Is there really a benefit in purchasing a computer preinstalled with linux to get everything compatible? Aside from printer drivers and making sure the printer is compatible, is there a problem with using a new dell?

If so, what problems might I expect to need tweaking?

Thanks for your help.

http://www.dell.com/content/products...bsd&redirect=1

Since Dell will sell you a computer you can run linux on, I would say that you should be able to purchase one of the suggested configurations and install Linux on it yourself without too much trouble.

Issues you might run into would be driers for certain peripherals.. NIC cards, Sound cards, SATA HD Controllers.. etc.. but if you use a relatively new distro most of these items are detected and configured automatically these days.

Looks like quite a few people would like Linux pre-installed on their Dell PC.. http://www.dellideastorm.com/

Debian Etch detected the RAID controller and NIC's in my Brand new HP Server without any troubles.. so a desktop should be easier

Well, I did tell Dell that I would be running linux (I have Ubuntu on it now), but the printer they sent had no driver for it, even though the rep said it was linux compatible. After a few failed attempts to convince me to run windows excluseively, he said I should probably just return the whole system. Does this mean I'm up for problems? In other words, should I return the whole thing? I'd rather not, but I just don't know enough yet to make a good determination. Hm.

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What printer did Dell send you?

For example, I bought a Dell P1500 laser printer and did some research on the web. It's actually a rebranding/compatible with the Lexmark E321 (or such, I'm not at home now to check) and while I didn't have the precise driver (Lexmark does have drivers for Linux at its web site, BTW), either the optra or one of the other Lexmark drivers worked fine.

It's a dell 946.

BTW, that is so cool that you thought of that. How would I get that kind of information? I know a couple of other people who are in the same boat as me, and maybe they could do that, too.

1. Experiment with a few lexmark drivers.

2. Go on the web -- and check the HCL forum here first -- to see what it's a rebranding of.

3. Go to www.lexmark.com and see what there is under downloads for drivers

Good luck

If you decide to return something I would only return the printer..
Then I would go purchase a printer from Brother or Samsung, they actually DO support Linux..

http://list.driverguide.com/list/LIN...911/index.html
http://solutions.brother.com/linux/en_us/index.html

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A good source on the web is www.linuxprinting.org and google, also. Mind you, i don't know where on your system the drivers would be installed to, but I think you can find a pre-installed driver on your OS that will suffice.

Well, I do have a couple of drivers on my system but neither worked. I tried lexmark, but they only seemed to have drivers for windows or mac. I did find one comment after a few different google searches that dell's printers are often made by lexmark, and perhaps this one was as well. But while I did find a question or two about crossovers for my model, the best I could find was that it was similar in features to the Lexmark X5470. I hoped that was the crossover, then, and thought I'd try it. I did try to find drivers on lexmark's site for it, but they were windows or mac. There was a driver kit for developing a driver, but I'm lucky to know what an operating system is. (I'm the ultimate newbie.) I just recenty figured out how to even open a console.

Thank you for the advice. It sure would be a major pain in the rear to pack up this whole system and send it back now that I've done all this tweaking. I did check out the dell site you mentioned and of course added my voice to the demand for linux preinstalls and drivers and support. I guess they're listening to some extent, but not as zealously as we'd like just yet:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...highlight=dell