Interesting linux stuff at cnet

Really, really interesting story. Everything cool is happening in Asia right now, especially China. Everyone knows it, and everyone is worried about it. They're just to god damned big, and they want to join the rest of the world in a big way, and they want to do it on the cheap... IE, not necessarily just buying Dells with WindowsXP.

But with the kind of volume you're talking about, you don't need that kind of money. Linux is prolly going to make a huge splash, which will help it in the USA also... it's going to be strange to one day be waiting for the English port of some uber-cool app just released in China first.

What's interesting is that it's a market where Apple just doesn't really play at all, save Japan. One day, theoretically, but not right now. Even more interesting is just how gang busters Linux could come on in the desktop space due to Chinese adoption. If there are 100 million linux desktops there, you can be damned sure people here are going to be trying to sell them apps.

So if Linux makes massive inroads on the desktop, does that help or hurt a company like Apple? IIRC, economic theory would say markets generally can support two competing standards: VHS vs DVD, CD vs cassette, etc. So would Apple be a 3rd standard (linux & windows being the other 2), or will it ride on top of Linux, as an uber-brand, or will it get creamed. Should be interesting.

Sun to IBM: Go Linux with us

Schwartz has offered to help IBM migrate to Linux desktops by selling it Sun's Java Desktop System, released last summer. "We can offer a desktop for every one of your employees--with a free right to use the desktop at home--for $50 per employee. Consider this a formal quote from Sun--but only if you're willing to buy in volume."

This one is kind of lame, really. More than anything it seems to be Sun trying to grandstand and get some free press mentioning "Sun" & "Linux" in the same paragraph without also having "erosion of marketshare" or "feeling pressure from" included. If you've followed, Sun went from taking big steps with Linux (their own distro, the cobalt line), then killed it, and is now trying to make a name again with Linux in a big way and made a big splash with a huge China deal. It is kind of interesting to get a sense of what Sun is willing to license their Java Desktop for in volume.