Recently a good friend of mine and I were debating desktop Linux vs. Windows. I've been playing with Ubuntu Linux a lot lately (and really like it), but have decided that it's still not ready as a common desktop operating system (meaning for main stream use). While Linux is making a lot of headway here it still has a way to go...
So as we discussed this we discussed the main difference between Linux and Microsoft, that being vendor lock in. As we dug into this I realized something, that the key to getting Linux on the desktop really isn't mirroring the Windows feature set and ease of use (which, let's be clear, you do have to do), the key is beating Exchange.
If you look at this from the perspective of the "killer desktop app", the #1 killer app for business (more on business vs. personal later) is Outlook. Outlook, more than any other application, I'd venture to say, is the most important app on most people's computers (again I'm speaking generally here). So here's the chain:
So, the key here is Exchange. Now there are other reasons to run Windows, but I think that Exchange is the biggest one. If I wanted to switch *standard* users to Linux they would have a hard time mainly because they would miss Outlook (yes Novell Evolution works with Exchange and is *like* Outlook, but it still isn't as good).
Now what about the consumer market. The fact is that most, I'd actually say the vast majority, of consumers are going to buy PC's with the same OS installed on it that they use at work. We generally use our work PC for 80%-90% of our computing time (I'm guessing here), so we want our home OS to match.
So how do you get Linux on the desktop, you create an Exchange killer. Who can do this? Novell. They are positioned to do this, they have the financing to do it, and they are actively working on a groupware server product - (SUSE Linux Openexchange Server. If they can truly beat (or at least match) Exchange Linux has a great chance to get onto *general* desktops (meaning outside companies like IBM, etc). Good luck Novell!
Posted in: LinuxCOMMENTS (12)
From a other point of view :)
Your post has a good point; however, I believe there is also another significant obstacle to Linux succeeding on the desktop. You alluded to it mentioning that most users will chose the OS that they use at work. So, why do we use Windows at work then? The software, Exchange, is one reason. The other, I believe, is ease of administration. I am a system administrator and I take care of both Windows and Linux machines. It is by far easier to maintain Windows desktops in a properly working Active Directory environment, than it is Linux desktops in a Linux environment. If you want to change a user desktop setting in Linux, you can't just change a group policy setting and have it automatically propagate to all users like Windows. This is just a simple example, but you get the point. There are some products, both opensource and commercial, that are trying to help in this area. But, none come close to AD. I will never roll out Linux to every desktop I administer until there is an easy and cheap solution that is very similiar to AD.
When (not if) a good AD alternative is offered, I will push hard to move to an all Linux desktop.
Ryker I'd have to agree with that too. I was just getting at the key Exchange issue. I think the management issues could be overcome with modern technology (maybe not as good but similar) it's just that there is no comparison to Exchange yet...
Hi, Im a Linux support techie and I think your all barking up the wrong tree. Exchange doesn't need competition from a fictional Linux application; you can reproduce all of Exchange's functionality using free, web-based applications. AD is like LDAP for dummies, what you admins need is skill - not easy to deploy software. Welcome to the real world.
You can install AD without needing a Windows DNS server. Most later versions of bind that support dynamic update can support hosting the AD primary zone.
Wim said:
"I will never roll out Linux to every desktop I administer until there is an easy and cheap solution that is very similiar to AD". Wim, as a system administrator, you will do what you are told. If you are told to eat cold porridge, you will eat it. If you are told to roll out Linux, you will (or find yourself another job). These decisions are taken at a much higher level than Sysadmin.
In my experience this is very true. Specifically our entire organisation uses AD because of exchange public folders.
You don't necessarily need to use group policies to do that kinda stuff. The traditional method for managing a large multiuser environment for Linux was to use NFS or imilar to share the /home folder and store it centrally. That means the folder travels with the user, just like you can configure in Windows.
We use a Novell network, with AD and a whole swap of other stuff. We also have Lotus Notes. Notes doesn't work on Linux properly. The earlier versions install fine, but not the later versions (MSI issues). In addition, we have a monolithic document management and revisioning tool which barely works on Windows and I haven't tried to get it working under Linux.
Solving these issues is our concern as we need to keep documents for over 30 years, so we have that issue as well as Notes. We'd be happy to get rid of things, but user retraining scares most people too...
The problem is that Hosted Exchange is spreading like wildfire and once Open Source groupware solutions start catching up, Microsoft will be off to the next race - a 'MegaProvider' world. This is the next battle Gmail vs. Hosted Exchange vs. Yahoo!. Anyone still fighting the old battle will be soon forgotten.
Another critical piece of the puzzle is push to mobile devices. Exchange does that as well or better (usually better) than everything else. In my office we run Exchange 5.5 specifically so we do NOT have to use AD, but our users need their Blackberries like they need fresh water.
You might want to take a look at www.open-xchange.com . The tools provided server the need and Exchange 5.5 is replaced in many cases by OPEN-XCHANGE Server 5.0
The Outlook OXtender and Palm OXtenders also help satisfying the needs described initially.
at OPEN-XCHANGE.org you can also take a look at the whole project.
Yeah, Novell can do a Great job here with the Groupwise/Openexchange Server product for linux.
All products from Novell are great they only don't know which direction they have to go since people choose software thats sucks.
Customers that pay my living I recommend MS-Exchange and for my frieds I give them Openweb mail for free :)
Guess which software need the most service hours ;)
Wim.