And the desktop Linux survey says...

Keywords: Match:

Dec. 06, 2006

Analysis -- The OSDL's Desktop Working Group recently concluded a survey on what areas of development are most important to desktop Linux users. The results, now in, will be put to immediate use at the next Desktop Architects Meeting this week in Portland.

The Working Group's survey, while touching on consumer issues, such as iPod support, was focused primarily on business use. Besides general questions -- "How many desktop systems does your company use?" -- the OSDL wanted to know such specifics as what peripheral equipment needs to work with your Linux desktops.

The top desktop priorities that users want developers to work on are, in order of importance: open-source drivers, cross-distribution Linux desktop standards, and improved wireless support.

While the Desktop Working Group has gone a long way with the community desktop architects in addressing desktop standards with the Portland Project standards, the related driver and wireless problems are far more intractable.

As John Cherry, the OSDL's (Open Source Development Labs) Desktop Linux initiative manager, observed in a note concerning the survey, there are only four real answers to the driver problem, and none of them are perfect.

The first is to increase the visibility of the problem so that the vendors will start supplying open-source drivers. Cherry, however, thinks that Linux's driver problems are already about as well known as they can be.

The second is reverse engineering. But, Cherry said, "The main downside to this is that it's a lot of tedious work. However, it's been a time-proven solution, and is entirely within the control of the community. So the best way to apply resources here would be to either a) increase the amount of workers, or b) make the work easier to do."

The third approach, according to Cherry, is to continue to create wrappers around Windows drivers, such as the NDISWrapper project. This open-source project uses NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) and native Windows drivers to support wireless network cards on Linux. This method, though, "has already been ruled out by the community, so I think it'd be much less likely to be accepted," he notes.

Finally, Cherry suggests that the open-source community directly approach vendors about obtaining support for open drivers. It is, he admits, a long shot since most of them already know about the demand for open-source drivers and have largely dismissed the idea. Still, he thinks it may be worth a shot.

The information gathered in this survey will be put to immediate use at the next OSDL Desktop Architects Meeting in Portland, Oregon on Dec. 7 and 8. It was at this meeting last year that the revolutionary Portland Project and its technical summits on printing, wireless, and power management began.

These efforts, in turn, have led to breakthroughs in making the Linux desktop far more user and developer friendly. Hopefully, the latest survey's results and this week's meeting will lead to new breakthroughs in desktop Linux usability, and who knows, perhaps a path to significant improvements in Linux driver support.

-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Do you have comments on this story?

Talkback here
NOTE: Please post your comments regarding our articles using the above link. Be sure to use this article's title as the "Subject" in your posts. Before you create a new thread, please check to see if a discussion thread is already running on the article you plan to comment on. Thanks!

Related Stories:

(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

• Unix, Linux Uptime and Reliability Increase: Patch Management Woes Plague Windows Yankee Group survey finds IBM AIX Unix is highest in ...
• Scalable, Fault-Tolerant NAS for Oracle - The Next Generation For several years NAS has been evolving as a storage ...
• Managing Software Intellectual Property in an Open Source World This whitepaper draws on the experiences of the Black Duck ...
• Open Source Security Myths Dispelled Is it risky to trust mission-critical infrastructure to open source ...
• Bringing IT Operations Management to Open Source & Beyond Download this IDC analyst report to learn how open source ...

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: • 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 • Apple sued for squelching wiki chat • Microsoft's TomTom patents posted for patent review • Europe tops global open source survey • Oracle buys Sun -- may jettison MySQL • Sun virtualization technology adds VM exports • Is Linux ready to go to FAT camp? Join our Desktop Linux discussion forums: • Moving to Linux • Linux/Windows debate! • Linux Q&A . . . and more	Visit the...

BREAKING NEWS

• Can FAT patch avoid Microsoft lawsuits?
• Debian plans draw sharp warning from GNU guru
• LiveUSB version of OLPC software targets netbooks
• Virtualization software goes multi-processor
• Open source show gears up with 200 sessions
• Office suite released in netbook version
• Scalix gains mobile device synchronization
• OpenSource World announces keynote speakers
• Ubuntu added to online preview site
• Linux 2.6.30 gets new filesystems
• Fedora 11 ships with new community portal
• More Linux distros tap Moblin for netbooks
• Media playback technology targets Linux netbooks
• Virtual Linux desktops tapped by UN
• Linux on tap in netbook, nettop

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 © 1999-2009 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.

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 © 1999-2009 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.