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Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols & Paula Rooney
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2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories

By | December 27, 2010, 9:32am PST

Summary: 2010 was a heck of a year for Linux and open-source software. The biggest story though was the one that was invisible: Linux went everywhere.

Sure, unlike me, you’re probably not reading this on a Linux desktop–Mint 10 for those who care about such things–but do you use Google, Facebook or Twitter? If so, you’re using Linux. That Android phone in your pocket? Linux. DVRs, network attached storage (NAS), trade stocks? Linux, Linux, Linux.

I think one of the most telling stories about Linux this year came from a friend of mine, Joe “Zonker” Brockmeier, who told me of a friend who said “Linux was too hard.” When Zonker asked him about his Android phone, he replied something like, “Oh, but Android is easy. It’s not Linux!”

Oh my. Android is indeed Linux, as is so many other devices and Web services and sites. Open-source developers have just gotten very good at hiding the dirty technical details from you. It just took them a lot longer than it did for the Mac OS X designers to hide its Mach, OpenBSD, and FreeBSD Unix roots from users. In the last few years though, they finally got the hang of it.

We’re going to see this trend grow only stronger in 2011 with the rise of Google’s Linux-based Chrome OS. That’s why Chrome OS is my first big story of 2010.

1. Chrome OS Finally Arrives

Google took its own sweet time about getting Chrome OS out the door, but Chrome OS is finally, sort of, here. Is Chrome OS, with all its applications based on the Web, for people like you, who read ZDNet, or me, who cut his Unix/Linux teeth on Version 7? No, of course not. But, would it make a great operating system for office-workers, non-tech savvy people, and students. Yes, yes it would. I predict that, by early 2012, Chrome OS, while not a traditional, fat-client desktop operating system, will become a major desktop contender.

2. Red Hat: The First Billion-Dollar, Open-Source Company

I predicted earlier this year that Red Hat would be the first billion-dollar open-source company. I think I blew my prediction though. I thought it would take more than a year–it looks more like Red Hat will become the first billion-dollar Linux company in 2011. Indeed, when it comes to servers, Red Hat is getting ready to take on Microsoft.

Page 2: [Oracle/Sun, Attachmate/Novell, & Ubuntu and Unity] »

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Desktop, Android, Linux, Open Source, UNIX, Operating Systems, Software, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka sjvn, has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting edge, PC operating system

Disclosure

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is a freelance writer. He does not own stocks or other investments in any technology company.

Biography

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka sjvn, has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting edge, PC operating system; 300bps was a fast Internet connection; WordStar was the state of the art word processor; and we liked it!

His work has been published in everything from highly technical publications (IEEE Computer, ACM NetWorker, Byte) to business publications (eWEEK, InformationWeek, ZDNet) to popular technology (Computer Shopper, PC Magazine, PC World) to the mainstream press (Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, BusinessWeek).

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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
johnny48 5th Nov
@johnny48 I just want to emphasize the good work on this , has excellent views and a clear vision of what you are looking for
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best year for Linux so far
Linux Geek 27th Dec 2010
Let's hope that 2011 will be THE year of Linux and M$ will go down in flames!
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THE year of Linux
Michael Alan Goff 27th Dec 2010
Unfortunately, I don't think it will be.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
Maarek 28th Dec 2010
@goff256 agreed, I'm a big linux user(network servers and workstations), but I see many people still using Windows because they don't like... change. Sure the ease of the software repositories make linux an easier tool, but if everything cannot be fixed by a click of a button, then they don't want it.
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Actually, it isn't just hating change
Michael Alan Goff 28th Dec 2010
For a lot of people, changing to Linux would be changing for the sake of change. What does it bring them? What does it take away? It's a simple measurement of cost/benefits.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
kirovs@... 29th Dec 2010
@goff256
Security, stability, speed.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
Michael Alan Goff 29th Dec 2010
Security- Windows 7 is actually very secure, and advises that you get an AV right off the bat.
Stability- I haven't had any stability problems from my Windows 7 laptop.
Speed- Windows 7 is very fast.

Any gain would be minimal, I assure you. Also, web browsers seem to be faster on my Windows 7 partition than on my Linux Distribution. I don't know why, but I think it could be that my Windows Distribution browsers that I use have hardware acceleration that my Linux Distribution browsers cannot compete with.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
linasmith 23rd Aug
@goff256 I am also think its not happen in 2011. Assignment | Dissertation
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
johnny48 5th Nov
@Michael Alan Goff Great informative post thanks for sharing.....
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
johnny48 5th Nov
@johnny48 I just want to emphasize the good work on this , has excellent views and a clear vision of what you are looking for
book report help
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
bitcrazed 28th Dec 2010
@Linux Geek - really? So you would bet your company and your own and your employees financial well-being on a free operating system from a vendor that you hope will be there to support you in 12 months time?

Who would you choose?

Novell? Who knows what's going to happen to Suse since that's being put up for sale independently from Novell's other products.

Ubuntu? Canonical doesn't even break even and exists purely at the will of investors with deep pockets along with Shuttleworth's dwindling fortune.

The best bet may well be IBM, HP or some other world-class services organization. But now you're gotten into bed with organizations who's core mandate is to keep you paying for services. Is this really any better than paying the likes of Microsoft or other product vendors for their products with a smaller amount spent on ongoing services and support?

I for one would not risk my business by betting the farm on products from companies who are not financially stable - doing so would be suicidal.

Sometimes, free is too expensive.
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Contributr
RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
sjvn@... 28th Dec 2010
@bitcrazed SUSE goes with Novell. It's a package deal. AttachMate has already announced that SUSE will continue on as it has been. After all, that why they bought it and why Microsoft sponsored the deal. MS wants SUSE Linux around. openSUSE is a more interesting question, but that's not the business OS.

As for Canonical, they're close to breaking even and Shuttleworth's fortune seems to be doing just fine. After all he just bought bought the most expensive condo in downtown Manhattan for, gulp, $31.5 million.

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/space_tourist_mark_shuttleworth_lU3w89KgEyjMH7IzxLKEjO#ixzz19QRggB00

So, I'm not worried about Ubuntu disappearing anytime soon.

And, then, of course, there's this company named Red Hat.

Steven
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
Socratesfoot Updated - 28th Dec 2010
@bitcrazed I would see an advantage to a system that allowed my employees to work without permitting them to install many applications they don't need to be installing, nearly removed the chance of virus infections, and did so without consuming a large amount of resources at very little cost. Especially if I had a server environment that made the exact nature of the client irrelevant enough that I lost nothing trying it. Such is the case with Linux clients, even UBUNTU, and network file shares.

While you argue that free is sometimes too expensive, I would argue that this is only the case when free is not really free. That unfortunately is a problem with any provider, and the same could be said about Microsoft who lures small and medium sized businesses with preferred pricing then absolutely rapes and murders them on the CALS for the various products needed to make the system scalable. Since Linux distros like UBUNTU and Redhat for all their short-comings have the advantage of being scalable out of the box. I see it having as good a chance as any for a company that intends to grow.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
homeblend 29th Dec 2010
@bitcrazed I believe it is called RedHat? Who btw, when I last checked had a bigger maker cap than M$
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
kirovs@... 29th Dec 2010
@bitcrazed
Same old FUD. When I need help from Oracle it is usually simpler to ask on a forum than go through their support lines (ughhh). Going through the MS support is just as awful and is inexplicably:-) costly.
Of course vendors like system76 and zareason also offer support at a fraction of what MS charges.
But you would not know this, would you?
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
linasmith 23rd Aug
@bitcrazed @Linux Geek Thats really good let seen its happen or not. essay | term paper | research paper
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
The Rifleman 28th Dec 2010
@Linux Geek A nice fantasy for sure! However, without an Evil Empire, there is nothing to be better than. Sure it's a given that you always want to be better than yourself but, an Evil Empire forces change and causes others to rally against it. This, I believe, is a sound driving force for Open Source and Operating Systems such as the Linux Kernel and what is built on top of it to form an O.S.
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It isn't just ABM
shis-ka-bob 28th Dec 2010
@The Rifleman That seems a pretty shallow view of the open source community. The BSD systems are evolving as well as Linux. They all want to improve computing, particularly their chosen OS. Look at Google, if anyone they are going after Apple, not Microsoft.
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shis:going after apple
stevey_d 29th Dec 2010
@The Rifleman
very true, google etc don' see microsoft as competitive or relevant anymore.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
Socratesfoot 28th Dec 2010
@Linux Geek It won't replace windows...but I wonder if Microsoft's continued movement into the gaming industry through custom tailored changes to the OS will mean more trouble than solutions and a progressively better acceptance of Linux? Since it seems to me aspects of an OS that make it conducive to gaming also fragment memory faster, create security issues, bloat the system, and work counter what businesses will want or need. Even if this just means more focus on Direct X and some ways to allow greater access to the hardware (rather then all through API's). It's resources that won't be available for applications that Linux will have in addition to better 64 bit support. Already many legacy programs run better in Wine then they can on the Windows system itself.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
twaynesdomain 29th Dec 2010
@Socratesfoot ... Wow! That would be funny if you didn't mean it seriously! I suggest you get some actual experience and describe just how they "run better in Wine" than windows. I don't use Linux in a daily manner, more as a plaything if I do, and your contention just isn't true for ANY application I've tried that's on my machine!
I'll try to remember to check back for your response so I can check out your claims. WHICH programs run better under wine than windows, and how so?
That's a claim that deserves some rubber on the road.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
twaynesdomain 29th Dec 2010
@Linux Geek ... If Linux is that good (and it's not yet) then the demise of MS is irrelevant to it. People WILL JUMP at something free like Linux and many have ... and left once they realized how much of their peripherals didn't work, they had to run builds in some cases, and on others nothing existed to replace their missing image editors and myriad drivers other than GIMP, a half-fast tool at best for professional image editing.
And why in hell does Linux still sport the inane naming system it has? That makes it far from prefereable for anyon looking for a program with specific features.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
twaynesdomain 29th Dec 2010
@Linux Geek ... Why does MS have o "go down in flames" is Linux is so good and draws all their customers away from them?
Fanatacism like that is completely useless; let things happen on their own merit and the intelligence/opinions/needs/wants of the users. If you're figuring that's the only way Linux can win, that's pretty pathetic. Obviously there are many in the masses (including me) who would like to switch, but ... Linux ... juist ... cannot ... support ... what ... I ... need... . In fact, it doesn't fully support anyone 100% due to missing drivers I've been watching for over the last almost three years, nor can it replace some of my software apps because several companies have no interest in doing so, right or wrong, it's their decision. Linux programmers too, just aren't interested enough in making sure Linux will run with all the major applications that exist, that being not just MS, BTW. Open Source is excellent as far as it goes and is a great thing; but the 'nixes have a long ways to go to becoming any kind of near turn-around for experience users.
I CAN but choose NOT TO write/release drivers/converters for some of my applications, the simpler ones like win85/98's Cardfile. Anymore complex than that, consider me only a strict "user" unable to do those kinds of things.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
linasmith 23rd Aug
@Linux Geek i cant think that its will be happen. essay | term paper | research paper
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ridiculous
FADS_z 27th Dec 2010
use Google, Facebook or Twitter? If so, you?re using Linux.
-------------
When using them in window, they are part of window.
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all the above services run on a cloud of linux
stevey_d 27th Dec 2010
@FADS_z
Kindles also run Linux under the hood, as do most routers, wireless gateways etc.
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I think what he was saying was
Michael Alan Goff 27th Dec 2010
It doesn't matter to the end-user what their services is using. What they know is Windows, what they use is Windows, what helps them go to the sites that they want to is a browser on Windows.
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And other appliences don't use Linux, so I'm not sure
John Zern 28th Dec 2010
what you're getting at?
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replying from my kindle
stevey_d 29th Dec 2010
@stevey_d
im using the kindle as me main web portal now . screen and battery life are great. the world is going mobile. apps are going web based. this inevitably undermines the windows desktop. it wont go away but i think it will wane from here on in.
embedded os sure my set top box uses ce most appliances by far use linux. to some extent like with webservers it no longer matters. the consumer certainly is not aware of the os under the hood.
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But none of this will drive people to desktop linux
otaddy 29th Dec 2010
@stevey_d

That's the problem with Steve's story about a friend who said Linux was too hard. People use Android, but the experience is so different from that on the desktop.

With Apple, people are motivated to give their other products a try as there is some consistency between them.
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but does the man in the street need a desktop?
stevey_d 29th Dec 2010
otaddy
That's the problem with Steve's story about a friend who said Linux was too hard. People use Android, but the experience is so different from that on the desktop.

But none of this will drive people to desktop linux

> I don't think the desktop will be very relevant soon.
> First of all an _actual_ desktop is already relatively rare. Laptops are taking over. You can put them away to use the table for something else, you can bring your work + apps home, or video/music editing on holiday. You can task renders to cloud renderfarms easily and cheaply.
> Second, PC apps are less important. Writing in a wordprocessor is less common now. Since wikis (like wikipedia) seem to be taking over from traditional manuals. Some areas will be slow to change (formal engineering for example - but note even wikipedia has a review cycle).
Actually writing _letters_ (physical ones) is a rare thing now. Most postal systems worldwide have recorded a big drop in shipments of real letters.
You can edit your video on your phone, and send it directly to facebook to share with family/friends.
I think mobile+cloud will drive PCs to minority usage.
If you have internet on your set-top box (media PCs are vastly in the minority compared to set-top boxes with embedded OS), your Tablet (Android or IPad), your phone, then does the man in the street also need a netbook, a laptop and a desktop? What for?
Games maybe - but far less so with so many very powerful consoles (TV based and portable) around.

If you look back in time at older films, people were using the old heavy desktop computers in the 80s (like original IBM PC), these days, films show laptops.
I see people in the future using tablets (most of the time we are reading, not typing), and maybe after that sunglasses with head-up-displays, and maybe after that implants.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
cls@... 28th Dec 2010
@FADS_z
FADS_z's mind has been embraced and extended...
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
sys_engineer 27th Dec 2010
I agree with your #3 being a big deal. Oddly enough people aren't following this story closely at least at the JAVA crazed Fortune 500 company that I work at. I'm really curious to see how this one turns out.

BTW - I too read this on Linux. It is everywhere, soon, it'll be running my fridge, toaster, washer, and dryer. Right now, I have Linux on 4 desktops, 3 Blu-Ray players, 2 Android phones, 1 router, and a partridge in a pear tree. happy
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
DoomsdayParanoia 27th Dec 2010
@sys_engineer

happy
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
OffsideInVancouver 28th Dec 2010
@sys_engineer

Bravo! happy
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
hikerbuddy 29th Dec 2010
Hi, @sys_engineer
Thanks for your input. Looks like Linux has quietly invaded our world and enhanced IT in general.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
sully0208 27th Dec 2010
The Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook remix with Unity was a disaster.
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Contributr
RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
sjvn@... 27th Dec 2010
@sully0208 That was a sketch, not the real thing. Look at the Ubuntu 11.04 alphas.

Steven
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
NCWeber 28th Dec 2010
@sully0208 It was a mistake to use Mutter as the compositor for Unity. They are returning to Compiz in 11.04. It will be much faster and smoother. There will, of course, be other improvements as well, such as a return to Nautilus file management from within Unity.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
cls@... Updated - 28th Dec 2010
The year of Linux will be the year folks spend cleaning up the half-finished applications and useless "documentation." "Linux" (FLOSS in general) doesn't need to get "slicker" or hide more details. It needs some serious usability and software quality assurance testing, and the help/manuals brought up to date. Who, pray tell, asked for "plasmoids," for example? Why couldn't KDE3 be completed (arts still crashes all the time...) instead? It was almost there, and instead of finishing it they went off into the weeds.

Of course, plasmoids are only one tiny example of features for features' sake interfering with software quality and completeness. If you really want to experience today's half-baked end-user application base, just try to create a DVD with menus and synchronized sound. You'll find a dozen applications on freshmeat, mostly abandoned, none of them usable, and people too busy writing more to answer your questions.

I'm no discouraged noob who went back to windoze. I've got a few lines in the kernel where I debugged the Etherlink III driver. I wrote the Lilo mini-Howto. I've been using unix since '84, and switched from SCO to Linux in '92. What a disappointment that our (the FLOSS community) apps are still so buggy after thirty years!

BTW, I tried "Reply to" below. The button just disappeared. Usability testing might have discovered that bug in this comments app. On the first save, this edited comment was flagged as spam for no reason. Less new code, more SQA!
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Contributr
RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
sjvn@... 28th Dec 2010
@cls@... I'm not crazy about KDE 4 either. I'll go into that in a blog sometime soon. But, in the meantime, there's been a small revival of KDE 3. See:

http://trinity.pearsoncomputing.net/

for more on that. I use it and like it. I'll be talking about it more soon in the blog.

Steven
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all software has poor quality these days
stevey_d 29th Dec 2010
@cls@...
i checked out various repositories a few years back including linux openbsd freebsd windows kernel and none seem to include a test harness for unit testing. the closest thing to auditing is code being reviewed and accepted by the likes of linus. however where is the spec and test spec and explicit audit standards?
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this kindle is however great. linux kernel 2.6
stevey_d 29th Dec 2010
@cls@...
you would never know it was linux. it could be any os under the hood.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
typhonic 27th Dec 2010
Here's one that is sneaking up on you: Open Street Maps and the free iPhone App with turn-by-turn navigation. The maps are not as accurate as Google maps right now, but the app lets you upload corrections.
...typhonic
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
NCWeber 28th Dec 2010
@typhonic Have you seen the program Marble? It's basically a take on Google Earth using Open Street Maps. A very nice program, but it needs tweaking.
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Not true for DVRs
statuskwo5 27th Dec 2010
As far as I know not all DVRs run Linux. For example, my AT&T U-verse DVR has WinCE under the hood. Just sayin'. Anyway, I am reading this article and commenting from my Ubuntu 10.10 laptop.
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well ok lets try this
Quebec-french 27th Dec 2010
1# i was very interested with this but since it cloud ..... good luck but it not for me

2# congratulation to Red-hat the big question now .... Who will buy redhat i hope IBM will do it .... if not i see trouble in the future for linux . lucky for us there still BSD.

3# the real deception of 2010 Oracle prove what kind of people they are ...... limited and narrow minded , yes profitable very profitable but still limited and narrow minded but since they are also a part of CPTN Holdings who help AttAchmate move on Novell. hope you get virus and crash for good in 2011 .

4# well the future will tell us what will happen on there one thing is sure MS oracle and apple will make sure that a lots of the IP from Suse will never see the light again .
The future will tell.

.
5# good luck canonical we need you good luck and hit them in the nuts
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Why should someone need to buy Red Hat?
John Zern 28th Dec 2010
@Quebec-french
They're doing fine (it appears) on their own.
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RE: 2010's Top Five Linux and Open-Source Stories
bitcrazed 28th Dec 2010
@John Zern - Because as RedHat grows in stature, it becomes a bigger competitor for IBM and other Linux vendors to compete with.

If you're going to bet some/all of your company on Linux, then you're going to want a distro from a vendor with world-class support and enough cash and revenues to withstand another global financial catastrophe. That rules out many distro's unless they're backed by a world-class services - and, no, having an online discussion forum is not world-class support.

So who are you going to turn to? Suse will soon be owned by someone else. You're essentially left with RedHat or IBM. I almost included Canonical, but, frankly, I'd class them as "risky" since they don't publish financial performance and the last time Shuttleworth commented on their financials he stated that they're not even close to being profitable and will require several years' more funding before they break even.

I don't know about you, but I refuse to bet my company and my employee's futures on a company that is living on investors' donations.
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one simple reason just one
Quebec-french 28th Dec 2010
@John Zern
Securing IP from madmans microsoft ,oracle and other ..... who will do everything in there power to stop opensource dead in it track .

we know what Oracle have done with sun , we soon see what will become of Novell with the acquisition with attachmate ( and there money giving friend).....

So who is the last big profitable linux REDHAT. SO to be sure that nothing happen redhat they must find a buy who has the money and the ip to fight off microsoft ,oracle,apple,and they other ...... 2 candidate Google and IBM .
and ibm is my choice to go blow to blow with ms
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bitcrazed you dont get it
stevey_d 29th Dec 2010
@John Zern
the pc is on the way to being marginalised. mobile and cloud is here.
there is insufficient payback for anyone to enter windows and office markets. the war now is in mobile and the cloud.

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