I saw that on Slashdot, too, but didn't post it here because Eric Raymond isn't a marketing guy and thus isn't the one to listen to when it comes to Linux deployment in businesses.
The CEO of Red Hat isn't worth listening to, either, when he says that the desktop is dead. He is telling what benefits Red Hat as a company now, and if the desktop suddenly rules the market, he can be pleasantly surprised with no damages done by his former statement.
The problem is, that there are actually very few reliable sources that tell about future Linux desktop deployment, but we can judge ourselves by these facts:
- Linux cannot take over the desktop in a year or two. The world simply doesn't move that fast.
- Linux TCO is will be going downwards for many years to come, and is already lower than Windows for most scenarios.
- Linux distribution capabilities improve almost exponentially right now, and within a year, the number of serious, useful business apps included in Red Hat Linux will be larger than the number of business apps installed on most Windows PCs.
- As Linux satisfies the needs of a growing number of end-users, Linux usage will also grow.
- Unless Microsoft reduces their prices a lot, it will be a very, very expensive solution to buy Microsoft in the future.
Dybdahl. |
