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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Movement Increasing To Make Linux Mainstream

Today IBM announced it is partnering with Ubuntu, Red Hat and Suse and hardware manufacturers to flood the world with Linux machines.

From MarketWatch:
For the first time, IBM and leading Linux distributors Canonical/Ubuntu, Novell and Red Hat will join forces globally with their hardware partners to deliver Microsoft-free personal computing choices with Lotus Notes and Lotus Symphony in the one billion-unit desktop market worldwide by 2009.

Citing shifting market forces and the growing demand for economical alternatives to costly Windows and Office-based computers, the four leaders sense an ideal set of circumstances allowing Linux-based desktops to proliferate in the coming year. Linux is far more profitable for a PC vendor and the operating system is better equipped to work with lower cost hardware than new Microsoft technology.

There were other articles I was going to post speculating that you will see Ubuntu preinstalled in most major retail stores by the end of the year, but they are only blogs.

I don't know how much market share will come from this, but it can only be a good thing that more and more big name companies with money endorse Linux. (PS. I still haven't spent a dime on software in years!)

2 comments:

  1. I may buy my operating system, but I can't help but cheer for Linux. More compitition is a good thing for consumers. The nearly total dominance of Windows in the late 90's and the early part of this decade was a bad thing for consumers both in terms of prices and in terms of product quality. Now that Windows is facing serious competition from Mac OS X and Linux distributions like Ubuntu, the competition will increase quality and drive down prices - which is good news for those of us who still buy software.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "More compitition is a good thing for consumers."

    I agree. Though I mostly praise Ubuntu, it would be bad for computing if Ubuntu controlled things as much as Microsoft does today.

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