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Linux's death -- greatly exaggerated?
Apr. 11, 2008

An opinion piece at LaptopMag suggests that Linux's "window of opportunity" on the desktop, and especially laptops, has closed. But has it, really?

Author Mark Spoonauer makes some great observations about momentum in the market. He seems very attuned to the laptop market, and strings recent events together to show how after a series of modest victories, Linux appears to have met with a few set-backs. Microsoft Windows XP, meanwhile, looks more relevant than ever, he reckons, with a key win on Asus's EEE. "People know XP. People like low prices. Put the two together and you have a hit -- and many successful hits to come," he writes.

It's an astute observation, I think, that XP has a marvelous future ahead of it in the ULCPC (ultra-low cost PC space). Microsoft recently agreed to allow OEM installations of XP on ULCPCs beyond June, the cut-off for desktop XP installations by the big guys (your friendly local PC shop selling whitebox systems in low volume will still be allowed to install XP for at least another year, and likely well beyond that).

But I'm not sure that the EEE deal represents any kind of real watershed event for Linux. Ditto for Wal*Mart concluding its test-marketing of the $200 Linux Everex PC. These are really tiny events when you step back to look at what Linux is, where it came from, and where it's going. Mark, like the Debian FTP server's MOD (message of the day) file used to put it back in the 90's... Welcome to the Linux "We're never going out of business" sale, at an FTP site near you!

Spoonauer's spunky op-ed, complete with disturbing "lynch Tux" graphic, dwells here.

Henry Kingman




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