Red Hat CEO Questions Relevance of Desktop Linux

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday March 25, 2009 @04:30AM from the year-of-something-on-the-something dept.

snydeq writes "Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst questioned the relevance of Linux on the desktop, citing several financial and interoperability hurdles to business adoption at a panel on end-users and Linux last night at the OSBC. 'First of all, I don't know how to make money on it,' Whitehurst said, adding that he was uncertain how relevant the desktop itself will be in five years given advances in cloud-based and smartphone computing, as well as VDI. 'The concept of a desktop is kind of ridiculous in this day and age. I'd rather think about skating to where the puck is going to be than where it is now.' Despite increasing awareness that desktop Linux is ready for widespread mainstream adoption, fellow panelists questioned the practicality of switching to Linux, noting that even some Linux developers prefer Macs to Linux. 'There's a desire [to use desktop Linux],' one panelist said, 'but practicality sets in. There are significant barriers to switching.'"

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Re:Jim Whitehurst must be french. by eln · 2009-03-25 05:06 · Score: 1, Offtopic

The British would not have surrendered had the French fleet not cut off reinforcements to Yorktown from Britain by taking control of the coast of Virginia. They also had soldiers, including high level officers, assisting the Americans. This is all in addition to all the funding.
It's highly unlikely the Americans would have been able to win the war without French assistance, and it would do us well to remember that. America and France have a long history of helping each other out of tight situations, and we do ourselves a disservice by forgetting that.