My last entry talked about the imperative to grow the application base for Linux via greater collaboration among vendors and standardization. In the future, I will have further comments on some of the more challenging aspects of getting this done. But before it gets too late, I wanted to comment on the other major excitement coming out of LinuxWorld San Francisco – progress on the Linux desktop.
Soon after I joined Novell, I started blogging about our technology directions. My first entry back in April 2006 was entitled “The Linux Desktop has arrived: The better desktop”. I argued that with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 – due to ship that summer – that the time had come for more significant inroads for Linux into the desktop market.
It has been a year since we shipped this product. What has happened since? We have been building out our ecosystem, reaching a crescendo at LinuxWorld.
The first basic steps
Since we had built SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 to focus on enterprise deployment, it was critical to find demanding large customers. Also, to build the reputation required getting a referenceable customer. Our most visible relationship has been with PSA Peugot Citroen, with a major public endorsement of the Linux desktop.
In the enterprise, interoperability with Microsoft’s Office suite of products has always been a key requirement. So part of our November technology collaboration agreement has been to ensure the interoperability between Microsoft Office and Open Office. We have been building translators and making them available.
We are also interested in building alternatives for different client configurations. So in March we announced our thin client version, together with an imaging tool to allow customization to different client configurations.
The watershed event – five breakthrough partnerships at LinuxWorld
The basic steps above had intrinsic value, but also served to demonstrate to some of the largest I/T vendors that indeed it was time to embrace the Linux desktop. We were honored to capture five major resultant opportunities. With these landmark partnerships, we believe that the Linux desktop has reached the tipping point of mass acceptance.
IBM, Lotus’ Open Collaboration Client. At LinuxWorld, IBM felt that the time had come to fully embrace open collaboration by making a Lotus client available on the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. We are delighted to have IBM’s endorsement of the Linux client and open collaboration. Novell’s customer base has enjoyed the benefits of open collaboration on Linux for some time, via the GroupWise and Evolution clients on Linux. Our customers have also expressed enthusiasm about Novell’s expansion of open collaboration through Novell Teaming + Conferencing, which will be available this fall. It is great to have IBM also providing support to open collaboration on the Linux desktop.
Lenovo Thinkpad pre-load. True acceptance of the Linux desktop is almost equivalent with the endorsement of a major PC manufacturer via a pre-load and support agreement. Exactly what we announced with Lenovo. This will move the market in a major way.
Dell. For anyone who attended Kevin Kettler’s keynote, you heard about the numerous places in which we are partnering with Dell, most notably in a preload distribution and support agreement with Dell in China. There is no question that the emerging markets represent a huge opportunity for the Linux desktop.
Tamil Nadu. We entered into an agreement with the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu to equip 30000 student desktops with SLED.
Wyse. Wyse announced it it working with Novell around providing Linux thin clients. The announcement focused on easy imaging of thin clients with SUSE Linux Enterprise, as well as recent customer successes. More details will be forthcoming on this work soon.
The Linux desktop has truly arrived.
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