The year of the Linux desktop!

Sam Varghese
Tuesday, 02 January 2007 04:08

Opinion and Analysis

 That the idea has been floated again does not surprise me. This is a year when Microsoft will be seeking to push a new version of its Windows operating system down consumers' throats. It's also a year when several GNU/Linux distributions can claim to be sufficiently desktop-oriented for the average person to have no problem using any one of them.

The idea is pushed by those with a stake in its coming to fruition - the biztech media, several so-called pundits and businesses which stand to gain monetarily. Were GNU/Linux to gain serious marketshare in the business space, then all these peole would see their bank balances start to swell. In order to achieve this objective, any and every means will justify the end.

That's why there have been several people justifying the deal which Novell struck with Microsoft last year. One of them, the chief executive of the Open Source Development Labs, Stuart Cohen, is believed to have been forced to resign shortly thereafter as his public support for this deal did not sit well with the stated mission of the organisation he was heading. That's the extent to which people go.

What will happen during the year? Will any organisations look to replace the Windows desktops which they use with GNU/Linux? Why would businesses change platforms at any point unless they have to? And the only scenario one can visualise for a change is when hardware is upgraded - and that always comes with a version of Windows installed! If any OEMs are selling GNU/Linux machines, that would be news.