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.
Explore by tag: desktop
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