Posted on 05/20/2006 6:36:24 PM PDT by bigdcaldavis
TORONTO — The recent LinuxWorld trade show in Toronto was dull, but exhibitors liked it that way. Excitable younger Linux evangelists had given way to the more sober executives and IT managers.
That plays into the hands of Andreas Typaldos, chief executive officer of Xandros Inc., just fine. For him, it's an opportunity.
IDC forecasts that the market for new and redeployed PCs running Linux will grow to $10-billion (U.S.) and 17 million units by 2008, with an installed base of more than 42.6 million units. Mr. Typaldos is hoping to carve a niche in this growing market, offering Xandros's upstart Debian-based distribution of Linux.
Xandros Desktop has been out two years now, and Xandros Server, released May 1, has undergone extensive trials. But its maturity has not yet made much of an impact on the industry.
So far, the Linux market still belongs to Red Hat, with Novell's SuSE a distant second and Mandriva somewhere behind that. Xandros's market share is even smaller, but Mr. Typaldos is counting on a tectonic shift in the near future: While Red Hat and Novell Linux systems can work easily in small-business environments, neither company has spent much effort going after small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
One obstacle to Linux adoption has been the perception that Linux technicians don't come cheap. Mr. Typaldos is marketing the American-owned, Canadian-made Xandros Server (it was originally Corel Linux until 2001) as a plug-and-play system that eliminates the need for in-house technicians.
Mr. Typaldos differentiates Xandros from competing products such as Red Hat and Novell, whose business models are based on selling support for the product. His answer is to make Xandros as Windows-like as possible to appeal to companies that don't want (or can't afford) to set up their own IT departments or to pay the licensing fees Microsoft and its partners demand. "It's a Windows world . . . we keep the Windows world, but change the engine."
By his calculation, a Microsoft system, including server, backup, end-user licence agreements and everything needed, is about $5,000. Xandros, he says, can offer it all for $450. For individuals, Xandros desktop is selling for as little as $14.99 (after rebate) in Canada.
But David Senf, senior software analyst at IDC Canada, says it will be difficult selling Linux without an elaborate support system like Novell's. Moreover, Xandros will have to try to sell the product to a non-technical market that might be able to configure the system, but could also get it wrong.
He is also predicting a tougher battle from Novell than Mr. Typaldos apparently expects. Even with its attention divided between enterprise and SMB markets, "Half of what Novell can throw at the SMBs is a lot more than Xandros can do by itself," he said.
Still, adds Mr. Senf, "Xandros is focusing on the right area of the market, and that's good marketing. We all like a David-and-Goliath story -- you kind of want to see smaller companies take that challenge and run with it."
(An expanded version of this story is available on globetechnology.com)
Oh, no, not another Tom Cruise thread!
It's a nice distro. I like Xandros.
However Linux on a desktop is not recommended, since hardly any professional software runs on it, and its configuration is not as easy compared to Windows.
"It's a nice distro. I like Xandros."
OK, you're a tech head, right? I mean, it's fine for Xandros to say that non-technical people want a product they can take out of the box and use, the way they use Windows. Of course they do, but Xandros isn't really such a product, is it?
I like Xandros, too. It's probably the best Windows alternative I've ever used. I've used Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Linspire, Corel Linux OS, Mac OS 7, and Xandros. Xandros works like a charm. I have iTunes (using Crossover Office) and the latest versions of Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird installed on there. I also have GAIM and K3B installed as well (I like GAIM better than Kopete, and I like K3B better than the built-in disc burning tool in Xandros File Manager).
Now what I'm about to say may sound like a kooky conspiracy theory, but my opinion is that there are global elites who want to tell you what OS you can and cannot have on your own computers. You know Gates wants to rule the computer world and he will use any means necessary to achieve that goal. Remember that DRM bill Fritz Hollings introduced back in 2000? It would have mandated DRM technology in all electronics and all software, including computer operating systems, and since GNU/Linux is against DRM, it would have made Linux illegal. Makes me wonder if Gates contributed money to Hollings' campaign funds. And I also got an email from somebody who claimed to have worked in the DoD, and they said the DoD actually "looks unfavorable at people who use open source operating systems". Hmmm....maybe all those security flaws in Windows are deliberately put in there so Big Brother can watch you while you compute.
Then you have Apple introducing Boot Camp which lets people install Windows XP on Intel-based Macs. What if a lot of people get Intel Macs and install Windows on their computers and use Windows instead of Mac OS X? If that happens, Apple might say "since nobody's using Mac OS X, we're going to abandon OS X and have Windows pre-installed". And then what if Apple later on changes the Mac hardware to prevent not only the Intel-based Mac OS X from being installed on future Macs but also Linux from being installed on Intel-based Macs?
What if in the future the internet or Internet2 prevents computers with non-Windows OSes from getting online? If that time ever comes, that will be the day when I no longer use the internet.
I hope more and more people start using Linux or Mac OS X because a Windows-only world would be a hellhole.
Tech head? Well, I remember emails from Linus on his first kernels back in 90 or 91. So, the first "Linux" I loaded on a 486 (I think it was a 486) wasn't even from a disribution. Over the years I've probably used every major Linux distro so to me Xandros is as close to a "wondoze" product as any I've ever seen.
"Tech head? Well, I remember emails from Linus on his first kernels back in 90 or 91. So, the first "Linux" I loaded on a 486 (I think it was a 486) wasn't even from a disribution. Over the years I've probably used every major Linux distro so to me Xandros is as close to a "wondoze" product as any I've ever seen."
That's interesting, but how close is it, really?
Windoze is OK as long as you stay off of the internet....
Somehow I've managed to use it as my sole desktop for nearly ten years.
I guess I must be imagining things.
"Might want to look at Ubuntu, that is the hottest one going today...."
Not me thanks, I'm techno phobic. For me, this discussion is purely academic.
One of my friends switched his mom to Ubuntu, because he was tired of trying to keep her Windows machine running.
Last I heard, she is not having any problems at all, and he said it was very easy to install.
So how are you avoiding malware, viruses, tojans,.....etc?
Trojans that is....
"So how are you avoiding malware, viruses, tojans,.....etc?"
Can't say ;)
"One of my friends switched his mom to Ubuntu, because he was tired of trying to keep her Windows machine running.
Last I heard, she is not having any problems at all, and he said it was very easy to install."
Interesting. Still academic for me. For example, I use Dragon---a program that allows me to speak the text and without typing. That wouldn't work on Ubuntu.
To you have high speed internet?
Do you have high speed internet?
This is all you need, surf anywhere completely safe. No real performance loss either.
http://www.anonymizer. com
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.