dailynews.yahoo.com
Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq:DELL - news), the top supplier of corporate personal computers, Tuesday became the latest
computer maker to throw its support to Linux, an alternative to Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news)'s Windows software.
In a series of announcements, Dell said it had taken an equity stake in Red Hat, a leading supplier of Linux software, and was now offering to install Linux on a
number of its computers.
Dell is the world's No. 1 direct supplier of personal computers.
Dell said it was now offering factory installation of Linux software as an option on selected server and workstation personal computers (PCs). Servers are
computers used to manage networks of other PCs. Workstations are powerful PCs used by researchers and designers on data-intensive tasks.
In a further endorsement of Linux, Dell said it had signed up a new corporate customer -- clothing retailer Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp.
(NYSE:BCF - news) -- to buy 1,250 desktop PCs running Linux as its operating system software.
The deal is among the largest examples to date of how Linux is finding wider acceptance on the desktop computers used by businesses -- the cornerstone of
Microsoft's domination of the PC industry.
Dell's investment in Red Hat follows stakes by a variety of computer industry heavyweights in the privately held Durham, N.C., firm, including Compaq Computer
Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news), Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news) and America Online Inc.
(NYSE:AOL - news)'s Netscape business. |
