The Sputnik Story:Crowd-sourcing a developer laptop Barton GeorgeDirector, Developer ProgramsDell Services

@Barton808

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

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‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

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Impractical

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

Dell Innovation Fund+

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‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

The Plan

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

1.Involve developer community in product development

The Plan

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

1.Involve developer community in product development

2.Be scrappy

The Plan

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

1.Involve developer community in product development

2.Be scrappy

3.Profit!

The Plan

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

1.Involve developer community in product development

2.Be scrappy

3.Profit! -> Court developers

The Plan

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

Photo source: Comrade Foot; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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Photo source: IATI The International Aid Transparency Initiative; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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March 15, 2012 Approved by Dell Innovation Fund

Apr 6-10 Feedback from select Alpha developers

April 16-20 Customer visits to get feedback

April 20- May 7 Getting ready to go public

You have 3 months…

Make a laptop!

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

March 15, 2012 Approved by Dell Innovation Fund

Apr 6-10 Feedback from select Alpha developers

April 16-20 Customer visits to get feedback

April 20- May 7 Getting ready to go public

You have 3 months…

Make a laptop!

• May 7 Project announced via blog and at Ubuntu Dev Summit

Unique visitors to bartongeorge.net

We struck a nerve! 70K+

Going Public

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

• May 7 Project announced via blog and at Ubuntu Dev Summit

Unique visitors to bartongeorge.net

We struck a nerve! 70K+

Going Public

Ubuntu CEO

May 7 Project announced via blog; IdeaStorm kicked off

1. Don’t make it more expensive than Windows

2. Make it work with the vanilla image

3. At least 8GB of RAM

4. No Windows Preinstalled

5. No CD/DVD

6. ProSupport

Gathering Feedback

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

June 20 Touchpad driver written* (upstreamed to 3.9 kernel)

July 2 Beta program announced (6K+ people) <- Tipping point

July 17 Announced at OSCON: Project to become product in fall

Beta Late Then Never

‹#› Dell ServicesConfidential

June 20 Touchpad driver written* (upstreamed to 3.9 kernel)

July 2 Beta program announced (6K+ people) <- Tipping point

July 17 Announced at OSCON: Project to become product in fall

Beta Late Then Never

*drivers are really hard to write

Nov 29 Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition launched in US/Can

Feb 18 FHD version (addressed key complaint), EMEA launch

< 9 Months From Hack to Launch

The Launch (19 weeks)

XPS 13 Developer Edition: Client-to-cloud platform

3 Generations

Hardware: XPS 13 laptop

• FHD, i7 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD

Software

• Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

• Basic set of tools and utilities

• Beta projects: Profile tool & Cloud launcher

• Dell.com/developers

• GitHub.com/SputnikKey Links

Cloud back end• Joyent• OpenStack private• EC2• Rackspace

GitHub.com/sputnik

Profile library on Github• Community assembled

language stacks that are configured on the users client via the profile tool (built on chef scripts)

• Simulate entire app environment on client in Linux containers then deploy to cloud via cloud launcher

Our Dream for Project Sputnik: a client-to-cloud platform for developers

Micro cloud

Client

Cloud back end• Joyent• OpenStack private• EC2• Rackspace

Profile library on Github• Community assembled

language stacks that are configured on the users client via the profile tool (built on chef scripts)

• Simulate entire app environment on client in Linux containers then deploy to cloud via cloud launcher

Our Dream for Project Sputnik: a client-to-cloud platform for developers

Micro cloud

Photo source: n74jrw; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

The team –Small but scrappy (none of us full time)

Jared

Linux server engineering

Barton

Project Lead

Mario

Linux architect

Amit

Linux architect

Amber

Linux program Mgr

What’s Next?

Jared Dominguez

New editions!

Dell Precision M3800 mobile workstation, developer edition

• Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

• Next gen 15-inch mobile workstation

• 4th gen Core i7 quad-core, NVIDIA Quadro K1100M graphics

• Up to 16GB of memory

• 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160) screen option

• Availability: Worldwide

4th generation

Dell™ XPS™ 13 laptop, developer edition

• Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

• Virtually borderless infinity display

• Smallest 13-inch laptop on the planet

• 5th gen Core Processor

• Up to 8GB of memory

• Availability: US, Canada, Europe

How the idea has been received

4 Ways Dell Is Becoming An Open Source Company

"The laptop gives Dell credibility in the open source

developer community. With that support, Dell can...

grow a new sector of the hardware market."

— Alex Williams

Dell's Sputnik - Git what you want

“Dell is on the right track with their profile thinking. To me, this

could be a game-changer in the computer manufacturer race."

—Mike Hendrickson

Dude, Dell’s Building an Open Source Laptop

“The opportunity to skip the customization process should be of interest

to CIOs, because it will help them eliminate costs and speed up the

development process.”

- Clint Boulton

How the System has been reviewed

Dell's Linux laptop has good hardware, decent

toolkit

“….the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition is a thing of

beauty." — Katherine Noyes

Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review –

Linux laptop an Ultrabook in all but name

It just works:

Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Linux Ultrabook review

“Dell's substantial investment in making a functional Linux

Ultrabook pays off..” - Lee Hutchinson

The Dell XPS 13 Developers Edition With Ubuntu

"Excellent Ubuntu performance out of the box…

Using the laptop was a dream." — John Biggs

How the System has been received

People just want to be heard

Not all Trolls mean to Troll

People just want to be heard

Not all trolls mean to troll

Not all Trolls mean to Troll

What Did We Learn?

You need someone high up to go to bat for you

Get a Champion

Innovation without execution isn’t worth much

Execution

Don’t Over Promise

Deliver on what you say you will and explain when you “screw up”

Be Human

Speaking plainly and being transparent is powerful

No One Is Perfect(not even multi-billion dollar corporations)

Action is better than non-action, but nothing is perfect upon launch

Be HumbleTreat everyone with decency (may need to take a deep breath before

responding), don’t write anyone off too soon

Thank You! Happy Hacking :)

• www.dell.com/developers or www.dell.com/sputnik

• www.bartongeorge.net

• Twitter: @barton808

• #ProjectSputnik

Questions?