leader in developing technology. What I've seen with Dell is that they have a good eye in realising wich emerging technology can be the most successfull in their market and using it. Sure, there was a time when their computers were totally overrated, but overall, I don't think they have done anything wrong yet.
Note: Most Dells I've used, repaired or owned are/were of the bussiness desktop type and a laptop. So I don't know how their servers or consumer desktopt are
Member since:2006-03-20
What makes you think it's trying to be any different?
Dell has positioned itself in a very worthwhile niche - providing boring, cheap, "it's good enough" boxes for very low cost, with support contracts.
Spending more money on research would certainly mean it could provide more "trendsetting" hardware, but it would also have to somehow support this research department off profits. This would mean that the dirt-cheap boxes that are it's main source of income would have to become more expensive.
Member since:
2006-03-06
I've always thought that one of the large reasons the big OEMs don't offer linux is because they don't think their support techs could handle it. Of course,they're not too great at supporting Windows either, at the desktop level (at least until you get to someone who isn't reading a script)...but server support is an entirely different matter. That's where they place their "good" support techs.
I doubt that they would want to retrain their desktop support staff, since it's a large expenditure and they haven't had enough demand...but they won't offer desktop linux because they can't adequately support it...but there won't be enough demand unless they support it...but they don't want to retrain their support staff...oh no, I've gone cross-eyed
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2006-03-22
With Linux sales making up over 25% of their server sales, this new claim to having the ability to do support, and the PCs that they released without Windows late last year, I think we're getting close. They'll probably start out with support for Fedora, since they've already got Red Hat experience, but I'm willing to bet Suse and Ubuntu follows quickly after 
I've never been a huge fan of Dell myself, but alot of the average joe crowd is, so this could make a huge difference if it became a reality.
Member since:2005-07-07
The way I see it, their original experiment with linux desktops was too soon. Linux just wasn't ready at the time. But with the recent advances in multimedia, hardware auto detection and network management. I do think linux is finally ready.(All the pieces are in place)
Edit: just to add that the inclusion of Novel/SUSE Linux in their linux offerings may open the door for entrance into the linux desktops again. (Just a thougt)
Edited 2006-06-08 21:28
Member since:
2005-11-15
Donīt forget it is enterprise market. It isnīt what regular users will see. Only when we start to get desktops with Linux pre-installed we will have real reasons to get excited. That is what Novell is trying to accomplish.
And, yes, I do think that many Linux distros (SuSE, *buntu, Fedora) are ready for the desktop now, and not just the enterprise.
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2006-02-20
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