Ubuntu has been available on Dell business laptops for quite awhile, including the recently introduced XPS 13 developer edition. A few weeks ago we announced that we were expanding our Ubuntu certification beyond our cloud servers to include Dell’s 12G servers.
Today we are announcing that Ubuntu is coming to another member of the Dell family, the Alienware X51 gaming desktop.
You can easily install Steam on to the X51 and although there aren’t tons of games supported yet, the list is continuing to grow and now includes classics such as Team Fortress 2 and Serious Sam.
To learn more and get a first-person account of using Ubuntu on the X51 check out the Direct2Dell blog post.
Update: corrected Ubuntu logo on above screenshot
Extra-credit reading
- Ubuntu OS now an option on Alienware x51 – Dell blog
- How to install the Steam gaming client on Ubuntu (Gallery) | ZDNet
- Steam for Linux – Ubuntu Wiki
- Dell, Canonical tag team on Ubuntu Server tune-up for PowerEdgies – The Register
Pau for now…
Barton's Blog 
Great news! Then the big question: Will we be able to change the light on the case in Ubuntu? 😉
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Glad to hear it! Ubuntu’s not my favorite distro, but it’s better than nothing.
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Thx John! Out of curiosity, which disto would prefer?
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John, I think i know you, if Iam right, then stop being a Linux mint jerk and love ubuntu.
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Why would i want to install ubuntu on an alienware? I do love ubuntu but i dont see a point in this at all TF2 is not a good reason to even buy an alienware , you buy one to play some good max graphic games and well sorry to say Ubuntu can’t support them .
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Who says it can’t support them? Why would Valve be involved in rolling out a Linux version of the Steam platform if they themselves didn’t believe in it being possible?
Look, the problem is the lack of available software, *not* Ubuntu being capable of supporting them.
That said, _at this point_ the support isn’t quite up to scratch. A few months ago (dunno about now) Serious Sam only worked decently on medium settings on my rather decent notebook, for example. So it’s all up to how early you actually want to start contributing to getting max graphics working.
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[…] Fonte: bartongeorge.net/2013/04/05/game-on-ubuntu-comes-to-alienware/ […]
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Nice to hear. Will it be avaible outside the us? Germany?
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[…] Game on! Ubuntu comes to Alienware […]
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Does this work with the default Ubuntu 12.04 ISO? Do I need to install anything after a clean install?
Can I turn off the lights?
Can the alien head be removed easily?
Thanks!
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Alan,
I checked with the team and here are the answers I got back:
Does this work with the default Ubuntu 12.04 ISO? Do I need to install anything after a clean install?
– The image on the X51 was optimized by Dell/Alienware with all the necessary drivers and software to assure a good customer experience out of the box.
– A majority of the fixes are now available directly in Ubuntu if you were to clean install and then do all Ubuntu updates. You would however need to make sure to choose the later NVIDIA driver version in Jockey (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers-updates) and install the package for the software-enabled DVD eject button manually as this isn’t in the Ubuntu archive at this moment.
– The default kernel command line needs an option of vga=0 included to pass S3 stress testing. If you encounter S3 problems you will want to add this.
Can I turn off the lights?
– No, currently there is no AlienFX for Linux application available that would be used to change colors via software
Can the alien head be removed easily
– No, the alien head is not designed for removal
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It’s unfortunate that the Alien head is not removable and the lights can’t be turned off. There are some gamers who aren’t into that stuff.
Can the DVD eject software be downloaded at Dell’s support site?
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Reblogged this on Jaye Tech and commented:
Atlast Ubuntu comes to the Alienware range of dells systems. About time, glad to have the option now as I’m a big alienware fan :p
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[…] Fonte: Ubuntero , Techtudo , Bartongeorge […]
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