Dell Sees a Future in Desktop Linux

Did Dell Really Dump Desktop Linux?

IDGNS: Looking back, you were one of the first companies to have Linux from the desktop to your highest-end server. You also made a lot of investments in companies like Eazel that were working on making desktop versions of Linux easier to use.

MD: Some of it worked, some of it didn't. We did make a lot of progress, but unfortunately the desktop Linux market didn't develop in volume. It's more of a server opportunity.

IDGNS: Some people at Eazel (now defunct) said that Dell was still willing to invest in the company.

MD: Yeah.

IDGNS: Doesn't your commitment to Eazel there seem to contradict your decision to pull Linux as an option for desktops in 2001?

MD: Well, I think there might have been a misunderstanding of what we pulled and didn't pull. If you think about the breadth of our product line, you have 150 different models. The demand for Linux on the desktop is there, but it's not huge. So to support Linux on the desktop for every single model does not make economic sense. So what we have done, effectively, is offer it on a smaller set of configurations.

IDGNS: I was under the impression that customers had to request Linux for desktops in large quantities as a special order.

MD: I think on our workstation products you can buy it off the Web site. We found that [the demand is] in the education and scientific markets...and they want it on workstations. But again, we sell systems with free DOS, so you can put your own OS on there.

IDGNS: I am sure you saw Dell mentioned in the Microsoft antitrust case, where a Microsoft memo spelled how upset they were at your decision to sell Linux on the desktop.

MD: Whoo! (Twirls finger.)

IDGNS: A large chunk of your staff that dealt with Linux was fired after you dropped it from the desktop, and some people suggested Microsoft may have nudged you in that direction. But you are saying there is nothing to that speculation?

MD: No, we offer Linux on the desktop. We continue to offer Linux on the desktop and there is nothing else to say. Microsoft is a great partner of ours, and they don't sell only to Dell, and we don't sell only their products. It's pretty simple. (Laughs.)

IDGNS: It does seem like Linux has come a long way on the desktop this year. Do you think it can be revitalized there?

MD: I think you can look at our prior activities here and know that this is something we are interested in seeing, but if you asked if it would be significant in the next few months, it doesn't appear that way. We are not opposed to it. If there is a volume Linux-on-the-desktop market, then great.

IDGNS: Dell was one of the companies that was pretty vocal about being happy that HP and Compaq were merging. Now that the chaos of the merger has passed, what are the effects you are seeing?

MD: Last quarter our business grew 28 percent in units, and the rest of the industry grew 2 percent. I think the company you mentioned had negative growth in units. So, I think we did pretty well.

IDGNS: Do you think IBM and HP have the right model as the one-stop shop for everything? Is that model, along with heavy services, the one that will survive?

MD: I think our results have been pretty good this last year. I think our results speak for themselves.