Dell will sell Linux on PCs outside of U.S.

Dell plans to sell computers with preinstalled Linux outside the United States as well as offer the Ubuntu Linux distribution to small business customers.

More details will be revealed later, wrote Lionel Menchaca, digital media manager for Dell on a company blog on Friday.

"I wanted to be clear that Dell does have plans to offer Linux to more consumers in additional locations outside the United States," Menchaca wrote.

Dell is also encouraging more members of its Linux engineering team to post technical updates about specific distributions and open source projects, he added.

Dell began selling two desktop PCs and a laptop with the Ubuntu 7.04 Linux distribution preinstalled in the United States in May, a move the company said was in response to consumer demand.

Although Linux's success has been squarely in the server market, consumers are showing increased interest in the open source operating system as a desktop OS alternative to Microsoft's Windows. Desktop Linux has tended to have more appeal among developers and computer enthusiasts.

Dell already offers other Linux distributions from market leaders Red Hat and Novell on some of its servers and its Precision workstation line.