Intel more active in desktop Linux
By
Stephen Shankland, CNET News.com
Wednesday, November 24 2004 11:48 AM
Intel has begun an effort to make it easier for sales partners in China
and India to sell desktop computers running Linux, starting a more
active phase in the company's help with the open-source operating
system.
Intel has made substantial efforts to boost Linux, which most
often runs on computers using the company's processors, but those
efforts have been largely confined to powerful networked computers
called servers. The chipmaker warmed up to desktop PC makers when
partners in the Asian countries started requesting more help with
desktop Linux, company spokesman Scott McLaughlin said.
Now when Intel ships the components out of which companies assemble
PCs--often called "white box" systems because they're from companies
with little-known brand names--it will include a kit of software and
instructions to ease Linux installation. It's a strategy Intel has used
for years with Windows.
The kit includes driver software, which enables use of specific
hardware features; scripts to quickly install software that has been
validated to work with various versions of Linux; and a program called
the Application Version Compliance Tool that checks to make sure
programs are compatible with those Linux versions and Intel
electronics.
The kit supports three versions of Linux--Red Hat Desktop, Novell Linux Desktop 9 and Red Flag
Desktop 4.1--and will support Linux from the China Standard Software
later, Intel said. Sun Microsystems inked a deal in 2003 under which
the China Standard Software will sell Sun's Linux desktop software, but
Intel couldn't say if this was the version of Linux it would support.
On desktop computers, where Microsoft is dominant, Linux faces much
higher barriers than in the server market, where Linux's similarity to
well-established Unix makes it a natural fit. But particularly in Asia,
Linux is catching on, and Microsoft has lowered prices in several emerging markets.
Linux has at times been something of an afterthought for Intel. For
example, when it released Centrino components, which mated wireless
networking with an Intel processor, the technology came with full
support for Windows. Linux support for Centrino did show up a year
later, though Intel released prototype software that only now has begun
arriving in test versions of Linux.
Intel also said it will open four Linux development centers to help
software companies build PC applications for Linux computers. The
Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, established by the
Beijing municipal government, will help run a center in that city; the
Guangdong Linux Technology Service Center will help run one in
Guangdong, China; the Indian Institute of Technology will help run one
in Bombay; and Stefanini Consultoria will help run one in Brazil.
In addition, Intel and the city of Xi'an in China signed a
preliminary agreement in September to adopt computers using Linux and
Intel components. Intel plans to help with testing, validation and
management.
