An OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) installation mode is now available for Ubuntu 5.10. This will help OEMs (lke HP, Dell or even your local computer store) to pre-install Ubuntu on a computer and sell it to you. Once you buy the computer, the first time you power up, you will be asked to set your time zone, create a new user and basically customize the computer for your use.
With the OEM installation mode, it is hoped that more and more vendors will pre-install Ubuntu on the computers they sell. This would increase the number of Home users using Free Softwares like GNU/Linux. OEM Installation can be done easily using the Install CD.
Here are the steps for OEM Installation:
The Ubuntu Wiki has some documentation about the OEM Installer. Here are the seven easy steps.
- Place the Ubuntu 5.10 Install CD in the CD-ROM Drive and power on the computer.
- At boot:, type oem and press Enter.
- The Ubuntu 5.10 installer will run. Follow the on-screen instructions to start the installation.
- Once the installation is complete, you will be informed that Ubuntu 5.10 has been fully installed and the computer is ready for shipping.
- You can also run a system test to check if the installation of Ubuntu 5.10 OEM mode went smoothly. The system test will run the Ubuntu Hardware Database and will check if the hardware is configured correctly.
- Sell the Computer (The next step is for the potential buyer)
- Power on your new Ubuntu-powered computer (or laptop!). You will be asked to select your language, keyboard layout, time zone configuration, and create your first user account. The first user account created has administrative rights via sudo. Since Ubuntu 5.10 is a multi-user system, you can create more user accounts as needed.