Robert Pogson

Red Hat is a distinguished name in GNU/Linux.

• They have made a successful business on a subscription model for servers.
• They gave back in a huge way by being a major contributor to the Linux kernel, K12LTSP, RPM, suing SCO, fighting FUD, supporting a huge knowledge base and providing resources to many mailing lists and projects.
• Almost single-handedly (they are modest) they made GNU/Linux mainstream with business.

There is more, no doubt. The biggest contribution they have made is to step up and answer the FUD about GNU/Linux not being ready and able to supply mission-critical needs in business.

They are also distinguished by appearing to wave the white flag over the battle for the desktop. Statements like

“First of all, I don’t know how to make money on it,” Whitehurst said. “Very few people are running a desktop that’s mission-critical,” so they do not want to pay the company for a desktop OS, he said.

Times have changed. Virtualized desktops make sense and GNU/Linux can virtualize with the best of them, so Red Hat is back. Check out their website: www.RedHat.com/rhel/desktop/. Business sees a role for GNU/Linux on the desktop and Red Hat is stepping up.

Features of Red Hat’s system that appeal to business:

• scalability, handling 10000 desktops as well as a few
• huge reductions in cost of deployment/service
• flexibility: multi-OS virtualization, workstation, multi-OS virtualized workstations
• natural immunity from malware designed for that other OS

I know from experience with thin clients (a poor man’s virtualized desktop) there is joy in maintaining a few systems to provision many. This is a huge factor in reducing workload for IT. Virtualization works. Keep the highest of the high-end systems working hard and let the less expensive equipment idle to conserve capital, energy, and manpower. It works.

Welcome back, Red Hat! I would make a wager that this development could be one of the largest with respect to future development of the GNU/Linux desktop. I think this is another landmark making 2009 the year of the GNU/Linux desktop. Red Hat has thousands of customers with many desktops. If 80% of those desktops convert to GNU/Linux we could double the number of GNU/Linux desktops in a year or two. I would wager that what Red Hat makes standard for a large proportion of GNU/Linux desktops will set the pace for many of the distros now struggling to make sense of too many desktop environments, window managers and themes. I would wager a lot of desktop bugs will be fixed.

Is there anyone out there who still believes GNU/Linux is not ready yet?

Anyone?

No. I thought not.

UPDATE

Already I have feedback from readers. One suggested the following points were missed:

• Applications – Remember the FUD about applications not available in GNU/Linux? If millions of desktops go with Red Hat to GNU/Linux, will this not motivate Adobe, Intuit and others to port their pet applications to GNU/Linux? Yes. If business finds their desktops cost less with GNU/Linux they will want to go that way and there will be demand.
• Migration – Many businesses will be spending 2009/10 figuring out whether to migrate from XP to “7″ or MacOS or GNU/Linux. The number of desktops looking for a place to go is 100 million or more. Red Hat will be in position to take a large percentage of those. Deployment of virtual desktops is faster, cheaper and more sure than going to thick clients again. Just the cost of defending the new systems against malware could justify giving Red Hat lots of business. Can they handle the volume? Remember the scalability? Yes they can. Only a few months ago Red Hat was publicly timid about the desktop. I would wager they wanted to wait until just before the release of “7″ to take the wind our from M$’s sails. Red Hat is tiny in terms of total revenue, but I think Red Hat sees a lot of growth coming from the end of life of XP and its workstations. IBM and Red Hat both getting into the virtual desktop business at this time is not a coincidence but bold strategic moves to take back the desktop from the monopoly.