Making Linux pretty, revisited

We tend to focus on the server side of the Linux world here at SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, but every once and a while the desktop gets some face time. Back in October, I wrote about how Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth wanted “to make Linux beautiful,” for no other reason than to get a majority of the population on board with open source.

“If we want the world to embrace free software, we have to make it beautiful,” Shuttleworth said. “We have to make it gorgeous. We have to make it easy on the eye. We have to make it take your friend’s breath away.”

That was in October though, when Novell was making desktop waves with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED). Novell touted SLED 10 for its inclusion of xgl graphics effects and a slick new GUI interface reminiscent of Mac OS X. Now, Novell is at it again — indirectly — with Beryl, an open source fork of the Compiz effort started more than one year ago.

That’s great if you’re a user looking for incredible 3-D graphics on your desktop, but I have a feeling IT managers overseeing said desktops could care less about such things. Beryl might be included the latest Ubuntu release, however, and we all know how those guys feel about making inroads into the enterprise desktop and server arenas. Would a ‘gorgeous’ Linux desktop have a better chance in the enterprise than a bare bones one? You tell me.

Linux desktops: Wiping the shine off Microsoft Vista?

Some Linux vendors talk about the opportunities presented by the release (finally) of Microsoft Vista. While others talk, HP developed a game plan and is scoring points. HP is now touting its success in the Linux desktop market, and Dell — reading the writing in the IDC stats and on its blog — is trying to catch a bit of HP’s action. If both do well, this could be a less-than-lovely year for Microsoft.

Last spring, Christine Martino — vice president of HP’s Open Source and Linux Organization — told me:

“We consider the desktop an important emerging Linux opportunity worldwide.”

The following fall HP exec Paul Miller said:

“Changes coming in Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 will force corporations to either buy new desktops or find some other way to extend the lifecycle of desktops.”

What’s different today than when Microsoft announced other new desktop operating systems is that there are viable business-ready alternatives: preloaded Linux desktops from major PC vendors and rock solid operating systems and application suites or desktop virtualization.

There’s time for Microsoft shops to decide on an alternative, too, says blogger Lynn Linse on the Lynn Verse Computer (LVC) blog:

“…most organizations with more than 100 (or perhaps more than a dozen?) computers will just ‘ghost’ any new Vista-licensed computers back to Windows XP (or even 2000) for at least a year.”

During this potential “year of the Linux desktop”,HP and Dell and OpenOffice (as fostered by Novell) will have to deliver the enterprise-seductive goods. Also, says Linse, the Linux/open source community has this year to get it act together on application package management.

If HP continues to deliver on its game plan and other Linux players follow suit, then Microsoft may find that its Vista isn’t as clear and sunny as expected

Of Linux migrations and interoperability with Windows

Complete ousters of an operating system from any IT environment are pretty rare in this day and age of heterogeneous data centers, but I managed to find one in Northern California at the Windsor Unified School District. The IT staff there was tasked by school administrators with cutting costs associated with a Windows upgrade. They chose, ultimately, to cut out Windows entirely. The article shaped up to be pretty pro-Novell SUSE Enterprise Linux (I wouldn’t necessarily call it a lovefest), but I was able to get Heather Carver, Windsor’s IT director, to dish a bit on ID and authentication headaches that still plague Linux.

Seems people are still addressing these issues locally on a server by server basis — a tedious task — but one left over from the “golden days” of Unix directories that many analysts I’ve spoken with say people have just gotten used to and are hesitant to change. Well, unless we’re talking about the guys at Samba, but you get the idea.

With that in mind I gave Xandros a call to speak about a new product they have set to launch sometime this spring called BridgeWays. Xandros is heavy into Linux, but they’re hoping a foray into heterogeneous systems management will get some IT pros in need of Linux-Windows interoperability on board. Look for an article later this week on their efforts and how they’ll stack up against what’s already out there from vendors like Centeris, Centrify and Quest Software.