Yesterday, trench-coated and fedora-capped newsmen were buzzing with the latest "man bites dog" story of the IT world. Word on the street was that Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Dell
Alas, word on the street wasn't quite accurate. (Imagine that.) It turns out that an Italian computer reseller called Questar had simply ordered a shipment of low-end Dell Optiplex mini-towers, decided to load them with the Linux OS, then issued an announcement making it seem as if this were a groundbreaking partnership between the open-source community and a computer powerhouse.
A great many media organizations reported the news as if it were so. Bad on them. In fact, Dell offers enterprise Linux systems -- though it works with OSes from Red Hat
For its part, Questar's misleading PR campaign has garnered it 15 minutes of fame -- and several hundred thousand Web visits -- it might otherwise never have enjoyed. Good on it, I suppose.
From my seat, this affair offers more than an opportunity for giggles and eye rolls. Maybe the fascination for anything non-Windows should convince Dell, along with competitors like IBM
A lot has changed since the late '90s, when the first Linux push landed on consumer desktops with a resounding splat. Newer distributions of the OS offer easy, snazzy-looking interfaces and solid performance. Even Wal-Mart
For more Fool computer industry coverage:
- Will AMD and Dell finally hook up?
- Did Apple blow it with the new iMac?
- Review the Linux controversy at SCO Group.
Fool contributor Seth Jayson likes trying out Linux, but still does his work on Windows. He has no position in any company mentioned. View his Fool profile here.
