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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.
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!
Erwin Tenhumberg points out two articles on new OOo adoptions in Israel and Vietnam.
Haaretz.com reports on an agreement between Sun and the Israeli education system to supply OpenOffice.org and Linux to schools. This marks a major change in Israel, which has been a staunch user of almost exclusively Microsoft software to date:
“According to a computer teacher in a Tel Aviv high school, “even though the software world offers a multitude of alternatives, to date we have used Microsoft products almost exclusively. That is very frustrating, not least because in some cases the open source developments are better than those of the closed source.”
“The majority of computers made in Vietnam have now started to come put with the Linux operating system to pave the way for spreading the usage of open source software in the country,” says Pham Thien Nghe, chairman of the Vietnam Computer Producers Club and director of Khai Tri Company.
“Khai Tri will produce 15,000 PCs this year, and up to 10,000 of which are installed with Linux to supply State agencies and education institutions. The remainder will be supplied to small- and medium-sized enterprises, and within this smaller segment, users will decide which operating system to be installed.”
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.”
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.
Following up on my post from last week about the Dutch government adopting ODF, CNN Money has picked up the story as well. (Clearly from the same release, with the same errors!)
Writing “Dutch Government: Open Source Software To Be Adopted By April 2008,” CNN announces, “The Dutch government has set a soft deadline of
The motivation is primarily for cost savings and vendor independence:
“The decision directs government organizations to use the Open Document Format, or ODF, to save text files, rather than
The phrase you’re thinking of is “tipping point.”
“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.
Our friends in the KDE project were the first to fully adopt ODF in their office suite, KOffice, putting to rest our opponent’s claims that ODF was designed only for OpenOffice.org.
Now KDE has come out with a strong statement of support for ODF and against the dishonest Microsoft effort to rubberstamp its MSOOXML file format as an ISO standard. (Note: to date, Microsoft has failed in that project.)
ITWire quotes the original release in part:
“The standardisation process of OfficeOpenXML has turned sour, not in the least because Microsoft couldn’t resist the temptation to cheat. Right now we’re seeing evidence of a concerted campaign at discrediting OpenDocument vis-a-vis OfficeOpen XML. That’s unfortunate, to say the least. If OfficeOpen XML becomes an ISO standard, we will, in all likelihood, still not spend time on supporting it. The standard is enormous, very complex and to a large extent so badly specified that a full implementation is probably even harder than implementing the old Microsoft binary file formats. Add to that patent encumbrances and problems with copyrighted elements — and our conclusion is that we prefer to concentrate on making KOffice a great set of applications that are satisfying to use and satisfying to develop.”
In its world tour of governmental standards adoption, ODF makes a stop in the Netherlands.
“On Wednesday the Dutch parliament will discuss a plan to mandate use of the Open Document Format (ODF) at government agencies. The proposal is part of a wider plan to increase the sustainability of information and innovation, while lowering costs through the reuse of data.”
“Policy makers see interoperability as the key to achieving these goals and therefore recommend that open standards should be used whenever possible. Bodies that wish to deviate from the open standards policy can request a temporary stay, but have to show a timeline showing a planned implementation date — a policy described as “comply or explain.”
Taking it a step further, the plan also recommends that open source applications be used where possible, to save even more money:
“The proposal recommends the use of open source software if that’s a viable alternative over closed-source applications, which could give a major boost to applications like OpenOffice.”
Europe has certainly become a hotbed of ODF and OpenOffice.org adoption. We should begin to see this reflected in market share statistics over the next several years.
Mozilla is undoubtedly a pillar of the open source world, not only because of the importance of Firefox, Thunderbird, and its other products, but also as a model for organizing open source software development and the promotion of open standards that benefit everyone participating in an open marketplace.
Mitchell Baker posted (in October) financial and operational highlights of Mozilla’s latest year of operations. With revenues of $66 million, mostly from the Google searchbar, it was a very good year!
The post includes tons of other really interesting info about Mozilla’s role in the marketplace, its download statistics and web infrastructure, impact on the future of the internet itself, and much more.