MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-12-16 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] OSDL cautiously optimistic on desktop Linux
|
They are SO late in the game for this.
On Fri, 2005-12-16 at 08:43, Inker, Evan wrote:
> OSDL cautiously optimistic on desktop Linux
> By Gavin Clarke
> Published Thursday 15th December 2005 16:58 GMT
> http://www.theregister.com/2005/12/15/osdl_fsg_desktop_linux/
>
> The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has voiced cautious optimism
> that its latest initiative could finally herald a mass-market for Linux
> on the desktop.
>
> OSDL is pushing ahead with Project Portland, to develop a common set of
> core technical requirements for Linux and open source software on the
> desktop, following a meeting of 47 companies and organizations it hosted
> earlier this month.
>
> Portland has identified a core set of areas, spanning the interface,
> plug-and-play, drivers and the kernel, that OSDL members will flesh out.
>
> The goal is to create a common framework for greater interoperability
> between different Linux and open source software components on the PC. A
> framework is expected to reduce usability issues for the end user and
> remove technology hurdles for ISVs who want to be able to not only port
> desktop applications from closed to open source but to also ensure their
> software works on different Linux desktops after just a single port.
>
> In case any of this sounds familiar, it should. The Free Standards Group
> (FSG) in October announced the Linux Standard Base Desktop Project,
> which will standardize common libraries and application behavior in
> Linux for the desktop. Portland, which will be incorporated into the
> Linux Standard Base (LSB) (http://linux.sys-con.com/read/46188.htm) 4.0
> next year, will produce a common interface framework.
>
> FSG's LSB was last month ratified
> (http://www.freestandards.org/news/press.php?id=1&view=full) as an ISO
> standard after five years' work, but only after it saw limited success
> in the early days thanks - in part - to a lack of support from
> distribution market leader Red Hat.
>
> OSDL believes the level of support already expressed for Portland
> demonstrates the project's potential to be more successful than LSB at
> an earlier stage. Among the first meeting's attendees were
> representatives from Adobe Systems, AMD, Eclipse, FSG, Gnome, IBM,
> Intel, KDE, Mozilla, Nokia, OpenOffice and - yes - Red Hat. Many of
> these are also participating in the FSG's work.
>
> "It was an eye-popping experience that these guys got together," OSDL
> principal analyst Dave Rosenburg told The Register. "Once those base
> line [standards] are established, a large majority of those guys will go
> with them."
>
> He also feels the fact this work is being conducted at the OSDL brings
> with it the kind of clout that will establish the standard and ensure
> industry uptake. A critical failing in Linux and open source on the
> desktop has been the very noticeable reluctance of leading OEM Dell to
> ship a PC running Linux and a full suite of open source desktop
> productivity software. OSDL hopes it can overcome this by maintaining a
> vendor-neutral forum and regular contacts with OEMs like Dell.
>
> Open source and Linux desktops have enjoyed varying degrees of success,
> despite frequent predictions in recent years this would be year of the
> Linux desktop. WStarOffice, OpenOffice, KDE and Ximian are played-up as
> alternatives to applications in Microsoft's Office, but Rosenburg says
> these open source suites have failed to achieve broad adoption because
> they lack good email or productivity alternatives to Office.
>
> A recent OSDL poll (http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS5481370522.html)
> of 3,000 users found that lack of application support was the biggest
> factor preventing customers from switching to an open source desktop.
>
> According to Rosenburg, Portland could encourage a Red Hat or Novell to
> deliver a full open source desktop stack, which meets users'
> requirements on application support and addresses usability issues, such
> as consistency of buttons and menus between a word processing and a
> spread sheet application.
>
> He resists falling in to the trap of predicting Portland means 2006 will
> be "the year of Linux desktop," but is confident it can capitalize on
> the buzz that Mozilla's Firefox has created around open source software
> on the desktop. Firefox has gained 11.51 per cent of the browser market
> in the year since its release.
>
> "Linux on desktop has been coming for years. The last three years has
> been 'the year of the Linux desktop.' Firefox has made a big difference
> in getting open source on top of everyone's desktop - that's made it
> more feasible," Roseburg said.
>
> "I won't say it [2006 is the year of the Linux desktop], but we are
> going to get closer. If we had a true competitor to Microsoft Office,
> then I'd say that will be the year of desktop Linux." (r)
>
>
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