Advocates Join to Promote Desktop Linux

phatvibez writes "Cnet is running a story that says 'Several companies have joined to launch a consortium to promote Linux for desktop computers, a significant expansion for an operating system that today fits more comfortably on servers.' This is great news, I hope they actually do something and we see some great stuff come from this!" Another submission on this note: TweetZilla writes "According to ExtremeTech, Suse is taking a play from Xandros. Crossover Office and Plugin are now bundled into Suse's desktop to provide Windows and Office compatibility." Update: 02/04 18:18 GMT by T : Here's a link to the consortium's web site.

Comments

What about Gentoo?

[fudgefactor7]

I was kind of surprised to not see Gentoo's name listed there. Especially since Gentoo was designed from the ground up to be a desktop Linux distro (as opposed to server.) Plus I just plain ol' like Gentoo, and get wood whenever I have the opportunity to pimp them. ;)

Re:What about Gentoo?

[Twister002]

The documentation still lacks some things and assume a LOT. I ended up reading a lot more of the XFree86 and kernal documentation than I did the Gentoo docs. I never posted in the support forums (which I should have) but found a LOT of helpful information in there as well DESPITE the forum search engine. ;)

I will say this, Gentoo does give the installer a sense of accomplishment. I felt proud once I had rebooted, logged in, and saw fluxbox come up. :)

URL

[Geek Boy]

http://www.desktoplinuxconsortium.com/

Not a whole lot of info posted there yet.

Other parties

[faeryman]

The article doesn't say so, but the Samba and Ximian teams are involved too.

Re:All KDE companies

[f97magu]

If you check the homepage of the consortium, you'll see that Ximian is there too. So it's not all KDE companies.

Groups Provides / Teaches Linux Desktop to Public

[mrs clear plastic]

Free Geek, in Portland, Oregon does provide Linux as a desktop solution to those who are not computer literate.

Free Geek, formed as a response to the growing problem of disposal of obsolete computers, has a program to take discarded computers, fix them up,
load them with Debian Linux with Openoffice, and then give them to those in need.

Parts of the program include mandatory volunteer time for those who wish the free computers. This volunteer time does include taking computers apart, testing the components, assembling the computers, loading them with a Debian image over the network, and then basic Linux training.

Many of the people who partake in the program have never had a computer in their life. Almost all of them are not linux/server/geek literate when they walk in the door. When they walk out, they at least know enough to use the computer for basic desktop functions as word processing, email, and using the web on the Internet.

This can show that at a grass-roots level, promoting Linux at the desktop can work.

Mark

DesktopLinuxConsortium.org

[Anonymous Coward]

The Desktop Linux Consortium has a website with more details, here. Also, the DLC's full announcement is available here.

Re:All KDE companies

[Chris Croome]

I suspect that the reason Red Hat aren't part of it is that they don't really care that much about Linux on the desktop

I'm not so sure that is the case, according to this article a RedHat Corporate Desktop distro is due out later this year.

The juicy bits for those who don't want to bother reading the whole thing:

Red Hat executives told CRN that Red Hat won't attempt to unseat Windows and Office but will aim its desktops at targeted customer segments such as call centers at financial institutions needing only Word and Excel, or highly technical audiences that use one or two productivity applications.

Dell is in discussions with Red Hat and plans to load the 32-bit workstation on its Precision workstations, Dell said.

Sources in the Linux channel are cautiously optimistic about the desktop aspirations of startups but say endorsements by Sun Microsystems and Red Hat give the Linux desktop more credibility. Sun also plans to debut its Linux desktop this quarter.

The Debian Desktop Subproject

[Anonymous Coward]

[http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-desktop/]

"The Debian Desktop subproject is a group of volunteers who want to create the best possible operating system for home and corporate workstation use. Our motto is "Software which Just Works". In short, our goal is to bring Debian, GNU, and Linux to the mainstream world."

"Who's involved in Debian Desktop ...anyone who wants to be!"

Re:Hardware Support

[Mr. Shiny And New]

Printing support has improved a lot over the last 4 years. For example, my modern, consumer, non-Ps printer is detected by the Mandrake setup easily. It just works, pretty much flawlessly. I had less trouble sharing it from my linux server so that other linux servers can print (basically, CUPS just detects it), than I did getting a Windows computer to print to it (this is probably Samba's fault, since the hoops required to get a windows printer driver set up are crazy).

I agree that for new hardware it can be tricky, but there's no reason that a printer manufacturer couldn't provide a new cups driver for their printer.

exchange replacements

[Kunta Kinte]

An "Outlook/Exchange killer".

Lotus notes

oracle collaboration

Bynari InsightServer.

There are others.

Re:I installed linux twice...

[Spoing]

Anyway, thats just my story. I'm sure there's a lot more people who try to switch, and for one reason or another just find it easier to give in and put windows back on. If there was more of a willingness to help newbies understand the basics without making them feel like morons, I beleive there'd be a lot more perminent switchers to linux.

Keep a few things in mind when dealing with the 'Read The F#@%!# Manual' attitude;

1. The new elete: Much of the time, the person feeding you hell is also a newbie -- just a lighter shade of green. They just haven't figured out that they don't know jack. Since they have put in the time to learn ~something~, they think that you should too. Giving you the answer would somehow be cheeting them. (Don't ask, it's human nature. Ex: Ask someone if you can give something they worked on to someone else.)

2. Insecure alpha geek: This is the next phase that many folks go through. Once they figure out that it is nearly impossible to know much about any OS plus the hardware and the applications, many decide that they need to flaunt the knowledge that they do have. Compared to the elete newbies you will get more out of an alpha geek, but expect that quite a few details will be missing intentionally. An insecure alpha geek will ask you questions that are not related to your problem at hand. It is difficult to know when you are getting the runaround from an alpha geek. Be nice to them and don't make them look foolish if you can avoid it.

3. While RTFM is usually hostile, sometimes it is really ment to mean "Read The Fine Manual". If you find the answer yourself, you'll be more capable of handling the next problem that comes up. Complaints on ask.slashdot.org about folks not using Google and(!) Usenet forums are usually valid.

4. When asking a question, make sure that you read and post only to public forums. It is rude to jump into a forum, ask a basic question, then end your message with "Please email me because I won't be back here anytime soon". Not only is this treating others as if they are your personal lackys, it shows that you are not worthy of help (lazy), and are greedy since private emails rarely show up in search engines for others to use later.

5. When you get a response say "Thanks for the help", don't gripe, even if the help is not very helpful! Ask for more details if the person skimped. A private email is OK here, though please repost the response if it helped you.

6. Find and trust folks who do not take themselves too seriously. This can be anyone from a guru through to another newbie who just happened to encounter the problem you did the other day. Everyone knows something that someone else has no clue about.

Update

[oliverthered]

gentoo comes with openoffie to provide office compatibility.
xine/mplayer to provide media format compatability.
etc....
Hey look Linux can run office isn't a big selling point, you still have to pay a mint for office, and it's still office.

Hey look Linux can run openoffice and it works fine with office is. oh and here's wine/crosover etc.. so you can run any windows apps you need,

Re:One thing that is needed.

[NivenHuH]

I'm sorry, but Lotus Notes is DEFINATELY not an Exchange killer. Having been recently moved over to Notes from Exchange, I'd definately (as well as the remainder of my co-workers) take Exchange back any day of the week. Notes has a steamy pile of pooh for a database structure, everything is server based w/o the option of retreiving mail to your local client, it botches mail headers, amongst other flaws. I'm sure there are a TON of other end-users that can empathise with me.

Re:Hardware Support

[Anonymous Coward]

Hardwares like Digital Camera

Try here. Also, many newer digital cameras use USB mass storage, which is built into the kernel.

Re:One thing that is needed.

[Plug]

Because you can turn off OWA and it still works.

Re:I installed linux twice...

[AnyoneEB]

Try linuxquestions.org. I've had good luck getting answers there.