2013/11/18 Matthias Kirschner mk@fsfe.org:
The other problem in this offer is Ubuntu itself. First because of spying on the users by default (see Richard Stallman's "Ubuntu Spyware: What to do?" https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do or EFF's "Privacy in Ubuntu 12.10: Amazon Ads and Data Leaks" https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/10/privacy-ubuntu-1210-amazon-ads-and-data-leaks.
The Dell machine comes pre-installed with Ubuntu 12.04, which does not have this Amazon lookup feature, and anyways I run Gnome 3 so pretty much everybody I know who used to be Ubuntu fans have switched from the Unity crap to something else: Gnome 3, KDE, Xfce, LXDE etc.. but that is a different story.
Second, as I assume you would also be interested to buy a machine with GNU/Linux preinstalled instead of Microsoft Windows, although you will afterwards choose another distribution, it helps to prefer offers with distributions which do not include non-free software like Ubuntu does. If the hardware works one of those distributios, it will also work with another GNU/Linux distribution, which does not include non-free software.
I haven't tried if I can run Trisquel on this, which would be the most purest form of freedom, but also I don't think I fully understand the issue either and I am not aware of which parts of standard Debian or Ubuntu are actually non-free software like fsfe.org and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisquel claims.
Besides the normal Ubuntu repos, the Dell XPS 13 seems to have the following extra repos for drivers
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner deb http://opensource.dell.com/releases/sputnik/archive precise main deb-src http://opensource.dell.com/releases/sputnik/archive precise main deb http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates/ precise-dell public deb-src http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates/ precise-dell public deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/canonical-hwe-team/sputnik-kernel/ubuntu precise main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/canonical-hwe-team/sputnik-kernel/ubuntu precise main
These all have at least deb-src-lines also and nowhere does my system say any restricted (non-free) drivers are in use, like it would say on Ubuntu computers where Ubuntu detects hardware that needs non-free drivers. But I don't have time to investigate this to the roots, but feel free to look at the repos above and tell me if you find non-free stuff.
Anyway I think Dell XPS 13 is great. It might not be perfect, but it is still the best thing I've seen so far. It enables me to get a real GNU/Linux system without unbearable cost or functional sacrifices. In fact, it has functional advantages that makes it in the top range of laptops available at the moment. Very cool.
Browsing through sites like http://linuxpreloaded.com/ or the FSF directory I can find only one single laptop that is sold pre-installed with Trisquel: https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/emperor-penguin-gnu-linux-notebook. I am a customer of ThinkPenguin for other hardware and at least the Fellow Tobias Platen has bought a laptop from there. They have at least Spanish and Swedish(=Finnish) keyboards and ship internationally. If their laptop is OK to you then that would be the most freedom loving choice.
Unfrotunately the current thinkpenguin.com model isn't an ultrabook. In general, the Finnish keyboard requirement alone narrows down the options alot (I can't stop using åäö, right?). I guess lot's of you need Danish, German etc keyboards and Dell XPS 13 is a model that is available in many countries with native keyboards. For me as a Finn I can at the moment choose between Mac laptops, Windows laptops, a few Ubuntu laptops and some Chrome laptops. Of these, I chose Ubuntu.
98 out of 100 Linux geeks I know - and also according to the two polls I made at FOSDEM 2013 - don't by any kind of pre-installed Linux machines, but they buy Windows laptops and Mac laptops and then convert them into Linux machines, without supporting the pre-installed Linux-industry in any way. This is the real problem we should seek to change.
I am proud I've done something about this, advertised it, and helped things go in the better direction. We don't live in a perfect world yet, but we will eventually get there if we vote with our money and persuade our fellow geeks and perhaps even others to vote with their money.
Of those reading this thread - how many of you are currently running a machine that did not come with any kind of Linux pre-installed?