Ask a LinuxWorld Exhibitor

Most Slashdot readers aren't coming to the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in New York this week. If you're not coming, but you have a question you'd like to ask one of the exhibitors, please post it here. I promise to ask 10 of the highest-moderated exhibitor questions on your behalf, and I'll do my best to ask more than 10, time permitting. If you have a question for anyone who is holding a conference session or tutorial Thursday or Friday, please feel free to post it, too. I will try to ask speakers at least a few questions, but that's chancier than getting hold of exhibitors (who are in booths where they're easy to find), so no promises. One question per post, please. Hopefully, I'll have time to type up the answers over the weekend and post them Monday or Tuesday.

Comments

Strategies

[Oculus Habent]

For Hardware Vendors:

What basic strategies are you employing to better penetrate the server/appliance market with Linux systems?

Dear Redhat Software

[Anonymous Coward]

What is your response to the vulterant claims that your Gnome/KDE setup is breaking QT apps and causing havoc for developers who make use of QT?

To Microsoft

[gmuslera]

Considering that this is called "LinuxWorld", what product will you release next for Linux?

To Microsoft

[Oculus Habent]

Do you plan on producing Open Source components to any of your products? This primarily refers to server components, such as HTTP, DNS, IMAP, etc. which could function externally to the base programs (Exchange, ISA, etc.) and offer simpler and more granular control over active services.

What is the best giveaway item?

[burgburgburg]

In your experience as a convention exhibitor, what is the most effective giveaway item you've ever used to draw people to your booth long enough to make a pitch? What will people wait in line for, sit through demos for, fill out long questionaires for, let you swipe their card for, jostle others to get?

Conversely, what was the lamest giveaway item you were ever saddled with? Where you had to throw it at passersby, and even then they recoiled in dismay?

GNU/Linix On The Desktop

[rootmon]

I know it's been the dream of GNU/Linux enthusiasts for years: to replace Windows on client PCs. Thus far, Microsoft's hold on OEMs hasn't been broken in the desktop PC market, though there are some encouraging signs like Walmart's $199 Microtel GNU/Linux PCs and LTSP spreading in schools. My question is this: do you think GNU/Linux will really succeed in spreading out from the server room to win a significant share of the desktop client market? If so, when and how do you think this will happen? (Such as HP/Compaq, Dell, Gateway, IBM, etc all pushing GNU/Linux PCs with Open Office to businesses, or thin client computing like LTSP gaining popularity, etc.)

To icculus.org

[alkini]

To icculus.org (booth #9): What is it like to be a small organization at a big convention with people like HP, Microsoft, Red Hat, etc? Do people give you any credit for what you are doing?

For the Microsoft folks:

[sterno]

Do they read Slashdot? If so, why do they think there is such a strong anti-microsoft sentiment on Slashdot? What do they think Microsoft can do to change that sentiment?

You know, a nice easy question for them to handle :)

To Linux Software Vendors

[MyGirlFriendsBroken]

Is Mac OS X a big enough competitor (for want of a better word) to the Linux server/desktop market to warrent porting products over to either OS X or to Darwin?

This is with focus on the server side.

Ask Dell about forcing MS onto edu customers

[BACbKA]

The Dell's online computer purchases, in the "educational" section, only offer Windows as the O.S. [Last verified - about a month ago, when my friend from an American university whose IT dept prefers Dell computers to purchase from the scientific research grants money asked me to help him select his future computer config.]

Neither the "no-OS-gimme-refund" or a prepackaged Linux option is available. How does this coincide with the present Dell attempts to position itself as a friend of Linux?

Software for Children

[north.coaster]

Are there any plans to offer software specifically targetted towards grade school age children? Seems like there may be an untapped market here.

To Macrovision Corp.

[josh crawley]

To Macrovision Corp. (booth R10)

As I understand, your main stakes are in the encoding of ntsc and pal video signals as to make them uncopyable in receiving hardware (correct me if I'm incorrect).

As that stated, why are you involved with Linux?
Are you contributing to the video section (V4L) of the Linux kernel or making user-land utilities?
In general, what are your open business plans with Linux?

Red Hat, Suse, SCO, et al.

[FreeLinux]

Microsoft has adjusted their rehtoric against Linux, again, and says they will now be pushing the integration advantages of Windows over Linux. This, in my opinion, does have some merit as, management of a Microsoft network is highly integrate from groupware and databases to desktop workstations. The Linux environment however, is composed of individual projects with little or no integration which forces Linux management to be performed through kludges and custom scripts.

Indeed, the most popular and perhaps best, integrated management system for the Linux environment appears to be Webmin which, though very good, is forced to be a kludge and still falls short of a truely integrated enterprise Linux management system. While Red Hat offers RHN and SCO offers Volution Manager neither one truely integrates the overall management of a Linux shop.

Are you, the leading commercial Linux vendors targeting the enterprise market, planning on making any efforts to integrate Linux management on an enterprise level such as Microsoft and Novell already do? If so, what are these efforts and how will they be licensed?