DesktopLinux
Home  |  News  |  Articles  |  Forum  |  Polls  |  Blogs  |  Videos  |  Resource Library

Keywords: Match:
Linux Desktop Winning the World
by Malcolm Dean

DesktopLinux.com contributing editor Malcolm Dean reports on the state of Desktop Linux from the LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco. With the adoption of Linux occurring at a rapid pace internationally, Dean examines a few projects and theories propelling this trend . . .



Linux Desktop Winning the World
Malcolm Dean

San Francisco, 14 August 2002 -- If doubts about Desktop Domination abound in America, presentations at LinuxWorld today show the rest of the world is cheerfully proceeding to embrace and extend Linux for use in languages and economies too small to otherwise receive much attention. But will Open Source ultimately contribute as much to totalitarian governments as it will to free societies?

In a full day of presentations developed in conjunction with Linux International, 'Linux Around The World' highlights nine projects enhancing Linux for knowledge management, rural banking, and language support. Speakers were quick to defend Open Source as the best way to bring closed societies into full engagement with the world community.

Just as reports arrived that yet another five monks were arrested in Tibet for protesting China's continued occupation and suppression of Tibetan culture, a delegation led by the Beijing Municipal Government Commission for Science and Technology put a glossy, full-color brochure face to its Linux contributions, including the 'Yangfan' project. Funded by the Chinese government, Yangfan is a co-ordinated effort by over 100 software engineers from 18 universities, research institutes, and Linux companies to improve Linux desktop performance and language support. A larger project, 'Qihang', will include an office suite and office automation tools.

Asked if the Open Source community might not unwillingly be contributing to the effectiveness of totalitarian governments around the world, Jon 'Maddog' Hall insisted "you can't enforce morality through technology." Peter Armstrong, founder & Director of OneWorld International, agreed that encouraging engagement through collaboration is the best way to work on Human Rights issues.

OneWorld International has announced The Open Knowledge Network, a P2P file- sharing network of knowledge hubs in local languages designed to share information in a Creative Commons environment. OKN is designed to resist the increasing privatization of knowledge. Now being tested in India and Africa, OKN was proposed by the Digital Opportunity Task Force.

India's TeNet Group is extending X with modules that will provide fonts and display rules for the countries' 18 official languages. Written with Qt, the modules solve the problem of alphabets that can require as many as five Latin character widths per character. Vinay Deshpande, CEO of Encore, reported success using Linux devices aimed at illiterate users in rural Indian communities.

Ximian's Miguel de Icaza says the Linux desktop is making huge gains in regional communities such as Brazil and Hong Kong, which are not well covered in the media. "The North American market is a special case," he told DesktopLinux.com. "It's already saturated. But if you visit these other countries, you see the GNOME desktop everywhere. It's in banking, in the government, everywhere you look."

Copyright © 2002 by Malcolm Dean. Reproduced by DesktopLinux.com with permission.


About the author: Contributing Editor Malcolm Dean is a writer and IT strategist based in Los Angeles.



Talk back! Do you have comments or questions on this story? talkback here


(Click here for further information)


Approaching the Linux Desktop
The purpose of this paper is to help organizations evaluate the Linux desktop against their own enterprise needs and discover what benefits the Linux desktop might bring to their organizations.

Migrating To Linux: Application Challenges and Solutions
Several solutions exist to help organizations migrate in an orderly fashion from Windows to Linux desktops. This paper establishes the characteristics of an ideal cross-platform solution and reviews these alternatives in light of this ideal standard. The paper takes a closer look at the pros and cons of various solutions and outlines the business benefits that can be achieved.

Linux Advantages: Publicly Available Information on Linux Software
This paper offers a brief summary of readily-available Linux information to help businesses sort out this widely misunderstood operating system.

Top 5 Strategies for Managing Linux
Despite continuous evolution in the manageability of Linux, a 2006 survey cited manageability concerns as a top reason why organizations are hesitating to adopt Linux. Levanta believes Linux can be as manageable, if not more so, than other operating systems by following key strategies. These strategic recommendations were developed from experiences in numerous customer environments, both large and small.

Why Choose Novell for Linux?
This paper outlines the benefits of switching to the Linux platform and choosing Novell as a high-performance, enterprise solution.

Enterprise Linux Selection Guide
Considering moving your enterprise to the Linux operating system? Since there are so many similar versions, choosing the right one can be tough. This paper offers a clear process to help you make an informed decision and get the features, support, and cost that are right for your business and technical needs.

Overcoming Challenges in Managing Linux
Levanta has created a new administration model with innovative technology that breaks down the barriers to making the most of Linux systems. This paper will provide an in-depth look at the workings of Levanta’s product, the first Linux appliance of its kind.

SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses
Discover why major retailers have switched to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop in the back office. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 is a low-cost desktop that offers a complete set of productivity applications and interoperates seamlessly with the other Windows, Macintosh and UNIX desktops in your store.

Moving to a Linux Desktop
Migrating from Windows to Linux on the desktop can be a substantial undertaking because it has the potential for touching -- and perhaps disrupting -- every user in your organization. Unlike a data center (server and infrastructure) migration that is largely transparent to users, the cultural and administrative transitions and environment readiness required to support a Linux desktop migration are extensive.

Seven Good Reasons to Exchange Exchange
This paper describes seven compelling reasons why you should switch from Exchange to Scalix.

 



Got a HOT tip?   please tell us!

ADVERTISEMENT
(Advertise here)

Resource Library


Popular recent stories:
• Linux an equal Flash player
• Linux, netbooks threaten Microsoft's fat profits
• gOS 3.0 goes gold
• Browser swallows OS
• Lenovo denies ditching Linux
• Lightweight, Linux-compatible browser evolves
• GNOME 2.24 gains "Empathy" IM
• Review: Pardus Linux
• Ubuntu to fund Linux development
• Ubuntu "Intrepid Ibex" available

All-time Classics:
• Choosing a desktop Linux distro
• Banshee -- the next best thing to Linux iTunes
• Running World of Warcraft on Ubuntu
• A simple Linux backup method
• The Best Free Desktop Linux . . . and how to make it better
• Linux-powered Asus Eee PC mini-laptop arrives
• The well-tempered Debian desktop
• Lenovo launches a netbook
• What's the best Linux for beginners?
• Getting to know Puppy Linux
• Xandros 4: The best desktop Linux for Windows users
• VirtualBox: The best virtualization program you've never heard of

Linux-Watch headlines:
• Amid controversy, Microsoft launches open source foundation
• As open source surges, Microsoft admits Linux threat
• Open source lobbying group emerges
• Open source Linux device drivers submitted by -- Microsoft?
• Google names Chrome OS partners
• Google's new OS marries Linux and Chrome
• Debian plans draw sharp warning from GNU guru
• OpenSource World announces keynote speakers
• Linux 2.6.30 gets new filesystems
• Intel to buy Wind River for $884 million


Join our Desktop Linux discussion forums:
•  Moving to Linux
•  Linux/Windows debate!
•  Linux Q&A
. . . and more
Visit the...


BREAKING NEWS

• ABI's Jeffrey Orr on rising Linux netbook sales
• Moblin v2.1 goes beta, adds 3G support
• Linux owns 32 percent of netbook market, says study
• Skype working on open source VoIP UI
• Ubuntu 9.10 final ships as IBM spins Ubuntu-based cloud distro
• CentOS rev's to version 5.4, tries on KVM
• Fedora 12 optimized for Atom-powered netbooks
• Puppy Linux 4.3 gains bugfix, rave reviews
• Hulu comes to Linux
• Reviews praise Ubuntu 9.10, knock Ubuntu Moblin Remix
• Mandriva 2010 goes for the full Moblin
• Gentoo-based distro rev'd to version 5.0
• Karmic Koala beta ships, praised for fast boots
• OpenSUSE 11.2 poised for release
• Moblin v2.0 ships, appears on Dell netbook



Linux Netbooks


Linux smartphones!


news feed

Or, follow us on Twitter...


Home  |  News  |  Articles  |  Forum  |  Polls  |  About  |  Contact
 

Ziff Davis Enterprise Home | Contact Us | Advertise | Link to Us | Reprints | Magazine Subscriptions | Newsletters
Tech RSS Feeds | White Papers | ROI Calculators | Tech Podcasts | Tech Video | VARs | Channel News

Baseline | Careers | Channel Insider | CIO Insight | DesktopLinux | DeviceForge | DevSource | eSeminars |
eWEEK | Enterprise Network Security | LinuxDevices | Linux Watch | Microsoft Watch | Mid-market | Networking | PDF Zone |
Publish | Security IT Hub | Strategic Partner | Web Buyer's Guide | Windows for Devices

Developer Shed | Dev Shed | ASP Free | Dev Articles | Dev Hardware | SEO Chat | Tutorialized | Scripts |
Code Walkers | Web Hosters | Dev Mechanic | Dev Archives | igrep

Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.