Customers to Dell: Give Us Linux!

The troubled computer maker sought input from users, but complying with the most popular online suggestions could worsen its woes

by Aaron Ricadela

When computer maker Dell asked customers how to spice up its products and improve service, the flood of responses may have provided more feedback than the company bargained for.

Thousands of computer buyers have weighed in on a site Dell set up Feb. 16 to solicit opinions on everything from product design to marketing to technical support. The resounding response: Give us more software and other features based on open-source code, including the Linux operating system.

Heeding the requests won't be easy for the PC maker, which ousted Chief Executive Kevin Rollins on Jan. 31 and again named founder Michael Dell CEO in an attempt to regain market share, improve product quality, resolve customer support problems, and recover some of the financial mojo Dell exuded until recent years (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/1/07, "Is Dell Too Big for Michael Dell?").

Well, Since You Asked…

On one hand, the customers who've posted 1,600 suggestions to Dell's IdeaStorm site and the tens of thousands more who voted to second those ideas represent the savviest edge of the PC market. They're consumers who identify trends and influence other buyers. On the other hand, incorporating the vox populi into business decisions could add costs and hamper customer support, worsening ills already afflicting Dell.

"We certainly expected to see some interesting stuff, and it hasn't failed to deliver," a Dell spokesman says of the online forum, which harnesses tools common to the emerging user-generated Web, asking customers to blog about potential solutions to Dell's problems or vote for their favorite posts. So far, more than 120,000 people have visited the site, Dell says (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/23/07, "Hack This Product, Please!").

The most popular ideas? Nos. 1 and 2 on the list: Factory-install Linux on consumer desktops and notebooks, and preload OpenOffice and other open-source productivity programs. The fifth most popular is a recommendation that Dell replace Microsoft's Internet Explorer with the open-source Firefox Web browser. "They're very high-end users and very knowledgeable," says Dell's spokesman.

Making Linux Consumer-Friendly

What's less clear is whether the outcry for Linux reflects demand in the market that goes broader than a vocal group of open-source advocates. Even high-profile Linux proponents admit the operating system isn't ready for mass-market use. The system is gaining traction in corporate data centers where low costs and the ability to play suppliers against each another are paramount. But Linux has been too arcane to control, incompatible with popular hardware, and bereft of popular programs for most home PC users.

"Linux has a long way to go before it has the same market demand as Windows," says Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, which promotes the software as an alternative to Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows, pays the salary of Linux creator Linus Torvalds, and counts Dell among its members. "Dell's a pretty smart company and they are responsive to their customers," Zemlin says. But to make Linux for consumers fly, the vendor would need to invest in engineering to ensure the software works with popular graphics chips and wireless modems, sign expanded support contracts with Linux suppliers like Red Hat (RHAT) and Novell (NOVL), or train its own customer service reps on open-source technologies. "That would help them build a better box," he says.

Dell says it's already listening. In a Feb.