IBM and Its Thoughts on Desktop Linux

Knuckles writes: "According to c|net, IBM will give desktop Linux a thumbs up at the Desktop Linux Conference in Boston on Monday. Sam Docknevich of IBM's Global Services group will give a speech titled, "The Time is Now for Linux on the Desktop." It seems that IBM will not go for the multi-purpose desktop, though, but for machines performing narrowly defined functions (kiosks etc.). However, basic office workstation seem to be included in this definition, according to C|Net" And in a classic case of the right-hand not knowing what the left-hand is doing, Realistic_Dragon adds: "IBM was leading the words of Red Hat's CEO in comments to the UK government last year saying that '...open source was not ready for the desktop'.

Comments

So...

[rpozz]

Do we like or hate IBM then?

Re:So...

[nucrash]

We neither like nor hate IBM, we simply praise them for their support of Linux and other good things that they do and critique their patents of items that already exist and other stupid shit they tend to do.

Zealots like and hate things blindly. Zealots usually turn a blind eye to the flaws of what they support. Don't be a zealot.

The Slashdot community is far more intelligent than this.

Re:So...

[Gherald]

> Don't be a zealot. The Slashdot community is far more intelligent than this.

When did this happen?

Re:So...

[antiMStroll]

...things like checking his email, opening attachments, things like that - just didn't work properly.....don't need/want to deal with vagaries like the command line.

Maybe having your dad start with Pine was a bad idea. Must have been, because neither Mozilla Mail or Sylpheed have ever posed a problem saving attachments. Or was your dad unfamiliar with the new desktop software you presented him and he stumbled because it wasn't Outlook? All software requires a period of acclimation. He'd have the same troubles with OS-X.

Re:So...

[blakestah]

IBM has always pursued a LARGE number of patents, and has largely used them defensively. Until it uses a patent against a linux user, I'd let the jury stay out. Companies LOVE getting IP in patents, it gives them options. Then they can decide to use them or not.

IBM has poured an enormous amount of money into linux development, and this has already benefited all linux users.

On the desktop, there is no reason why not. Mac built a good desktop over Unix is just a few years - in linux most of the tools are already in place. A well packaged solution is not far away at all - it would just take a concerted effort to provide consistency to the users - this would mean far reaching attention to detail across all packaging for the linux solution.

And this is really what separates something like OS X from something like RedHat. OS X attempts to provide consistency and attention to detail across everything they package, RedHat and other linux distros just throw in the kitchen sink and leave it to the users to sort out the inconsistencies.

It won't take long.

Not Ready my ASS

[ryg0r]

I've been waiting for something like this... Now all I need is an opensource Car. [quote from RedHat install] Would you buy a car with the hood welded shut?? [/quote] I hate using my can opener just to the check the oil.

Open Source is Not Ready

[Davak]

Boo on the original posting!

This has nothing to do with open source on the home user's desktop.

The article "Red Hat: Stick with Windows at home" describes why home users should stick with windows (or macs or whatever open source.)

This article is dealing with linux on the desktop when a system needs to give its users a closed, locked-down interface!

Apples meet oranges.

Davak

If quantum mechanics applied to IBM

[psifishdot]

If quantum mechanics applied to IBM:

|IBM>= 1/sqrt(2) |good> + 1/sqrt(2) |evil>

Observing a Slashdot article seems to collapse this wave function. Thus, for any slashdot article, IBM is either good or bad.

My constants might be a bit off depending on what SCO is doing.

Linus Says Linux Desktop is Where It's At

[Beg4Mercy]

In this interview (posted on Slashdot a few weeks ago) Linus says he is most interesting in desktop Linux. He says servers are not very interesting. He says Linux on the desktop is the only part he cares about. Just look at the article I linked to and read the question about Linux and the Desktop.

My point is that Linus, for me, kind of debunks the idea that Linux is intended for the server. Linus clearly says it's not. And now we have IBM giving a thumbs up for Linux on the desktop too. This is cool.

Re:Linux for security

[SharpFang]

I see a "internet kiosk" in front of my school being hacked for at least a 3 months. Some soft already installed, popup commercial spam, "smart monkeys" (program to generate clicks on the web to earn you money for "login time" with spyware), etc. All under Windows. I've seen a bankomat nearby with error popup. I've seen dull, dead windows desktop on a "commercial bigscreen". I've seen BSOD on railway station screens. I've seen info booth with train schedule rebooting. I've seen SMS boxen on walls frozen, with some Windows requester unable to gain focus. I've seen a shopkeeper rebooting his cash register, booting W98SE. Gosh, I even surfed the net from the bank "account checking" booth after the app died during heavy rain that broke net transmission, leaving me with desktop and basic apps.

If Linux is to crash on that things, I'll gladly give it a try and would like to give it a try. Maybe Linux is not ready for that stuff - we don't know. But what we know: Windows is not ready for them, for sure!

Killer app

[Stile 65]

I think there have been two things keeping Linux from taking the desktop by storm.

The first, and possibly most important, has been the lack of anything like MS Outlook for the Linux platform. Security flaws aside, it's a great way to keep everything organized - from e-mail, to scheduling, to notes, to tasks, etc. I looked at Ximian Evolution, but it doesn't allow public folders. A lot of our customers love those public folders - particularly for scheduling things. That's one of the grievances some of our customers have with Groupwise, too.

Now, though, I see Kontact/Kolab ramping up as an integrated groupware solution that will be distributed with KDE, already one of the two most popular desktops for X. Once this starts being adopted as a groupware solution by companies, IMO, corporate desktops are going to see a lot more Linux. I also think it will propel KDE ahead of Gnome (because Evolution, again, IMO, doesn't stack up to Kontact).

The other thing, and I haven't looked closely for it, so it may already exist, but that's an easy development tool for X. Visual Basic-style. Make something easy for your run-of-the-mill Joe to code halfway useful applications in, make it integrate well with an Office suite (preferably KOffice, since Kontact will work well with it), and make it free and open-source. Better yet, provide easy ways of migrating legacy VB/VBA code to it. Wham bam thank you ma'am, Linux on the desktop.

OSX Linux on the desktop

[Twid]

I'm biased, but it seems to me that for the small price difference between an Apple with OSX and a linux desktop, an enterprise customer is probably better off with Apple. With OSX, they get:

• Standardized, supported hardware with real enterprise support contracts available
• A large base of consultants to choose from
• A good desktop and laptop solution. Does IBM support Linux on their laptops this week? Which models?
• The ability to run Microsoft Office, Open Office, and most other open source productivity packages
• The ability to centrally manage authentication and workstation management using OSX server

The list goes on from there. A base model 17" eMac, which is perfectly suited to the average productivity worker, is only $799. Bump the RAM up to 256MB for a few dollars more and you're done, it will all work right out of the box.

Compared to the pain of getting a Linux system up and running and then supporting it, going Apple seems like a no-brainer in enterprise IT environments.

Finally!

[SargeZT]

My god! They've OK'ed linux on the desktop? I'm so relieved. I can finally start using it!

Re:IBM Desktop Distribution?

[dalutong]

This "we need one unified desktop" argument always puzzles me. It is impossible.

"Get rid of all the little windows managers..." It's impossible.

"Get rid of all the different text editors." It's impossible.

"Get rid of all the different shells." It's impossible.

GNU/Linux is about choice. Because it is about choice, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of the choices. No one person owns all of this. No one person can ban any of this. It's like saying, "let's just get all people to agree on one idea and one path for the future." It doesn't work; it is impossible.

This is because it is not compatible with the fundamental rule that people can make choices in their lives. The Free Software World works by the same priciple. That is why it's impossible.

So let's start working with what we CAN do.

People are not stupid. They do not need everything to look precisely the same to figure it out. They figured XP out even though it was blue and the control panel had a different layout.

Look at http://www.freedesktop.org. THAT is a good idea. Have the distributions put some pressure on the desktop systems to conform more fully to that. Put some pressure on them yourself.

The people who have some authority in other areas, like printer configuration and on the available printing systems, should make similar guidelines. We should then support those guidelines.

And these guidelines can be collaboratively developed, as freedesktop's are.

Distributed systems can be as effective as controled ones -- they just run under different rules. The key is collaboration and respect. If the developers feel they are being respected and that they have a say in how a standard is developed then a third party can develop a standard that all concerned parties can appreciate, respect, and follow. The fourth party, the community, can contribute by support such efforts at dialogue.

So let us think about what IS possible, rather than wish for something that is not. Option number two will not die, so let us find a new way of thinking so that it doesn't have to and that is is BETTER that it doesn't. Poison into medicine.

Tata.