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Re: Linux Edges One Step Closer to Total World Domination
Posted by: Jeremiah T. Gray 2008-07-15 07:08:29
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Many LinuxInsider readers are probably familiar with OpenMoko's FreeRunner -- the new Linux-based cell phone. This smartphone uses the Linux kernel along with various other free and open source software packages, including X.org Server with Matchbox window manager. These tools will be familiar to users of the original OpenMoko developer's phone that came out last summer, the Neo1973, or the OLPC XO-1 laptop before it ran Windows XP. This phone is so open source that you can get scans of the hardware off the Web site, but OpenMoko is just the tip of the iceberg.
Mobile Phone OSs have Minimal Influence
Posted by: trentreviso 2008-07-15 17:59:46 In reply to: Jeremiah T. Gray
Mr. Gray writes, "People are now getting Linux on their phones because some of the people who know the score have managed to convince some of the people that call the shots to act rationally." He also writes, "The days of Windows Mobile are numbered, and they will run out far sooner than Microsoft's days dominating the desktop market because more people have decision-making power over their handheld device preference than over their office operating system preference." But Linux on mobile phones declined significantly last year even as Windows Mobile's market share increased. So those "people who know the score" don't seem to be influencing others to adopt Linux on their phones.
Mr. Gray argues that the growth of Linux on cell phones "will lead to a sustainable long-term infiltration of many more market segments," because " after all, it's the lack of user comfort with Linux that's supposedly keeping hardware manufacturers and software developers away from Linux-based systems." However, it is difficult to appreciate how the experience of Linux on a cell phone will help to resolve "the lack of user comfort with Linux." Linux on a phone does not familiarize the user with KDE or Gnome or even the shell. Telephone operating systems are hidden away beneath phone display screens in a way that shields the user from any exposure to the mechanics of that OS. I suspect very few cell phone users would even be able to tell you what OS their phone runs.
Finally, Mr. Gray writes "When enough Linux-based phones have pervaded the mobile phone market, savvy users will abound in workplaces where "whether to port to Linux or not" decisions are made. The decision will more likely be yes if enough users are already personally familiar with Linux-based handsets." The people who make the decision "whether to port to Linux or not" in organizations tend not to be average workers who would convert the organization to a particular OS because that is what they happen to have on their phones. These decisions are made by long-standing IT professionals who make their judgements based on compatibility, security, stabilty, ease of use, and cost - not what's on someone's phone.
If Linux ever does become popular on mobile phones, this growth will help spread the use of desktop Linux via expansion of the community of developers for Linux. The more programmers out there writing apps and drivers for Linux on one platform, the more such software is likely to get written for Linux across all platforms. And that may help remove a few remaining impediments to adoption of desktop Linux for a few people.
Mr. Gray argues that the growth of Linux on cell phones "will lead to a sustainable long-term infiltration of many more market segments," because " after all, it's the lack of user comfort with Linux that's supposedly keeping hardware manufacturers and software developers away from Linux-based systems." However, it is difficult to appreciate how the experience of Linux on a cell phone will help to resolve "the lack of user comfort with Linux." Linux on a phone does not familiarize the user with KDE or Gnome or even the shell. Telephone operating systems are hidden away beneath phone display screens in a way that shields the user from any exposure to the mechanics of that OS. I suspect very few cell phone users would even be able to tell you what OS their phone runs.
Finally, Mr. Gray writes "When enough Linux-based phones have pervaded the mobile phone market, savvy users will abound in workplaces where "whether to port to Linux or not" decisions are made. The decision will more likely be yes if enough users are already personally familiar with Linux-based handsets." The people who make the decision "whether to port to Linux or not" in organizations tend not to be average workers who would convert the organization to a particular OS because that is what they happen to have on their phones. These decisions are made by long-standing IT professionals who make their judgements based on compatibility, security, stabilty, ease of use, and cost - not what's on someone's phone.
If Linux ever does become popular on mobile phones, this growth will help spread the use of desktop Linux via expansion of the community of developers for Linux. The more programmers out there writing apps and drivers for Linux on one platform, the more such software is likely to get written for Linux across all platforms. And that may help remove a few remaining impediments to adoption of desktop Linux for a few people.
