Dell Computers announces Linux Ubuntu Laptops

One of the world's biggest computer and laptop manufacturers - Dell - has announced that as part of its corporate growth strategy - that it has begun installing Ubuntu 7.10 / Gutsy Gibbon, on its Dell consumer Linux PCs in the United States and will also make it available on the Inspiron 530 in England, France and Germany before the end of 2007.

Dell began offering consumer systems running Ubuntu in May 2007. Ubuntu’s Gutsy Gibson has been available on laptops since October.

The OEM and laptop testing teams of Dell have been testing the code and hardware drivers for several weeks and are ready to launch the Ubuntu 7.10 Laptop based on the free and open source Ubuntu Linux operating system.

“We believe Ubuntu 7.10 is a solid step forward for both Linux enthusiasts as well as the mainstream consumer market,” wrote Daniel Judd, Product Group Strategist on the Dell2Dell blog on Tuesday. “The answer is simple. With any operating system, we take gold code and take the time to do extensive testing on our systems to make sure that customers have as few issues as possible.”

Daniel Judd, Dell product manager has cited “cool” 3-D visual effects, easier desktop search for applications and the “ability to quickly switch between users and easily share a system with family members” as key new features of Ubuntu’s 7.10 release. He has also cited two minor Dell developed innovations much in demand by younger generation of laptop users — pre-installation of Flash and improved recovery options — as other significant enhancements for Gutsy Gibbon on Dell consumer PCs.

Judd also one key request was the ability to watch DVD movies from the Dell Linux desktop. “We totally agree and that’s why we now include built-in DVD movie playback with all Ubuntu 7.10 systems.The experience we wanted is simple — when you put a movie in, it plays. It is easy enough for a child and an example of the steps we are taking to make Ubuntu as enjoyable as possible.

Check if Laptop works well with Ubuntu Software before Buying

Indian computer users, office buyers and students who are thinking of switching their laptops to latest Ubuntu operating system and other latest, useful softwares, or buying a new laptop or notebook computer can check whether the laptop works well with Ubuntu / Linux. Primarily you need to be sure that your computer dealer / manufacturer / hardware vendor is supplying all parts and peripherals that work well with Ubuntu Linux.

Ubuntu website www.ubuntu.com has a page where you can check compatibility reports for the new laptop computers you are thinking of buying from an Indian computer shop reseller or manufacturer.

This page has been put up by Ubuntu Laptop Testing Team - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam

Christmas Computer Gifts - For Smart Indian School students - Ubuntu Laptop

Now that the Christmas and New Year shopping season is fast coming on and box retailers are making a grab for Indian upmarket customer pockets, many Indian papa and moms who live in Indian cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai are wondering what Christmas gift to buy for their school and college going children.

For some, it is a choice between splurging on a high priced branded computer, with a pre loaded and proprietary operating system from a desi manufacturer like Wipro, Zenith, HCL, or one of the multinationals like Acer, Compaq, Dell, Lenovo. They have been closely watching the Koi Mil Gaya lad showing his super smooth whizzkid antics with an Acer computer when he gets time off from advertising tobacco company ads. But this Greek god like lad does not reveal whether Ubuntu is loaded on the Acer notebook computer, for executive people, short of quality time for their children but having lots of money.

For the school students it is a differnet story. Maybe they are watching if they can run favorite games on a Ubuntu laptop or desktop and if latest Ubuntu version 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is really as good as some of their more enterprising school mates tell them.

But for some parents, it is going to be an ocassion for spending quality time with the children. School vacations are about to begin and the IT savvy pops and moms, with their mega millions, are thinking that maybe this December they will find some time, to sit down with th children to play some computer games on the Firefox browser. So which Indian computer manufacturers have got their act together and are offering good Ubuntu computers with OS CD ? It seems not many. Most are preferring to give unsuspecting and illiterate customers preloaded copies of proprietary, closed source software rather than a free CD of Ubuntu Linux that people can install themselves.

And of course, not many Indian parents have even heard of Ubuntu Linux or themselves experimented with it. So maybe they will just go out and buy manufactured PC’s for their kids - without Ubuntu.

But the assembled market is beginning to gear up and is offering the more discerning parents, a choice of pre installed Ubuntu / Kubuntu alongwith a free copy of legal Ubuntu operating system software, with loads of latest, modern, office collaboration, and educational software programs, for inquisitive school children and college kids, licensed under GNU GPL and therefore, available for FREE with no risk of piracy.

So when these discerning parents will tie up with good computer hardware assemblers, who are well educated in installing Ubuntu they will be able to really give a gift of a lifetime to their children. And then maybe the pop and the mom will also begin to hesitantly start asking their smart, intelligent children to teach them a little of Ubuntu Linux. And quality time ? Yes, here come the parents and the children, all together, learning to get serious with learning Linux skills.

About time the branded hardware box sellers got a run for their money, rather than locking unsuspecting people into closed source softwares.

Where to download free mera wala Ubuntu from ? - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Computer Hardware Dealers - From Piracy to Ubuntu Linux Innovation

Indian Hardware Computer Dealers - From Software Piracy to Ubuntu Linux innovation

It is really very good news that some computer dealers, assemblers and hardware vendors, have now started downloading, and locally burning Ubuntu Linux 7.10 CD in the small towns of Uttar Pradesh.

What this means is that companies selling tightly controlled, monopoly software which is very difficult to learn, and requires years of experience even to just become data entry operators, will now begin to face real competition and innovation strategies, from places like Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Jhansi, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Agra, Mathura, Bhopal, Satna, Vidisha, Dehradoon, Kathmandu, Patna, Ranchi, Rourkela, Raipur,, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Bikaner, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Karnal, Panipat, Ahmedabad, Pune, Panjim.

Jhumka gira re, Bareilly ki bazaar mein, jhumka gira re !!

Some of these computer assemblers are now selling these legal CD’s for Rs 100 - Rs 200 and hopefully will even learn to add in some local support component for people who are new to Ubuntu Linux. Maybe for another Rs 300 some of these local computer dealers will go and install the Ubuntu software on the computers and laptops, of home users / business users, and configure it for users so that they can use BSNL MTNL broadband Internet, and use printers that have good support for Linux printing.

Internet cafes will also soon start installing the server versions of Ubuntu and Kubuntu and they will then encourage customers to use Firefox browser and openoffice.org Office softwares for presentation, word documents, spreadsheets and databases.

The powerful suite of applications that Ubuntu and Kubuntu make available will soon find devoted followers.

The Google gmail email address has also begun to catch on in some of these small places and this will see people testing and using open formats of documents and spreadsheets, when they start collaborating online. One does hope that Small Businesses will be able to see that they can do most of their document creation work and email needs using public and free infrastructure, without the need for learning difficult to learn pirated software, that imprisons them down into specific document formats.

Which Printer to Buy ? Which Printers are good with Ubuntu Linux Printing ?

Mera wala PRINTER kaun ?
Kya Linux Ubuntu par printer theek se chalta hai ?

For the Kanpur Lucknow based users of Ubuntu Linux computers one of the big questions to do some research on before buying a recommended printer from the Computer manufacturers or local assemblers - is whether the PRINTER being suggested works well with UBUNTU / KUBUNTU LINUX for English language printing ?
Please do ASK your computer supplier / manufacturer / local assembler if the printer they are suggesting for you to BUY, supports good black and colour printing with Ubuntu based Debian operating system ?
If the answer is NO - please do NOT buy that printer as it will be worth nothing to you once you buy it.
It is usually best to buy a LOW COST printer with good preloaded Linux Ubuntu DRIVERS.
If you want to check out if the printer which MAY LOOK GOOD but DOES NOT work well with UBUNTU then just tell the computer dealer to keep the printer in cold storage rather than expect you to buy a USELESS printer that you will not know where to DUMP and throw away.
Where to get the LATEST list of MODERN and best printers which work well with UBUNTU and KUBUNTU Linux ?
Check out at - http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrinting


It is very important for Indian computer users to buy only printers which have good Linux printer drivers preloaded. There is NO POINT buying a printer if it does NOT work with Linux.
Do ask your computer dealer this question before buying a computer from them.
There are many reports of printers with a lot of marketing push behind them from computer dealers and manufacturers but that do not support Linux Ubuntu for Indian markets and Indian users.

Every Student in Macedonia to use Ubuntu Linux Computer

Canonical has announced that every student in Macedonia will be using an Ubuntu powered computer / workstation. This announcement has tremendous significance for Indian school children as well who are wondering why they cannot have Ubuntu powered computers and laptops.
----------------------
http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers

Every Macedonian Student to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations

Popular Linux Distribution To Appear On More than 180,000 Classroom Desktops Nationwide

LONDON, November 20th, 2007 - The Macedonia Ministry of Education and Science will deploy more than 180,000 workstations running Canonical’s Edubuntu 7.04 as part of its "Computer for Every Child" project.

The Macedonia "Computer for Every Child" project is one of the largest known thin client and desktop Linux deployments ever undertaken. Half of elementary and secondary Macedonia students attend school in the morning, and half attend in the afternoon, so 180,000 workstations will allow for one classroom computing device per student for the entire Republic's public school population. The first 7000 computers pre-installed with Ubuntu were shipped on September 4th 2007

Ubuntu is the award-winning Linux distribution for the desktop, laptop, thin client and server which brings together the best of open source software every six months. It is free, community-developed and contains all of the necessary applications to be up and running immediately, from web browser to instant messaging. It also comes with English and Macedonian language packs.

"The Computer for Every Child initiative is the largest and most important education project undertaken in the 15-year history of the Republic of Macedonia," said Ivo Ivanovski, Macedonia's Minister for the Information Society. "By selecting Ubuntu as the operating system for all of our classroom virtual PCs, our education system can provide computer-based education for all school children within the limited financial and infrastructural confines that most institutions face today."

"Macedonia is showing tremendous vision by deciding its own destiny in choosing how its children will learn through computing – said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the Ubuntu project. "By choosing Ubuntu which is free to modify, use and redistribute it turns students into participants in Information Technology and not simply consumers of it.

The Ubuntu operating system will run on 160,000 virtual PC terminals and 20,000 PCs (which each also support a student on the attached monitor) supplied by NComputing and procured and installed by The Haier Company, a diversified manufacturer and PC maker based in China.

The project will enable a range of innovative educational programs, including interactive web-based classes in which specialized experts teach lessons in such areas as mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics to multiple schools and classrooms around the country.

About Canonical and Ubuntu

Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, is headquartered in Europe and is committed to the development, distribution and support of open source software products and communities. World-class 24x7 commercial support for Ubuntu is available through Canonical's global support team and partners.

Since its launch in October 2004 Ubuntu has become one of the most highly regarded Linux distributions with millions of users around the world. Ubuntu will always be free to download, free to use and free to distribute to others. With these goals in mind, Ubuntu aims to be the most widely used Linux system, and is the center of a global open source software ecosystem.

Download Ubuntu from www.ubuntu.com/download. To learn about commercial support for Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu, please see www.canonical.com/support. For more information visit www.canonical.com or www.ubuntu.com.

Ubuntu Linux Download Servers in India - Backwardness of Infrastructure or what ?

Backwardness of Infrastructure or Backwardness of the Mind ?
For the Indian enthusiasts of Ubuntu and Linux it sometimes comes as a complete shock that a country which bursts into raptures when women are launched into outer space, a country that just freaks out when it sees fillums like Swadesh, Chak de India etc and a country which regards itself as one of the providers of choice of IT services, innovation and IT expertise to many parts of the world - is very silent when it comes to the question of IT infrastructure.
However if you have had ocassion to talk to some of the smartest Indian IT professors, working for well over decades in premier science and technology teaching and research institutes, one cannot help asking them a few questions on Linux and the Indian community :
1. For how many years have you been using Linux ?
2. For how many years have you been teaching Linux ?
3. How many world class conferences you have attended or hosted on Linux with lots and lots of government money ?
4. How many times you have given media interviews regarding IT innovation strategy for this country ?
5. How many years you have spent on accumulating experience on clusters of computing hardware ?

And then if you ask them one simple question as to why - if when a user in an Indian village wants to download Ubuntu Linux from an Indian server there is no Indian server offering free downloads - they just go suddenly quiet.
How long is this state expected to last ?
Just try going to the Ubuntu Linux download page and see (forget the world) - just check out which Asian countries have servers from which common people can download Ubuntu Linux from.
You will be amazed that all these high flying science and technology bureaucrats of India have not even found the time or the resources to offer a server for simple downloads.
And do you wonder what countries figure there ?
Well certainly not the so called big boss of IT - India. Nor the IT capitalists who profess to be socialists at heart.
There is no NASSCOM there. No IIT. No IIIT. No IIM
Then who is there ? -
Surprise of surprises - China, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Vietnam.
No Indian servers at all from any of the high flying prestigious IT computing hubs sprinkled all over India.
Is this issue symptomatic about ills and achievements of Indian Science and Technology, some fifty years after the dreams of public sector and science and technology revolution in India ?