Written by janozaurus the 18 Apr 10 at 20:26.

As a first step I propose to publicly announce approved/suggested hardware configurations for a small number of typical usage cases. Let's say: "Standard Ubuntu netbook" has 10inch screen, Compiz-ready graphics, SSD, ...; "Standard Ubuntu 13 inch notebook" has ...; "Standard Ubuntu 15 inch notebook" has ... .

Conduct a global market survey. If products meeting those specs are available (at a reasonable price), promote the vendor. If not, start a company selling those notebooks.

Example #1: US consumers can order Ubuntu laptops from a number of vendors online. However in many European countries there's no such vendor. Selling Ubuntu notebooks in those markets provides great value to the Ubuntu user community as well as a viable business idea.

Example #2: Linux is popular in some niches (science, tech enthusiasts), but not in others. To overcome this divide, we need Ubuntu-based products in brick-and-mortar stores. Therefore promoting Ubuntu through more traditional channels is promising even if the product is more expensive then DIV download from the internet.

As a first step I propose to publicly announce approved/suggested hardware configurations for a small number of typical usage cases. Let's say: "Standard Ubuntu netbook" has 10inch screen, Compiz-ready graphics, SSD, ...; "Standard Ubuntu 13 inch notebook" has ...; "Standard Ubuntu 15 inch notebook" has ... . Conduct a global market survey. If products meeting those specs are available (at a reasonable price), promote the vendor. If not, start a company selling those notebooks. Example #1: US consumers can order Ubuntu laptops from a number of vendors online. However in many European countries there's no such vendor. Selling Ubuntu notebooks in those markets provides great value to the Ubuntu user community as well as a viable business idea. Example #2: Linux is popular in some niches (science, tech enthusiasts), but not in others. To overcome this divide, we need Ubuntu-based products in brick-and-mortar stores. Therefore promoting Ubuntu through more traditional channels is promising even if the product is more expensive then DIV download from the internet.