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2004: Year of the Penguin?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we've-heard-that-before dept.

houseofmore writes "The Toronto star suggests that things are looking good for the Linux desktop this year as more heavy weight commercial vendors get behind it, including HP, Novell, IBM, Sun and... Walmart. It also mentions Red Hat's plan to offer a new corporate desktop edition of their enterprise desktop sometime this year. The article states that more and more companies are considering (and) switching to Linux for their desktop due to expensive Windows licensing fees and high-profile security vulnerabilities."

12 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe when... by spungo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    - one of the big vendors decide to publicly ship a consumer desktop machine with a GNU/Linux install (or even a dual install), will I start to think that the challenge is on.

  2. Seriously... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't we hear this every year?

    1. Re:Seriously... by Soko · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Anybody thinks MS is weaker today because the last 5 years was "the year of linux"?

      Kind of.

      (1999)
      Slashbot: "This is teh year of Linux!!!!"
      Customer: "What's Linux?"
      Microsoft: "What's Linux? *CHACHING*"

      (2000)
      Slashbot: "This is teh year of Linux!!!!"
      Customer: "Linux? Geek toy."
      Microsoft: "Linux? Pffft. *CHACHING*"

      (2001)
      Slashbot: "This is teh year of Linux!!!!"
      Customer: "Gah, viruses - no time to look!!"
      Microsoft: "Ya, sure. We heard some of our customers ask about it in passing. *chaching*"

      (2002)
      Slashbot: "This is teh year of Linux!!!!"
      IBM: "Dude, learn how to spell..."
      Customer: "IBM? Linux? Lemme see what this is all about, OK?"
      Microsoft: "Hmmmm... You guys are getting irritating for our salesdroids. Cut it out or we'll FUD you to death. *CHACHING*"

      (2003)
      Slashbot: "This is the year of Linux!!!!"
      Customer: "Nice, but not yet. This needs fixing here, and this over here could be..."
      Microsoft: "Whoa now, this is getting serious. Send out the Marketing Dept. FUD riders!!! *chaching*"

      (2004)
      Slashbot: "This is the year of Linux."
      Customer: "Hey, this Linux thingy is worth looking at now - still kinds rough in spots though. Can it do $FUNCTION1? Cool. And $FUNCTION2? What about $FUNCTIONn..."
      Microsoft: "WTF??? The FUD Riders failed? Call in the Tactical Lawsuits - we're in trouble! *chaching?*"

      Weaker? Probably not. However, Microsofts feet are being held to the fire by the interest Linux is creating - you can be sure of that.

      Soko

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
  3. Sounds Familiar by bsharitt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Okay, we were wrong in 2001, 2002, and 2003, but we really mean it this time.

    I hope it does happen this year though.

    1. Re:Sounds Familiar by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      From what I've seen so far, there are only two possible desktops for the average user:

      1. SuSE
      2. Java Desktop System (SuSE based)

      I haven't had a chance to try Xandros, so that may be a competitor as well. The biggest problem is that the Linux developers have to get off their high horse and make binary distribution as easy as source distribution. SuSE, RedHat, Mandrake, etc. are all Linux, but all need different RPM files. And then some RPMs may not match the version of libc/glibc you use.

      What's the standard solution? "Just recompile it."

      That is *not* acceptable for the average end user. Take a look at Mac OS X. They got it right. You download the DMG, it mounts as a folder, you copy the "program" (really a folder that the OS makes look like a file) to your Applications directory. Done.

      Linux OTOH, goes like this: Find the RPM you want. Try to install and get a list of dependencies. Go track down every dependency you need (because you should already have libart_gpl and libtheora, right?!) and then install the dependencies. After spending and hour or two just to install one piece of software, log out and log back in so the menus update. Then try to run the software and hope that you didn't accidently install an incompatible binary. ARRRGGGHHH!!!

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  4. We're On Board by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Recently upgraded all of our workstations to Linux. Fully wiped about 15 machines and added a custom install of Fedora Core 1 in less than six hours. We use a single Windows 2003 Server via rdesktop for a handful of legacy applications. The amazing thing is that everything worked flawlessly. We've had a handful of interface questions and a few printer hiccups and that's it.

    Other small companies can do this and do it now.

  5. Re:Training Costs by pe1rxq · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Training guy: Remember that white plane Word had were you typed your text?

    Luser: Yeah...

    Training guy: Your new word processor also has it...

    Luser: ........

    Training guy: You know how you used 'open' and 'save' and 'print' in that 'file' menu in the top of the window?

    Luser: Yeah....

    Training guy: Good, keep doing that.

    Luser: Ok....

    Training guy: Remember how above the white plane you could select the font and its size? And whit those funny buttons with italic and bold text you could make the text in the white plane turn to italic and bold?

    Luser: Uhuh...

    Training guy: Great! NEXT!

    --
    Secure messaging: http://quickmsg.vreeken.net/
  6. Why there will never be a "Year of the Penguin" by hotspotbloc · · Score: 5, Insightful
    And why it's not a bad thing.

    GNU/Linux is in it for the long haul. MS Windows flashes on the media's screen with a new release and fades away. GNU/Linux is growing bigger and stronger everyday. As that happens more and more companies will port their wares, more hardware venders will supply GNU/Linux instead of MS Windows, more users will leave MS Windows (most likely because they're tired of the upgrade costs for both hard and software related to the upgrade), and someday MS Windows will be a "niche" OS.

    Think about it like Apple. They make an excellent OS which includes some great apps, overall better than average desktop and small server hardware, is clearly better than MS Windows but still isn't "number one". Is this a bad thing: no. Apple will be around for a long time building their stuff reguardless of their marketshare. IMO this is the fate for MS Windows (except for the quality part of course).

    Forget about this "Year of the Penguin" stuff because no one year will be it's "year". GNU/Linux is here to stay, grow and get better.

    --
    "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity but they've always worked for me" - HST
  7. so, logically... by WormholeFiend · · Score: 5, Funny

    if the penguin weighs the same as a duck, it's made out of wood, and therefore...?

  8. Re:Will it ever end? by francium+de+neobie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Toronto Star posts it every year

    Slashdot posts it every month

    Slashdot wins!

  9. Already happened by arvindn · · Score: 5, Informative
    Listen all cynical American naysayers:

    In India, where I live, 2003 was the year of linux on the desktop. Yup. Last year. Already happened.

    Starting around last August, the avalanche started. Linux desktops crossed a threshold minimum level of usability, and the price of Windows became an unacceptable fraction of the price of the PC in this cost conscious market. I think it was IBM that ran the first ad for Linux PCs. Soon the taboo was broken. OEMs switched in droves. Today there is hardly anyone that only sells windows boxen. This year two companies have entered the market specializing in linux PCs.

    I can feel the pulse at the grassroots level as well. While the percentage of linux users is surely nowhere near two figures, it has probably doubled since a year or two ago. Banks and other enterprises switching all employees to linux happens every day.

    Billy Gates shot himself in the foot. Major anti-piracy ad campaigns and policing action by NASCOMM (BSA equivalent in India) contributed to awareness about alternatives and fueled linux growth. Today the ads directing the reader to microsoft.com/piracy/howtotell/ are conspicuous by their absence, but the damage has been done. What linux has won is mindshare. PC geek mags regularly carry linux distros and other linux software these days, and have as many articles about linux as windows. It looks like an exponential growth curve is assured.

    If you're thinking of moving to Bangalore, there's at least one thing you can look forward to :-)

  10. How to tell if it's "The Year of the Penguin" by V_drive · · Score: 5, Funny

    With all the confusion about whether or not a particular year is "The Year of the Penguin," I thought I'd volunteer a simple method you can apply to decide for yourself.

    If it is January through May: this year
    If it is June through December: next year

    Try it for yourself and you too may become an industry expert and visionary.

    [warning: this post contains high degrees of sarcasm and may not be suitable for all readers]

    --
    char *mySig;