Customer Support is a huge consideration for any computer vendor; when customers have issues, they will often first look to the vendor for support, so it is extremely important for ensuring customer satisfaction and retention. The diversity of Linux distributions brings its own number of unique problems for vendors. As Dell recognises, "there is no single customer preference for a distribution of Linux," but there is more to the issue than alienating users; the staff required for providing this support also has to be considered.
I believe it would be a good idea for Linux vendors such as Red Hat, Novell, Canonical and Linspire to each provide outsourcing to make it easier for companies such as Dell to provide Linux offerings, with pricings of this service on a cost-per-call basis. In this way, vendors wouldn't lose out on fixed charges for more unpopular distributions, and would - for cost-effectiveness - have greater incentive to provide in-house support for more popular distributions, letting the market dictate their direction. It would enable large and small vendors alike to provide similar high quality services, and for smaller vendors may indeed be the only practical solution.
Linux vendors also gain from this in that they could individually track common queries to find possible improvements to make to future services. In the end, everyone wins, especially the customers.
