Part II: Corp. Desktop Linux - The Hard Truth

comforteagle writes "I've published Part II of W. McDonald Buck's essay on Linux TCO. In it he looks at the scenario of a company having already moved to Linux in the server room and also to open source software on Windows desktops, but "...now wants to know, how much extra can be saved by the final step of changing the operating system itself? And, what are the other costs, risks and benefits of doing that. To keep the scenario simple, we're assuming too that this will be done at a time when the desktop equipment is also being replaced. The news is good, but not as good as we like to believe." Part I was discussed previously on Slashdot."

Comments

Honest question

[Gob Blesh It]

I didn't start looking into this recently. But is it really impossible to: (1) encode MP3s and AACs, (2) render text using TrueType kerning tables, or (3) take advantage of subpixel rendering, on Linux desktops, without breaking patent laws? With all the hype surrounding Linux on the desktop, I have trouble believing these common activities could be illegal, but nor have I seen anything indicating otherwise. What's the deal?

(And please, no Stallmanesque rants about how intellectual property should be abolished. I don't have the patience for these ill-conceived prescriptive arguments.)

Re:Honest question

[bersl2]

I know that #2 is certainly false. Freetype2 uses autohinting by default, which is not covered by the Apple(?) TrueType patent.

Re:Honest question

[msaavedra]

And please, no Stallmanesque rants about how intellectual property should be abolished.

Are you implying that Richard Stallman has said that intellectual property should be abolished? I doubt he would say that, considering that he doesn't even think "intellectual property" is a useful term, since copyright, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, etc. are all separate concepts governed by separate laws and having varying effects on an individual's freedom.

Perhaps this is not what you meant, but I wouldn't be surprised. It seems that every day here on /. someone inaccurately attributes all sorts of loony beliefs to Stallman. Most of his opinions are fairly cogent and reasonable. Of course, he doesn't help himself, with his unorthodox appearance and behavior, lack of social skills, and pedantry regarding unimportant topics like the whole GNU/Linux thing. Still, unlike Joe Sixpack, I would think that the typical geek would be more tolerant of such things.

Anyway, to keep this post on topic:

1. MP3 is definitely patent-encumbered, and I believe AAC is as well. For this reason, Fedora and probably other distros do not include MP3 players/encoders. I don't know if using a free encoder in and of itself is breaking patent law, since the patent holders have not indicated any wish to forbid this (at least in Fraunhofer's case). After all, patent holders aren't required to charge you a licensing fee. Also, there is nothing specific about Linux that forbids using licensed apps; I believe there are some proprietary media apps for Linux that have purchased licenses for MP3.
2. There have been some issues with Freetype's bytecode interpreter in the past violating an Apple patent. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with kerning or not; I seem to remember it dealing with hinting. The last I heard, the Freetype developers had worked out some new ideas that don't violate the patent and gave better results anyway. On my Fedora desktop (and Fedora takes patents very seriously), the fonts look excellent, much better than on Windows. OS X may still have it beat, though.
3. I've heard nothing about patents on subpixel rendering one way or the other. I know that it works on my Fedora desktop, and I can't imagine they would enable it if it violated a patent, considering their stance on other patent-encumbered technology.

Go thin.

[QuietRiot]

One way to aproach this situation is to put a large multi-user box in each individual department or workgroup. Keep the windows desktops there, add X-servers, and run some apps centrally.

If the question is licensing, a net-booted corporate (Linux/FreeBSD/NetBSD) desktop wouldn't be too difficult. Run locally what the machine can handle, make sure the network is super fast, and run the apps requiring performance on the workgroup server.

This would reduce the need to upgrade lots of hardware (which will surely be obsolete again soon) and minimize downtime in the process. If need be, some legacy apps could survive under Wine locally or, again, at the workgroup server. Keep storage centralized to facilitate backups across the entire organization (OpenAFS?).

It's an old way of doing things but overlooked far too often. You've obviously got to run the numbers but, surely, "a few good men" handling things on the server (they would handle the app server AND the centralized, consistent-across-the-organization, netboot image(s)) would be much less expensive than the workload on an IT staff required by an office full of people and their problems on Windows machines.

Maybe not *THE* solution, but certainly worth a look for many.