2008 will be great for the Free Software world

2007 has come and gone, faster than any other year I think. Lot of stuff has happened, new releases, rumours and not to forget the OOXML saga that continues to amaze us. But it looks like 2008 is only going to get better.

While the year of the Linux Desktop may not be here just yet, every where we look we see great things happening to the open source movement. Read on for an overview of what we can expect in 2008 and what has changed for us geeks in the good ‘ol 2007.

Year of the Linux Desktop…. maybe this time?

Perhaps one of the most important news items for us Free Software geeks was the news that Dell will be selling Ubuntu pre-installed on some of it’s workstations and laptops. Judging from their corporate blog Direct2Dell it seems that Dell is really serious about Ubuntu on it’s product line. Updates on the project and news about new drivers and features show up on their blog weekly, showing good commitment to the Linux desktop.

The ever dropping hardware prices are the cause of the recent avalance of low cost computers. Even a state of the art machine can be yours for only €600, making the €300 for Windows Vista Ultimate the kind of purchase that makes you check for a second mortgage. So what better way to power these low cost computers than with a Linux based OS?

That’s exactly what Asus is doing with it’s Eee PC. The Eee notebook is what Ars Technica calls Eeextremely Eeenticing. And what better way to stand out as a company than with a custom operating system? Everex has taken the Ubuntu operating system and enhanced it with a nice sleek interface to create gOS. It heavily relies on Google’s web applications and other Web 2.0 beauties such as Meebo. When the computer hardware costs $200 such as the Everex gPC then you simply can’t justify the Windows tax.

Everex gOS

On the hardware market we’re also seeing good news. More and more manufacturers are providing drivers for Linux based operating systems, thanks to such efforts like the Linux Driver Project started by Greg Kroah-Hartman and Dell’s Ubuntu product line.

Despite all this great news, the year of the Linux Desktop still isn’t here. It’s doubtful that all these great initiatives and increasing support for the Linux Desktop will force a breakthrough for Linux based operating systems on the mainstream market. We still have a long way to go but we keep getting closer.

Free Software goes mobile

OpenMoko running on the Treo 1973

The hardware market isn’t about personal computers and servers only. Even on the handheld and embedded market Linux is making tremendous progress. I’m keeping a close eye on is the OpenMoko. Put simply, an OpenMoko phone is the iPhone without DRM, lockin and all the other crap. It’s completely open, both the hardware specifications and the software are Free (as in speech).

Even traditional vendors like Nokia and Motorolla are using the power of Free & Open Source software to power their devices. The Nokia N800 and N810 are powered by a combination of Linux and GTK and Motorola is creating and selling more and more Linux based smartphones.

We all like shiny new stuff

As geeks we can’t get around it, we always want newer, shinier and more powerful things. 2008 will be very kind to us (as most years are actually) when it comes to new software releases.

The folks at Canonical will deliver two new Ubuntu releases together with the community, Ubuntu 8.04 will be the new Long Term Support version and will focus on stability and enhancing features that are currently present. While little is known about the 10 month away Ubuntu 8.10 we can only dream and drool about the day we get our hands on that ISO.

Another long anticipated release will be KDE 4 which will be a major overhaul for the powerful desktop environment. Read more about the KDE 4 release on masuran.org.

And other Linux powered operating systems aren’t going to stay behind, you can expect to see a lot of effort from Fedora, PCLinuxOS, openSuSe and others. The effect Ubuntu has had on the mainstream media was like a kick in the behind for the others, no one can stay behind in what will be more like a race for the largest user base.

Is this a bad thing? Will the ‘community’ be torn apart by fragmentation like so many have written and talked about? Heck no! The more fragmentation and differentiation we have the better. Sure there may go to waste some good man power and technical skill when you have +200 Linux based operating systems, but the majority of the work gets done in the big open source projects. Projects like Gnome, KDE, the Linux kernel, Apache, etc.

FUD and bribes

But there are some clouds at the horizon, the patent ‘agreements’ Microsoft has forced on various Linux distributors being one of them. After Novell gave in, more companies gave in to the FUD spread by Microsoft. After Novell, both Xandros and Linspire have made deals with Microsoft regarding technical interoperability and legal protection. Fortunately, not all companies delivering Linux based solutions are giving in. Canonical, Red Hat, Mandriva and others continue to say no to Microsoft. It’s strange that even though Microsoft won’t give more information on the 235 patents that it believes Linux is violating.

Unfortunately it didn’t stay at spreading FUD, during the ISO approval process of Microsoft’s OOXML wanabee-standard, it became clear that there had been some unfair play by Microsoft. The entire chain of events is to long to list again here but you can read all about them here on masuran.org or the excellent no-ooxml website.

Regardless of all the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt Microsoft tries to spread, regardless of the bribing of ISO committee members, 2008 will be good for us. We who love freedom and openness, we who like to share information, we who love technology, we’ll have it good.

So in conclusion I’d like to wish you all a very happy and productive 2008, keep reading masuran.org and hopefully we can wish each other a happy 2009.