Dell Ubuntu PC Tech Details

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
[H] reader Edward Cabarles sent us a link to the technical details page for the forthcoming Dell PCs running Ubuntu. The two things that really stand out on the page are the use of partial open-source drivers when no equivalent open-source driver is available and no support for proprietary audio or video codecs that are not already distributed with Ubuntu 7.04.

At this time, we are not including any support for proprietary audio or video codecs that are not already distributed with Ubuntu 7.04. These include MPEG 1/2/3/4, WMA, WMV, DVD, Quicktime, etc. We are evaluating options for providing this support in the future.
Click to expand...
 
I can understand the exclusion of WMA, WMV, DVD, and Quicktime, as I'm sure the respective owner's wouldn't be too thrilled with those going out for free. And since the only way to play DVDs in Linux is illegal, that's understandable from Dell's POV. Are all the MPEG standards also burdened with royalties? Even XviD? Someone please educate me...

I can see a big marketing opportunity for Microsoft here: "See? Linux doesn't play all the most common formats! Use Windows instead!"
 
Mohonri said:
I can see a big marketing opportunity for Microsoft here: "See? Linux doesn't play all the most common formats! Use Windows instead!"
Click to expand...



But it's true...
Besides the question, "why buy a Dell" to begin with, why buy a computer that won't play these formats?
 
I could care less about support for them. I just want support for my MKV files :p

And this is why VLC is god :D
 
The solution is simple. Just install Automatix2 on all of the machines. When the machine is first booted, Automatix pops up and the user can install the DVD codecs, along with lots of other useful stuff. (Dell could eliminate some of the more geek oriented programs if they are worried about average consumers being confused and overwhelmed by the choices)

Most consumers could care less about some crappy warning that Automatix2 (and probably Dell) will pop up. For the 95% that don’t feel any moral obligation to honor DVD decoder royalties, the problem is solved.

I firmly believe that patents on decoder technology should work like patents on drugs. After something like 10 years, (which is ample time for a technology firm to make lots of $$$) the technology becomes public domain. The consortium that invented DVD technology has certainly gotten a return on their investment by now.
 
stonedwaldo420 said:
The solution is simple. Just install Automatix2 on all of the machines. When the machine is first booted, Automatix pops up and the user can install the DVD codecs, along with lots of other useful stuff. (Dell could eliminate some of the more geek oriented programs if they are worried about average consumers being confused and overwhelmed by the choices)

Most consumers could care less about some crappy warning that Automatix2 (and probably Dell) will pop up. For the 95% that don’t feel any moral obligation to honor DVD decoder royalties, the problem is solved.

I firmly believe that patents on decoder technology should work like patents on drugs. After something like 10 years, (which is ample time for a technology firm to make lots of $$$) the technology becomes public domain. The consortium that invented DVD technology has certainly gotten a return on their investment by now.
Click to expand...

Automatix 2 is to be avoided like the plague that it is. There is a reason the Ubuntu community urges you to steer away from it.
 
stonedwaldo420 said:
The solution is simple. Just install Automatix2 on all of the machines. When the machine is first booted, Automatix pops up and the user can install the DVD codecs, along with lots of other useful stuff. (Dell could eliminate some of the more geek oriented programs if they are worried about average consumers being confused and overwhelmed by the choices)

Most consumers could care less about some crappy warning that Automatix2 (and probably Dell) will pop up. For the 95% that don’t feel any moral obligation to honor DVD decoder royalties, the problem is solved.

I firmly believe that patents on decoder technology should work like patents on drugs. After something like 10 years, (which is ample time for a technology firm to make lots of $$$) the technology becomes public domain. The consortium that invented DVD technology has certainly gotten a return on their investment by now.
Click to expand...

ROFL, WHAT in the world makes you think Dell will violate a simple copyright protection law?
 
I think that the person who posted that doesn't seem to think that that is distribution, which depending on how technical you want to get, it either isn't (less technical) or is (more technical).
 
Darundal said:
I think that the person who posted that doesn't seem to think that that is distribution, which depending on how technical you want to get, it either isn't (less technical) or is (more technical).
Click to expand...
True, but that ambiguity itself means that Dell won't do it.
 
True, I doubt Dell would take the risk of putting Automatix2 on its linux PCs. As long as they don’t install the DVD codec, they should be ok legally, but that doesn’t mean they won’t get sued and have to spend years in court proving it.

And why don’t people like Automatix? I have been pretty happy with it so far.
 
stonedwaldo420 said:
True, I doubt Dell would take the risk of putting Automatix2 on its linux PCs. As long as they don’t install the DVD codec, they should be ok legally, but that doesn’t mean they won’t get sued and have to spend years in court proving it.

And why don’t people like Automatix? I have been pretty happy with it so far.
Click to expand...

goto ubuntuforums.org and just search automatix and thats why. It usually crashes most installs and creates many issues and is a massive security risk.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top