January 11th, 2008 Benjamin Horst
Mary Lou Jepsen, the founding CTO of OLPC, recently left the project to help commercialize some of its innovative hardware in a new company she founded, Pixel Qi. One of its goals is to produce a laptop for $50 to $75!
Groklaw runs an interview with Jepsen about her plans.
Jepsen explains her plan: “I’m starting a company called Pixel Qi. Pixel Qi is currently pursuing the $75 laptop, while also aiming to bring sunlight readable, low-cost and low-power screens into mainstream laptops, cellphones and digital cameras. Spinning out from OLPC enables the development of a new machine, beyond the XO, while leveraging a larger market for new technologies, beyond just OLPC: prices for next-generation hardware can be brought down by allowing multiple uses of the key technology advances. Pixel Qi will give OLPC products at cost, while also selling the sub-systems and devices at a profit for commercial use.”
A great article, a fascinating person, and a world-changing idea!
Posted in Free Culture, GNU/Linux, OLPC, Open Source | 2 Comments »
January 10th, 2008 Benjamin Horst
Another low-cost, open source based mini-laptop has arrived: the Everex CloudBook. Featuring the gOS, just like its desktop sibling gPC, the CloudBook is a tiny but very functional looking $399 laptop.
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source, OpenOffice.org | 1 Comment »
January 8th, 2008 Benjamin Horst
Rumor has it Shuttle is entering the market for inexpensive Linux-based computers.
The Inquirer writes, “When you don’t have to pay the MS monopoly tax, you save a huge chunk of money from your Bill of Materials (BoM). When you don’t have to support MeII [Vista, I guess?], you can provide the same user experience with a lot lower hardware spec. That saves more money.”
Looking further, I have not yet found any definitive announcements. But other blogs are picking up the scent and looking for answers:
“Unfortunately, no further information is currently available on Shuttle’s new system. It’s unclear what form factor the system will be, what the specs will be or what version of Linux it will be running.”
I think this, along with the gPC, Asus’ Eee PC, Nokia 810, the OLPC XO, and other similar products are the beginning of a seismic shift. The low-cost end of the market will abandon Windows in favor of Linux over the next year or two. And that will eventually grow to become the bulk of the market: this is going to be fascinating to watch!
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | Comments Off on Shuttle’s New <$200 Linux PC
January 3rd, 2008 Benjamin Horst
The Economic Times of India reports “Efforts to promote open source software gather momentum,” as more companies, universities and governments adopt open source software including Linux, OpenOffice.org, and other programs:
“India’s computing space is witnessing a shift towards free software as more and more people are drifting away from proprietary products due to their exorbitant prices, security issues and restrictions on usage, according to experts.”
Meanwhile, The Open Press (a press release distributor) announces another major Philippine company has adopted FOSS in “Philippine Construction Company Shifts to Linux for Cost-Effective Infrastructure.”
“EEI Corporation, one of the Philippines’ leading construction companies, has opted to shift to Linux for their operating system (OS), joining several other industry giants in the country who have already turned to open source.
“Due to increasing costs of licensing, the company started considering open source applications in order to minimize expenses.
“Other concerns, such as virus infection and the increasing cost of hardware also became factors as to why we decided to use Linux,” said Mr. Andy S. Sarmiento, assistant vice president for the MIS department.
“EEI Corporation is only one of several industry giants in the Philippines which are already using Linux and open source software. Other firms include Jollibee Foods Corporation, Mercury Drug Corporation, International Family Foods Services (Shakey’s) and Nippon Paint Philippines Inc. Several schools, notably the University of the Philippines, are also making use of open source in place of proprietary systems.”
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source, OpenOffice.org | Comments Off on FOSS Successes in India and the Philippines
December 28th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Polishlinux.org (referring to the country, not a high level of shine) publishes “Ubuntu Linux vs Windows Vista: The Desktop Battle.”
Author Borys Musielak begins, “It may be a brave opinion but I predict that Ubuntu Linux and Windows Vista are going to be the two operating systems that will take over the largest chunk of the desktop OS market during the next couple of years.”
I guess the brave part of the prediction is that Vista will get any significant adoption! (If not for OEM preinstallations, Vista would be gone already.)
Poland is quickly becoming a software powerhouse, and open source is very strong there (it has one of the highest rates of Firefox usage in Europe and the entire world, at over 41% market share), so I am sure Musielak’s prediction is correct for his local market, and many others around the world.
In terms of user interface, Musielak puts the two systems on equal footing, which means that one of Linux’ longstanding shortcomings is gone. In terms of adding software, Ubuntu wins because of its Synaptic Package Manager. The author wonders why there’s no package manager for Windows. As do I.
Hardware support, robustness, flexibility and advanced features were all compared, and in the end, the author prefers Ubuntu by a statistically-significant margin.
Without its special OEM relationships, Windows would be crashing and burning right now, just like IE in Europe. Even with this huge advantage, its dominance is eroding in a process that will accelerate faster and faster.
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | 1 Comment »
December 27th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Asus’ Linux-based Eee PC has exceeded its 2007 sales goal by more than 50,000 units, writes Linux Loop.
“Over 350,000 Eee PCs have been sold so far since the release in mid October, according to Tech Digest. This is already 50,000 over the original goal of 300,000 units sold by the end of 2007… the success of the Eee PC shows other hardware manufacturers that there is a market for computers with Linux on them that is worth getting into.”
How does this compare with Dell’s half-hearted efforts to sell Ubuntu Linux machines? While Dell’s Ubuntu sales are good, the Eee blows them away:
“To put the 350,000 number in perspective, Dell is thought to have sold 40,000 Ubuntu PCs over a period of about 5 months, according to The Register. This is about 8,000 per month compared to about 175,000 Eee PCs per month.”
Posted in GNU/Linux | 1 Comment »
December 26th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
A cool librarian from Vermont, Jessamyn West, demonstrates how easy it is to install Ubuntu on donated computers for use in her town’s library. The two new Ubuntu machines have doubled the library’s public computers, and brought Linux to 50% marketshare over the course of an hour!
(This was posted in the beginning of the year, but I only got a chance to see the video recently.)
Posted in Free Culture, GNU/Linux | Comments Off on Ubuntu at the Library
December 14th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
“China’s Linux Desktop Market Booms,” writes Linux.com.
Linux on the desktop is competing against pirated Windows in China, but is steadily gaining ground. As the government gets stricter about its own offices’ use of pirated software, most are beginning to migrate to Red Flag Linux:
“Although China’s Linux market as a whole doubled from 2003 to 2006 to $20 million per year, sales of Linux desktop software grew more slowly. In fact, the market share of Linux desktop software in China dropped from 16% to 12% in the same period. But according to CCID Consulting, sales of Linux desktop software increased 25.1% in the third quarter of this year, catching up with the quick growth of China’s Linux industry as a whole. Several new developments have added fuel to the growth.”
Market share figures are extremely difficult to determine in China, but with the government and many vendors supporting it, Linux’s opportunity is going to be great. Microsoft, of course, recognizes the significance of the Chinese market and is fighting back with every tactic it can devise. But to my mind, there is no chance they will be able to achieve a monopoly dominance like their current position in the developed world.
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | 1 Comment »
December 5th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
gOS is an Ubuntu variant designed for simple end user tasks. In lieu of many (though not all) desktop applications, it points users towards Google’s set of online tools for email, maps, calendar, news and other functions, as well as other web properties like Facebook and Wikipedia.
gOS got its start recently with Everex’s $200 gPC, which quickly sold out (but seems to be back in stock again) at Wal-Mart and is also available at ZaReason.
Linux.com takes a look at gOS to see how it might fit into the marketplace, and is impressed with the product:
“It’s a cute little system with lots of functionality and great looks. It works well and is fast and stable on my laptop. It should work on any computer that any other Linux supports. Enlightenment is an impressive desktop environment, and the iBar is a low-overhead way to blend cool effects with needed functionality. I think users will like it.”
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | Comments Off on Linux.com on gOS
November 20th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
While I might argue that “the year of the Linux desktop” has been a recurring annual event several years running, lots of people like to predict that each year will be the one.
Linux Magazine makes a strong argument for 2008 in Joe Brockmeier’s “Is 2008 the Year of the Linux Desktop?”
Cheap and popular new hardware options are the key:
“I’m talking about the Asus EEE PC and the Everex Green gPC. Both systems are, by today’s standards, cheap, underpowered, and limited in function. They also play to Linux’s strengths by being cheap, underpowered, and limited in function. Despite limited horsepower, both systems are more than adequate for performing basic desktop functions (email, Web browsing, running OpenOffice.org, etc.) and offer stripped-down interfaces that are less confusing for new users.
“They’re also, as of this writing, both sold out. The gPC has been selling through Wal-Mart, and sold out in just a matter of days. The EEE PC was sold through a number of online retailers, and also sold out in just a few days. I’m sure both systems were in limited supply, but there’s clearly pent-up demand.”
Following the path outlined by Clayton Christensen in The Innovator’s Dilemma, open source will disrupt the market from below and push Windows and Office up the ladder until they are nothing more than niche products. Linux will take the majority share of the market.
Posted in GNU/Linux, OpenOffice.org | Comments Off on Linux Mag: 2008 is the Year!