Yesterday, I caught wind of some good news. It was the kind of good news that is immediately good for me and ultimately good for Linux. It was announced by MLB Advanced Media, major league baseball's online division, that video on MLB.com would no longer be delivered via Microsoft's Silverlight format but instead with Adobe Flash technology.
Explore by tag: desktop
Week 44, 2008: Don't Be Hatin'
There was a little bit of schadenfreude in my heart this week when I surfed over to the Linux Hater's blog and discovered that its author has decided to close up shop.
Linux Continues to Define the Future of Computing While Microsoft Follows
It is hard for the executive director of the Linux Foundation to feel bad for Microsoft, but they are having a bad week while Linux continues to move forward in innovative ways into new markets for computing. Let’s take a look at the difference between Microsoft and Linux this week:
Monday: Microsoft starts its week with a front page story in the Wall St. Journal titled, “Microsoft Battles Low-Cost Rival for Africa.” In the article Microsoft is documented engaging in questionable practices against a Linux competitor that is springing up across Africa not because of any corporate conspiracy, but because it is free and open.
Tuesday: Microsoft reveals “Windows 7” which is widely regarded as an attempt to right the wrong that is Vista. Headlines were brutal: Infoworld: “Windows 7: The ‘dog food’ tastes bad”, Dallas News: “Microsoft previews Windows 7, and it looks like… Vista”, Computerworld: “Is Windows ...
Intel and Taiwan Inc. Invest in Open Source Research Center
Intel announced today (Thursday) its plans to partner with the Taiwanese government and invest in the island nation’s IT industry to launch an Open Source Software Development Center for mobile devices. Building on Taiwan’s undisputed role as a leading center for creating connected consumer devices, CEO Paul Otellini indicated that Intel had signed an agreement with the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). MOEA and Intel will establish a center for enabling Moblin and other OSS optimized for devices based on the Intel Atom. At the same time, Intel Capital will invest NT$386M (US$11.5M) in Taiwanese carrier VMAX to support deployment of Taiwan’s first mobile WiMax network in the first half of 2009.
This move by Intel is good for everyone: good for Intel, who is working with a large ecosystem with its recently-launched mobile/embedded Atom architecture CPUs. It’s good for Taiwanese ...
Linux to Ship on More Desktops than Windows
For those that decry the constant prediction of the “year of the Linux desktop” I am happy to say that next year Linux may actually ship on more desktops than Windows or the Mac. That is right, I said next year. What is driving this? Two words: fast boot.
Matt Richtell of the New York Times wrote a great article on Sunday about the demand for faster start up times on computers. In the story the chronicled how HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus and a array of other PC makers are starting to develop “machines that give people access to basic functions like e-mail and a Web browser in 30 seconds or less.” Here is the interesting part: Linux is providing that access.
Ashlee Vance, also of the New York Times, did a great follow up piece on the story chronicling just how prolific this trend is becoming. He states, “Over ...
Community-cation: A Look Back at Week 39, 2008
Some good news for the Foundation this week, as we welcomed a new member, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, to our organization. Coming off of our successful Linux Kernel Summit, and the Linux Plumber's Conference that we helped underwrite, it was a good cap to a positive week's worth of news.
Upstream Values
I have a confession to make: I've pretty much made it a small goal in life to see Mark Shuttleworth get married. Or involved in a steady relationship.
I've reached this conclusion after meeting him a few times and thinking "he's such a nice young man, he should find a girl and settle down." Apparently, there's something about Mark that brings out my inner shadchen. That, and the fact that my wife keeps asking about him anytime I mention I've had a conversation with him. Hmmm...
To All Chicago Cubs and Linux Fans: A Tale of Two Analyst Perspectives
This week week we saw news centered around two studies on desktop computing trends: one from Forrester Research and one from IDC. Both reports come from highly regarded firms and both seem to point to contradictory trends.
Bad news first. Linux fans are now being compared to Cubs fans. For you non-sports enthusiasts, the cubs haven’t won a world series since 1908. According to Ben Gray of Forrester, “as optimistic as Linux enthusiasts are and will forever remain, they’re beginning to sound like Cubs fans with the never-ending hope of ‘There’s always next year.’” The report cites survey research showing Windows Vista migrations as “ramping up” in the enterprise while Mac makes inroads and Linux continues to muddle along. The report states that “IT operations professionals need to prepare for a more decisive shift in their desktop operating system (OS) strategy.” In other words, when it comes ...
Grandma's Nice, But What About the CIO?
Most of us have stories about how we have done right by some family member and installed Linux for them in place of that other operating system. I myself have rescued my parental unit from the clutches of Vista.
Ubiquitous Firefox
So yesterday I was getting that "must-fiddle-with-my-computer" feeling again and I heard about this new extension for Firefox called Ubiquity. Good timing, I was in the mood for a new toy.
Ubiquity is really brand new: its release from Mozilla Labs is 0.1, this baby is right out of the delivery room. Despite that, it's a pretty solid piece of software, as prototypes go.
This is the Year of the Linux Desktop Breakout
Declaring victory for the Linux desktop at the end of the day will based upon looking at market penetration of Linux based clients vs. Windows and other operating systems. I believe this is still the best measure but we may finally be able to declare this year the breakout of the Linux desktop.
When looking at operating system software adoption it is important to look at trends and not a single break through event that will signal that “we have made it.” It is kind of like economic forecasting – you look at a lot of leading indicators to decide whether we are heading towards an expansion or a recession; inflation, interest rates, productivity, employment rates, etc. It is worth applying this logic when looking at the Linux desktop. Based on just a cursory glance of news this week it is clear that all leading indicators suggest a significant expansion on ...
iPhone – the Device I love to hate
When Apple launched the 3G iPhone, I must confess, I went out and purchased one. I need a smart phone for work, I need one that works both in the United States and Japan, and the consumer electronic design from Apple floored me. The screen is exquisite. The video playback is outstanding. The mobile web experience is second to none. I realize I am in a walled garden, but what a pretty walled garden it is.
Now, you needn’t remind me that I purchased my iPhone as a personal accoutrement. But as a business person, I use it for more than just personal calls and entertainment. In fact, I’ve come to rely on its excellent web access and very usable email capabilities As a business person, however, I guess I defy the expectations of product marketing managers at Apple: I have over 2,000 contacts in my phonebook ...
According to Intuit, Linux is the Future
Intuit has joined in promoting Linux with their new Linux Business Resource web site. Intuit has clearly caught on to something we have known for some time. According to their web site:
“Like most IT managers, you face a choice when it comes to operating systems. Not long ago, you might have turned to Windows, Solaris or UNIX, but now Linux has your undivided attention. Why is Linux—an open source operating system—seeing such rapid adoption and growth? More importantly, why should you consider it for your own growing business? Compared to other platforms, Linux offers:
* Maximum flexibility
* Lower costs
* Tight security
* Powerful performance
* Ongoing innovation
In organizations large and small, Linux is becoming the clear choice for enterprise computing.”
It is great to see a big application vendor like Intuit endorsing Linux, but what about getting Intuit’s Quickbooks Online off of that ActiveX lock-in that requires people ...
Arrington Throws Down the Guantlet for a Linux Based Netbook
Michael Arrington over at Techcrunch is throwing down the gauntlet to produce a “dead simple and dirt cheap touch screen web tablet to surf the web. Nothing fancy like the Dell latitude XT, which costs $2,500. Just a Macbook Air-thin touch screen machine that runs Firefox and possibly Skype on top of a Linux kernel. It doesn’t exist today, and as far as we can tell no one is creating one. So let’s design it, build a few and then open source the specs so anyone can create them.” Michael goes on to describe his ideal netbook; quick boot, skype, firefox, google widgets, good wireless connectivity, etc. This is a guy who lives online and wants a lightweight, inexpensive tool to hook up to the internet. Basically Michael is asking people to help build a netbook for people like himself and I believe there are a heck ...
DAM-5 reports that the State of the Linux Desktop is strong
Yesterday I reported to the LF members and Jim Zemlin at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit closing session that the State of the Linux Desktop is strong. Based on the work of many open source communities, 2008 continues to be a break out year for the Linux desktop. We had 8 distros talk about their 2008 accomplishments and preload agreements. The OEM hardware panel reached an inflection point where the vendors are encouraging component and chipset vendors to deliver open source drivers as part of their procurement processes. KDE and Gnome desktop environments continue to innovate on the desktop user experience and improve the usability of the Linux desktop for broader user segments. The joint sessions with the OpenPrinting, LSB, Mobile and Driver Backport workgroups demonstrated the strong partnerships we continue to build by working together under the auspices of the Linux Foundation. I particularly enjoyed many of the Lightning ...
Get answers to all your Linux questions direct from the source.
Next week the leaders of the Linux industry gather in Austin Texas for a meeting of the minds. The Linux Foundation has set up an invitational event where the folks who work directly on the business and technical issues facing the platform can get together and share ideas. We’ll find out about these questions and more:
What are the technology trends and the economics driving the Linux desktop in new low cost PC’s? Find out directly from Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Shuttle, Everex, Intel, TI, AMD, and more.
What is the “M” commitment to the “L” in LAMP after the Sun acquisition of MySQL? Find out from the Marten Mikos himself.
When am I going to get my hands on a Linux phone? Find out from Google’s OHA, the LiMo Foundation, OpenMoko, and others. This is the first time Google and the LiMo foundation are sharing a ...
Welcome to Open Voices
Today the Linux Foundation is launching a podcast series that will feature conversations with the leaders of open source. For our inaugural post, we are pleased to present part one of our conversation with Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux Operating System and fellow at the Linux Foundation.
We have broken the conversation with Linus into two parts. Part II will be available in the beginning of February. Future Open Voices installments will feature Novell President and CEO Ron Hovsepian; Martin Mickos, CEO of MySQL; and Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of the Ubuntu Project.
If you’d rather read a transcript, you can find it here.
2007 Linux Desktop Survey - German
The Third Annual Desktop Linux Survey is now available in German. Many thanks to Jutta Kreyss from the IBM Linux Integration Center for assisting with the German translation.
German users are invited to take the LF Client Survey
Survey participants can review the aggregate German results after completing the survey.
We want survey feedback from the broadest number of organizations. The Linux Foundation Desktop Workgroup will use this information to prioritize the 2008 LF desktop initiatives. It also offers Linux ISVs, OEMs, the LF membership and broader community new insights into how businesses are adopting Linux and their Linux desktop requirements.
To be inclusive of the global Linux user communities, we are excited to offer the survey in additional languages. With our recent additions of Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, and now German translations, the Client survey is available in eight languages.
John Walicki
2007 Linux Desktop Survey - Chinese
Announcing that the Third Annual Desktop Linux Survey is now available
in Chinese.
John Walicki
Desktop Linux Workgroup Chairman
2007 Linux Desktop Survey - Brazilian Portuguese
Announcing that the Third Annual Desktop Linux Survey is now available in Brazilian Portuguese as well.
Take Survey - Brazilian Portuguese
Have your say on what desktop Linux really needs! Please Join us in the Third Annual Desktop Linux Survey, at:
The survey will take only few minutes of your time, and your feedback is essential in helping us to focus our development efforts and accelerate the global adoption of Linux desktops and clients. For example, past surveys highlighted the need to address printing and wireless issues, so we set up focused workgroups and conferences to help developers and vendors work out common solutions to these requirements.
The survey is open now through November 30, 2007. Survey results will be made publicly available shortly after the close.
Thank you,
Linux Foundation Desktop Linux Workgroup