Local communities (LoCos)

Not to be confused with Linux User Group.

In an effort to reach out to users who are less technical, and to foster a sense of community around the distribution, Local Communities,^[181] better known as "LoCos", have been established throughout the world. Originally, each country had one LoCo Team. However, in some areas, most notably the United States and Canada, each state or province may establish a team.^[182] A LoCo Council approves teams based upon their efforts to aid in either the development or the promotion of Ubuntu.^[183]

Hardware vendor support

Ubuntu works closely with OEMs to jointly make Ubuntu available on a wide range of devices.^[184] A number of vendors offer computers with Ubuntu pre-installed, including Dell,^[185] Hasee,^[186] Sharp Corporation,^[187] and Cirrus7.^[188][189] Specifically, Dell offers the XPS 13 laptop, Developer Edition with Ubuntu pre-installed.^[190] Together, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and ASUS offer over 200 desktop and close to 500 laptop PCs preloaded with Ubuntu. Certified OEM images are also available for Ubuntu Advantage customers.^[184] System76,^[191] WeWi^[192] and Tesco^{[citation needed]}. System76 PCs are sold exclusively with Ubuntu. Dell and System76 customers are able to choose between 30-day, three-month, and yearly Ubuntu support plans through Canonical.^[193] Dell computers (running Ubuntu 10.04) include extra support for ATI Video Graphics, Dell Wireless, Fingerprint Readers, HDMI, Bluetooth, DVD playback (using LinDVD), and MP3/WMA/WMV.^[194] Asus is also selling some Eee PCs with Ubuntu pre-installed and announced "many more" models running Ubuntu for 2011.^{[195][196][197]} Vodafone has made available a notebook for the South-African market called "Webbook".^{[198][199][200]}
Dell sells computers (initially Inspiron 14R and 15R laptops) pre-loaded with Ubuntu in India and China, with 850 and 350 retail outlets respectively.^[201][202] Starting in 2013, Alienware began offering its X51 model gaming desktop pre-installed with Ubuntu at a lower price than if it were pre-installed with Windows.^[203]
While Linux already works in IBM's mainframe system (zLinux), IBM in collaboration with Canonical (and SUSE; "Linux Foundation will form a new Open Mainframe Project") announced Ubuntu support for their z/Architecture (IBM claims their latest system, IBM zEnterprise System, version z13 is the most powerful computer in the world; it is the largest computer by transistor count) for the first time, at the time of their "biggest code drop" ("LinuxOne") in Linux history.^[204]
In early 2015, Intel launched the Intel Compute Stick small form factor computer available preloaded with Ubuntu or Windows operating systems.^[205]