Dell Releases Ubuntu 7.10-Powered PCs

sjvn writes "The official word will be out any minute now, but in the meantime DesktopLinux has learned that Dell will be releasing Ubuntu 7.10 on a laptop and desktop with immediate availability. And, as an extra added bonus, they're tossing in legal DVD-playback capability. In a word: Neat."

DVD Playback

[Poppler]

And, as an extra added bonus, they're tossing in legal DVD-playback capability.

That's the real new here as far as I'm concerned. This is what needs to be done if they're going to try to sell these things to the home PC market.

If they're smart, they'll continue on that path and add out-of-the-box support for mp3, aac, and other non-Free multimedia.

Re:Is the DVD playback crippled?

[UncleTogie]

But let's not act like players are supposed to completely ignore PUOs on DVDs, they're not. Those that do are the ones that aren't working as the specs detail they're supposed to...

According to whom? If we're talking the UOP specification [wikipedia.org], I can't think of many end users that would AGREE to have their control taken from them. I'd also be willing to bet that if asked "Would you like to let the movie studio control what you watch on your legally purchased DVD, or would YOU like to choose?" darn near 100% of the users would indicate the latter. If you check the linked article above, pay close attention to the last sentence in the first paragraph.

Wonton abuse of a published spec is one of the first steps to render said spec obsolete.

Re:Linux Cost More?

[setagllib]

The Linux install is not subsidized with hundreds of badvertisement and spyware programs. You get a fixed, enhanced, tested Ubuntu 7.10 without any malware. To many people that's worth a lot more than Vista. Personally? I'd get the cheap Vista license and then replace the install with Ubuntu anyway, and then perform a ritual sacrifice to help a copy of Vista leave this world.

Dell PCs probably don't use LinuxBIOS

[tepples]

So it still needs proprietary drivers, right?

Virtually any Dell PC you buy will come with proprietary software on it. After you turn on your Dell PC, a piece of proprietary software called "BIOS" sets the video adapter and much of the rest of the chipset into a known state, does some checks on your RAM, and loads GRUB.