For the past few years there has been growing support for Linux. And now Dell have announced that they are going to offer Linux pre-installed on select desktops and laptops.They haven’t said when this will happen, or what distribution they’ll use.
Does this mean that Linux is about to hit the mainstream?
I’ve been installing and trying to use Linux for at least the last 7 years, but I’ve always given up in the end. Why? The main reason is that with Linux, the hardware support is basically rubbish. I’ve tried to install 5 different distro’s on at least half a dozen computers over the years, and not once have I been able to get all my hardware to work. I spent countless hours on Google looking for drivers, only to discover that there is no driver available. Happily this has improved with newer Linux distributions, but hardware support is still far from perfect.
Then there’s also the community surrounding Linux. Don’t get me wrong, the vast majority of people who donate their time and energy to Linux do so with the best will in the world. Nonetheless there’s always a few that look down on anyone who has the temerity to pose a simple question. In one case where I posted a request for help locating a driver for my video card, all I got back were standard “RTFM” replies along with someone who kindly told me that there was no driver available, and that if I wanted to use Linux that the least I go do was contribute by writing one. I neither have the ability, time or interest to do something like that. With that kind of attitude, Linux is never going to become a mainstream home OS. Home users want to spend their time working on their computer, not spend time getting their computer to work.
With Dells announcement, that may be about to change. By offering Linux to the average home user, Dell are committing themselves to providing the required drivers and technical support. Your new Linux computer may work out of the box but don’t be lulled into thinking that all your peripherals will work with your new machine. In my experience, there’s a good chance that at least one of them won’t.
When all is said and done, this is still great news for Linux. Despite all my previous problems, and experiences, I remain a fan of Linux. I like it’s security, I like the ability to use the command line to interact with practically any part of the OS, I like the sheer robustness of the OS. And I keep trying it out. I may not be able to get it to work with all my peripherals, and with all my hardware, but I still love the challenge of trying to get it to do so – why else do you think I keep coming back to it!
I may not be able to run Linux full time, but I do have my Mac for when I want to forgt about Windows for a while!