Oracle + Open Source

To be fair, whenever I've been asked by the casual user whether Linux was a viable option for them, I've declined. Despite my appreciation for the technology and performance, it's desktop has remained cludgy at best. As I am at home at the command line, this hasn't been a stumbling block for me. At Linux World in Boston last month, I was able to check out Novell's new desktop, and I was thoroughly shocked. Not only was drag and drop working, and things like the file dialog working consistently, but the speed was amazing. And applications like Office were there, and working well. Good font support was there as well.

For enterprises, the applications that their client machines run are rigidly controlled, and standardized now. In these environments, chances are most application functionality is now there on Linux. The business case for a Linux desktop is beginning to bloom where the license cost savings, remote management, and stability are the obvious pluses.

As with Oracle Novell is clearly practicing what they preach.