Certainly another reason to consider when buying your Ubuntu PCs from System76 over Dell, it seems to me. Having dealt with Dell 'support' in the past, it's clear. It is the over-sized anchor on an already sinking ship.

Linux users want two things for their hardware: drivers; and easy access to those drivers. The first is finally happening; and now, thanks to a Dell Linux project called DKMS (Dynamic Kernel Module Support), the other is on its way.

Dell knows it won't happen overnight, but along side wanting to ship audio/video codecs, Intel Wireless 80.211N support for Linux, Broadcom Wireless for Linux, and being able to ship notebooks and desktops with Compiz Fusion enabled, Dell would like to see improved ATI Linux drivers.

Some time ago Dell introduced the dynamic kernel module support (DKMS) to automatically recompile kernel modules during kernel updates. Now the first average-user apps supporting dkms emerged: VirtualBox and ATI graphics drivers.

Podcast. Now that Dell offers Linux as an option on desktops and notebooks, how does that affect the company's hardware selections? LinuxWorld Conference and Expo speaker Matt Domsch explains how Dell uses vendors' free drivers at kernel.org to help pick the hardware that goes into the next generation of Dell products

With the Linux 2.6.32 kernel merge window opening up this month, open-source developers around the world have been busy working on their code that they wish to push into this next major kernel update.

There has been a lot of talk about the Linux kernel and Open Source drivers this week. Most of it was about Microsoft that released drivers under the GPL V2 for inclusion in the Linux kernel. As pointed out by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols this was planned for a long time and will benefit Microsoft as much (if not more) than Linux.

Linux’s main merit, as a kernel and an ecosystem, is its open source nature. That means the software that runs on it has little choice but to be open source. This doesn’t mean closed-source software is unavailable on Linux—just that it’s got the deck stacked strongly against it.

Operating systems drive devices. Linux is driven by open-source imperatives. So, naturally, Linux's kernel developers have a problem with closed-source kernel modules. And, just as naturally, they've hacked up a statement they hope will discourage the closed and encourage the open.