Canonical, the company that supports Ubuntu Linux, is trying to work out a deal with hardware vendors such as Dell to make Ubuntu available preinstalled on servers.
So far, Canonical has struck deals with small, white-label hardware vendors to ship Ubuntu Server Edition, said Gerry Carr, marketing manager. Another one of those deals is pending, although Carr did not name the manufacturer.
But Canonical is in discussions with "multinational" hardware vendors for a big server deal, which could boost its standing in the enterprise market among Linux giants Red Hat and Novell.
"We haven't got the same deal as we have with Dell on desktop," Carr said. "My personal belief is that it [a deal] will happen reasonably soon."
http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/operating-systems/nix/news/index.cfm?newsid=5559