Red Hat is dropping its consumer Linux desktop. That makes sense, analysts said, because the desktop is not Red Hat’s core strength. Red Hat develops Linux-based software and solutions for enterprises.
As a public, for-profit company, Red Hat must create products and technologies with an eye on the bottom line, and with consumer desktops this is much harder than with servers, the company said on its blog this week.
Still a Commercial Version
“The desktop market suffers from having one dominant vendor, and some people still perceive that today’s Linux desktops simply don’t provide a practical alternative. Of course, a growing number of technically savvy users and companies have discovered that today’s Linux desktop is indeed a practical alternative,” Red Hat said.
Nevertheless, building a sustainable business around the consumer Linux desktop is tough, and history is littered with efforts that either failed outright, stalled or are run as charities, the company said. It added that technical developments are accelerating the spread of the Linux desktop.
Red Hat will, however, deliver a commercial Linux desktop. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop, which is fully supported and 100 percent compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux server products, is in the works. The company is also working on Red Hat Global Desktop, designed exclusively for small, reseller-supplied deployments in emerging markets.
“Looking to the future, Red Hat customers and partners appreciate that the world is moving to thin/virtualized/appliance-based clients, so we are working with them to deliver open-source technologies that make these systems possible,” the company said. “In fact Red Hat’s Appliance Operating System project, announced late last year, is expected to enter beta in mid-2008.”
Desktop as a Service
In a sense, technology and economics have moved the marketplace, according to Dana Gardner, principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions. The need for and lower PC costs is being satisfied by service…