| LinuxWorld panel mulls state of the Linux desktop |
Apr. 03, 2006
A panel discussion at LinuxWorld Tuesday will explore the evolution of Linux from server to desktop. "The State of the Linux Desktop," featuring members of the OSDL's (Open Source Development Labs) Desktop Linux (DTL) working group, will focus on Linux desktop markets, challenges to adoption, and the desktop Linux community.
The panel discussion will be moderated by DesktopLinux.com editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols. Panelists will include DTL working group members Waldo Bastian, staff engineer at Intel; Jonathan Blanford of Red Hat and GNOME; John Cherry, DTL initiative manager, OSDL; Guy Lunardi, desktop architect at Novell; Laurent Gharda, chief operating officer at Open Country; Greg Kelleher, senior program manager for worldwide Linux desktop strategy at IBM; and Steven McDowell, division manager, emerging technology, at AMD.
Community, vendor collaboration a key driver
"The strides taking place in desktop Linux are a direct result of community and vendor collaboration. This effort combined with delays in Microsoft’s Windows and Office packages, makes this week’s Linux desktop discussion very timely and relevant," John Cherry, initiative manager for the OSDL DTL working group, told DesktopLinux.com.
Linux on the desktop is making its way into specific enterprise market segments, including the fixed function and technical and transactional workstation markets, the OSDL said. Success is being attributed to platform stability, low licensing costs, freedom in product support and well-defined application stacks to solve purpose driven product offerings, the group added.
The latest DTL efforts, most specifically the Portland Project, build on these achievements to improve interoperability issues for independent software vendors (ISVs) whose applications must work regardless of Linux distributor or desktop environment. This fundamental building block is expected to give way to a strong open source application suite for the Linux desktop, which is in high demand, OSDL said.
"There is sincere interest in sharing the work and the rewards of building common interfaces for Desktop Linux," said Bastian, Linux client architect at Intel. "The Portland Project aims to establish a set of common interfaces this year, and OSDL has brought the right folks to the table."
Last fall, OSDL sponsored a month long, online Desktop Linux survey, which aimed to determine the key issues driving Linux on the desktop, as well as the major barriers to desktop Linux adoption.
"Surprising" reasons for deploying Linux
"What was most surprising to us was probably the top two reasons given for deploying Linux on the desktop," OSDL's Principal Analyst Dave Rosenberg told DesktopLinux.com. "It's not TCO (total cost of ownership), or security, or lack of license fees. It was 'employees requesting Linux (user demand)' and because 'My competitors have successfully deployed Linux.' "
The DTL also is hosting a variety of Desktop Linux meetings this month that focus largely on open source drivers:- Desktop Linux Wireless Summit: April 6-7, 2006 in Portland, Ore.
- Desktop Linux Printing Summit: April 10-12, 2006 in Atlanta, Ga.
- Desktop Linux Power Management Summit: April 13-14, 2006 in San Jose, Calif.
In May, the OSDL DTL will reconvene with the Linux development community to build on these summits and to address other desktop opportunities at the Desktop Architects Meeting, May 8-9, in Frankfurt, Germany.
To register for LinuxWorld, go here.
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