Dell Reportedly Shipping Ubuntu-Based Linux On 40%+ Of PCs In China

<http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Dell-China-40-Linux> As the article admits, it is common for a pirated copy of Windows to be installed on such machines after the fact. However, as a commenter points out, these machines still officially count as sales of desktop Linux regardless.

I don't know if it still is the case, but a requirement of the IT purchasing policies of companies in China 20 to 30 years ago was that the operating system source code must be included with the shipment. I assume that NeoKylin source code is available online, although from their web-site I can't tell. Thus for Dell to have NeoKylin pre-loaded on Dell systems would allow Dell IT equipment to be proposed in bids to IT tenders issued by Chinese companies. ...and I'm sure Dell have worked it out that Chinese IT tenders have the potential to require some of the largest quantities of equipment to be supplied of any IT tenders in the world.
participants (2)
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Ian Stewart
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro