HP to beat Dell to the pre-loaded Linux punch?

Dell asked you what you wanted, you said that you wanted machines pre-loaded with Linux and they said "No". That's pretty much the story of Dell's IdeaStorm feedback site; though the company hasn't quite ruled out the possibility of Linux boxes (which over 85,000 users requested), they're sticking to Windows and OS-free machines for now. All hope is not lost, however--if recent reports are to be believed, HP may answer the call that Dell has ignored. An HP exec recently revealed that the company may soon offer pre-installed Linux as a configuration option on some machines. "We are involved in a number of massive deals for Linux desktops, and those are the kinds of things that are indicators of critical mass. So we are really looking at it very hard," said Doug Small, worldwide director of open-source and Linux marketing at HP. The company already offers SUSE and Red Hat certified machines to consumers and even ships Linux boxes to large enterprise customers, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch. What say you, Dell?

For more on the possibility:
- see this article at CRN