Six years ago today the first Project Sputnik system appeared on dell.com.

It all started at the beginning of 2012 with a pitch to an internal innovation committee. A month after the pitch, on the ides of March, the committee gave the go ahead for an exploratory project to test out the idea of a developer laptop.

Thanks to the interest and support of the community, eight months later, the project became a product.

On November 29, 2012 the Dell XPS 13 developer edition was born.

It takes a village

Beyond the developer community, the reason why Project Sputnik is alive and thriving today is because of the support, both official and unofficial, from dozens of people across Dell.

These individuals have come from marketing, engineering, sales, finance, PR, operations… Here are some of the key contributors over the last six years

Xiao Liang, Wendy, Abby, Lihua, David, Zorro Aidan Amber Huang Amit Barton George Brett Cami Collins Casey Downing Chris D Chris W Clement Damon Derek Eric Erin Frank Geoff Dunlap James Jones Jared Dominguez Jason John Jon Johnathon Boyd Juan Martinez Justin X Kerry Lester Luke Presley Mano Mario Matt Melissa Munira Ray Ryan Peter Sandra Sarah Theresa Thomas Justin Cowan Eoin Lauren Marek Meg (Mei Kuen, Tusi) Michal Patrick Griffin Randall Shawn Burton

From then to now

With help from the folks above, Project Sputnik has continued to evolve.

The XPS 13 developer edition, which debuted with only one config and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, is now in its 7th generation, comes with Ubuntu 18.04 and boasts multiple configurations. Along the way the project also expanded when the Linux-based mobile Precision workstation line joined the effort.

This year was a particularly busy one for the project with new versions of all five Sputnik platforms launching:

Thanks

Thanks once again to the community and everyone within Dell who has driven Project Sputnik from idea, to product, to product line.

Stay tuned and see where we go next!

Project Sputnik timeline

2012

Project Sputnik announced — May 7, 2012

Project Sputnik to go from Pilot to Product — July 18, 2012

1st gen Dell XPS 13 developer edition in the US — November 29, 2012

2013

2nd gen developer edition in US and Europe — February 18, 2013

3rd gen developer edition in US along with instructions on getting Ubuntu up and running on a Precision 3800 mobile workstation — November 15, 2013

3rd gen developer edition in US and Europe — December 20, 2013

2015

Dell Precision M3800 mobile workstation joins Project Sputnik — January 27, 2015

4th gen Dell XPS 13 developer edition in US and Europe — April 9, 2015

2016

5th gen XPS 13 Developer Edition in US, Ubuntu-based Workstations (5510, 3510, 7510, 7720) available worldwide — March 3, 2016

5th gen XPS 13 developer edition in Europe — March 31, 2016

6th gen XPS 13 Developer Edition in Europe and US — October 04, 2016

2017

Next gen Ubuntu-based Precision line-up announced, 5520 and 3520 available — January 9, 2017

Precision 7520 and 7720 available — March 18, 2017

Precision All-in-One available – April 18

2018

7th gen XPS 13 Developer Edition in Europe and US – January 4

Next gen Precision line announced, 3530 available – March 24

Precision 7530 and 7730 available – July 2

XPS 13 developer edition upgrades to 18.04 – July 27

Precision 5530 available – August 31

(For a detailed project history please see last year’s 5th anniversary blog)

Extra-credit reading: news and reviews

Overall program

An update from Dell’s Barton George on their Linux initiative Sputnik – Linux Unplugged (starts at 40min)

XPS 13 developer edition

Precision xx30 developer edition line

Dell Precision 5530 with Ubuntu Review – Linux Unplugged (review starts at ~36min and goes to ~52min)

Dell Precision 5530, Ubuntu Pre-Installed – This Week in Linux (13:44)

Dell Unveils New Ubuntu Laptops — OMG!UBUNTU!

Dell Precision ‘Developer Edition’ mobile workstations run Ubuntu Linux and are RHEL certified – betanews

Dell refreshes Precision laptops with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed – ZDnet

Dell stuffs Intel Coffee Lake CPUs and Ubuntu into latest Precision workstations – The Inquirer

Dell launches new Precision mobile workstation line-up powered by Ubuntu – Softpedia

Dell Precision 5530 sale a la venta con Ubuntu y certificado para RHEL » MuyLinux

Welcome the new Dell Precision developer editions – Barton’s blog

Developer Editions of Precision Workstations Now Available — Direct2DellEMC

Introducing the Dell Precision 7530 and 7730 with Ubuntu — Ubuntu blog

Precision Developer Editions 7530/7730 now online — Welcome the power pair – Barton’s blog

Pau for now…

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