Linus Torvalds has stated he purchased a Dell XPS-13 with Ubuntu Linux for his daughter. Now ZDNet shares some trivia from the historical past of “probably the most well-known Linux laptop computer,” citing a presentation by Barton George, Dell Applied sciences’ Developer Group supervisor, on the Linux/open-source convention All Issues Open:
First, nevertheless, you must know that Dell has supported Linux desktops and laptops because the center 2000s. In 2006, Michael Dell instructed me that Dell can be the primary main PC vendor to launch and assist desktop Linux — and this proved to be a hit. Barton George defined that Dell had at all times executed nice quantity with these computer systems. Not quantity, just like the Home windows machines, in fact, however sufficient that Dell has at all times provided Linux-based — primarily Pink Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) powered — workstations.
Nonetheless, none of those machines actually appealed to builders… George introduced on his private weblog what Dell was planning, and his site visitors went from 60 views a day to fifteen,000. Then, as now, there’s plenty of curiosity in laptops that include Linux able to go… Dell acquired along with Canonical, Ubuntu Linux’s mother or father firm, to ensure all of the drivers have been in place for a top-notch Ubuntu Linux developer desktop expertise. Certainly, the identify ‘Undertaking Sputnik’ is a nod to Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu founder and Canonical CEO. A decade earlier than the undertaking itself, Shuttleworth had spent eight days orbiting the Earth in a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. George and the crew determined “Soyuz” did not have an inspiring ring to it, so the corporate went with “Sputnik” as an alternative.
George continued: “We introduced a beta program for the machine with a ten% off supply. We thought, nicely, we’ll most likely get 300 folks. As a substitute, we acquired 6,000. That is the place senior administration stated OK, you’ve got acquired one thing actual.”
