"What I'd like (and I suspect many other developers would too) is a nice laptop that I can install Linux on, and have it Just Work."
Well, the first thing I want is for it to just work. Sleep/Wake should just work. The trackpad should just work. Etc. Oh, and it should all work well.
After that I would love to be able to install some other version of linux and have it just work, but having a Dell version that just works is a big improvement over things not just working.
Again, it's all perspective. iPads just work, closed game consoles just work. Linux can just work (until the next update) but a lot of the time it doesn't.
And that's just the way I like it, because in the end (for me), its the only OS I can configure to such a degree that it lets me "just work".
I'd rather have my trackpad, sound, sleep/wake, graphics driver, etc ... work out of the box than to have an extreme degree of configurability.
You are right, this is my perspective, but for Dell it's also a matter of numbers. Which direction, if they can't do both now, will sell more laptops, cause fewer returns, etc.
Well, the first thing I want is for it to just work. Sleep/Wake should just work. The trackpad should just work. Etc. Oh, and it should all work well.
After that I would love to be able to install some other version of linux and have it just work, but having a Dell version that just works is a big improvement over things not just working.