What is it that web developers want? That’s what Dell is trying to find out with its just-launched Project Sputnik, an “experimental” laptop bundled with Ubuntu Linux plus utilities, and with an easy on-ramp to github repositories coming soon. Sputnik looks like Dell’s attempt to wrest the attention of the many web developers that have defected to OS X, but chafe at the restrictions Apple’s walled garden imposes on them.
Barton George, director of Dell’s web vertical, unveiled the project on his blog and Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth showed off the Dell XPS13 laptop laptop running Ubuntu 12.04 at the Ubuntu Developers Summit in Oakland on Monday.