Linux is a-comin...and Dell's coming with 'em!

Dell began offering a new desktop PC this week with no operating system installed. The machine is designed for people who want to run open-source software such as Linux instead of Windows.

If you have been waiting for a sign the open-source movement has come of age - this may just be it. Don't be suprised if in the very near future you hear from a student in need of AT or Alt-Media whose parents sent them off to college with a shiney new laptop running Red Hat & OpenOffice instead of XP & MS. Before you think Linux is some hackers pet project - In Massachusetts, the state government wants to unburden itself from the yolk of Microsoft and entire school districts in the Midwest are going with Linux.

Should we care - yes. At the very least we should have working knowledge of Linux and what is being done on the accessibility front. If you don't already have one in place, consider a policy outlining not only the alt-text formats you can provide and support, but which operating systems as well.

• Is Linux Accessible?
• Linux Accessibility courtesy of the ATRC
• Consider Accessibility from the Linux Journal
• Free Standards Group Drives Accessibility
• Free Standards Group Accessibility Workgroup
• Blind + Linux = BLINUX