Oki Doki
Past columns of this kind have called attention to software or Web sites or such. This time I want to highlight a hardware company that I discovered totally by accident, one that isn't even thought of as player in the Linux world.
And I guess that's the point.
I'm talking about the printer company, Oki Data. The company's achievement is not so much what they're doing for Linux as much as how they're doing it. At a time when companies feel the need to issue press releases merely for discussing Linux, Oki is taking its Linux activities in stride -- it's just another platform to them. And this is how it should be.
Hardware basics
When my company, Starnix, recently
needed to supply a new medium-duty printer for a Linux system, we scanned
the field. Inkjets were out; too slow, consumables too expensive. And
besides, this task didn't require color. Further, we wanted something that
would be directly connected to the network and not dependent on whether an
individual's workstation was turned on. So we settled on a laser.
I'd had good experiences with Oki printers in the past -- their dot-matrix units are built like tanks. The laser model we were looking at -- the OKIPAGE 10e -- understood the good old HP PCL command set and did some other things we needed. Oki also claimed that the OkiLAN 6010e network adaptor, an extra cost item, would work with "almost all" Unix versions, so it seemed like a good bet we'd be able to make it work using Linux's implementation of the popular lpd protocol. So I figured we'd try them out.
(By the way, Oki "page printers" aren't laser printers per se -- they use LED arrays rather than laser beams to deposit their toner -- but they otherwise work identically.)
Imagine my surprise to see, on the printed cardboard box outside and in the manuals inside, that the 6010e explicitly supported Linux. No big type, no penguins, not even a mention on the Web site. It was just part of a list of supported platforms, no more and no less significant in the documentation than any other.
No-frill roots
According to Oki Data's Kim Correa, assistant marketing manager, the
company simply has a style of doing what it does without a lot of fanfare.
A significant factor in this style is the fact that Oki is a privately
held company. "We don't have to make a lot of noise for the purpose of
helping out share prices," she said.
Like in many companies, Oki Data's Linux experience started through the efforts of a single individual. In Oki's case it was a product manager, Arnie Peters, who spread the word, according to Correa. "He felt strongly that Linux [would] be the next wave, and he worked very hard to sell this to management."
Apparently Peters' sales job within Oki Data was successful: the company started supporting Linux, without telling anyone it seems, back in October. And while the company will still have a low-end line of Windows-only printers -- ptui! -- Correa said the company's support of Linux will be enhanced and extended to many other products. "We have a really spiffy Linux driver under development," she said, adding that Oki Data's multifunction devices (printer/scanner/fax/copier) will likely be next in line for Linux support.
Publicity for these developments may be no easier to find directly from Oki Data. Correa said the company did most of its promotional work through its reseller channel, and hoped that its VARs and dealers would help spread the word that the company is now Linux-friendly. "It has been a fairly well-kept secret," Correa said. "We just have to work harder to get the word out."
Still, there's something extremely refreshing about a company that treats Linux in a business-as-usual manner (not to mention finding someone who still uses the term 'spiffy'). Oki provides a good example of how to make a business case about why Linux should be supported. Then, having decided to go ahead, the company just did it without making a lot of noise about it -- and for this the company is to be commended. While Oki may have downplayed its Linux involvement a little too much, I applaud a company that doesn't feel the need to run to the press every time the word Linux shows up.
And by the way, our installation of the OKIPAGE 10e on the all-Linux network was a breeze. It was just another platform supported like any other. This is the way it should be as Linux moves ever closer to the mainstream, where the hype sometimes gets in the way of what's really important.
Is the Linux hype sometimes getting in the way of its adoption? Let us know in the TalkBack below or in the ZDNet Linux Forum. Or write to Evan directly at evan@starnix.com.