All the Linux activity of late... Ramifications?
Category Linux
Prior to last week, my coworker and I had never even considered Linux for anything. Now we're both running it under dual-boot on the laptops, and we're stocking up on books for it. Now there's been a flurry of Linux movements of late... I'm wondering if this is like buying a new car and then noticing them all over the road... Was all this occurring all along and we just didn't notice as it wasn't on our radar screen? :-)
Anyway... So what will all this mean to the Linux community and to the future of Linux in the mainstream corporate world? Obviously, time will tell and everything is just a guess right now. But I'll venture to say that it's the best thing that could happen to Linux....
Linux has become viable in the server world over the last year or so, but still there's the "open source" stigma that prevents wider adoption by corporations. I'm sure there are many companies who would never ever download "free" software and trust their corporate assets to it. But if you downloaded software from Novell, well... that's a different story. Same software, but a known name behind it.
I think the bigger ramifications are for the desktop. Linux servers are no big deal any more. But there are still VERY few corporate entities that will trust their workers and day-to-day activities to an open-source desktop and open-source replacements for productivity software. The perceived lack of support makes it a dead issue before it gets out of the gate. But what if you weren't buying an open-source Linux desktop, but Novell's OpenOS powered by Linux? What if IBM converted and showcased internal staff running non-Microsoft desktops with no drop in productivity (and large savings in licensing fees)? What if the press started to run with the story and it became airline magazine material? What if your boss showed up after a conference and asked you to "check into this OpenOS thing to see if we can cut our software licencing costs?"...
With Red Hat going enterprise and Suse going corporate, I'm thinking that by mid- to late-2004, stories about adoption of Linux desktops will replace all the stories about offshore outsourcing...
Prior to last week, my coworker and I had never even considered Linux for anything. Now we're both running it under dual-boot on the laptops, and we're stocking up on books for it. Now there's been a flurry of Linux movements of late... I'm wondering if this is like buying a new car and then noticing them all over the road... Was all this occurring all along and we just didn't notice as it wasn't on our radar screen? :-)
Anyway... So what will all this mean to the Linux community and to the future of Linux in the mainstream corporate world? Obviously, time will tell and everything is just a guess right now. But I'll venture to say that it's the best thing that could happen to Linux....
Linux has become viable in the server world over the last year or so, but still there's the "open source" stigma that prevents wider adoption by corporations. I'm sure there are many companies who would never ever download "free" software and trust their corporate assets to it. But if you downloaded software from Novell, well... that's a different story. Same software, but a known name behind it.
I think the bigger ramifications are for the desktop. Linux servers are no big deal any more. But there are still VERY few corporate entities that will trust their workers and day-to-day activities to an open-source desktop and open-source replacements for productivity software. The perceived lack of support makes it a dead issue before it gets out of the gate. But what if you weren't buying an open-source Linux desktop, but Novell's OpenOS powered by Linux? What if IBM converted and showcased internal staff running non-Microsoft desktops with no drop in productivity (and large savings in licensing fees)? What if the press started to run with the story and it became airline magazine material? What if your boss showed up after a conference and asked you to "check into this OpenOS thing to see if we can cut our software licencing costs?"...
With Red Hat going enterprise and Suse going corporate, I'm thinking that by mid- to late-2004, stories about adoption of Linux desktops will replace all the stories about offshore outsourcing...
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Comments
The most depressing thing for me is that being tied to Notes means being tied to Windows
Posted by Colin Pretorius At 12:57:53 On 05/11/2003 | - Website - |