[LUAU] Re: Goobuntu Linux

[Jim Thompson]

On Feb 1, 2006, at 11:30 AM, prb at lava.net wrote:

> Josh wrote:
>> --- luau-request at lists.hosef.org wrote:
>>>> Personally, I have trouble imagining that Google
>> would want to get
>>>> into the Desktop OS business. Ubuntu isn't bad, but
>> the only way
>>>> anyone will profit is if they sell computers in
>> volume with Linux
>>>> pre-installed.
>>>
>>> Try telling that to RedHat, or any of the other
>> linux distro vendors.
>>>> As the article states, one possibility is a version
>> of Ubuntu
>>>> tweaked for internal use. That would make more
>> sense. But they
>>>> wouldn't go to all the trouble of re-skinning then.
>> There has been talk about Google OS for a long time. It would be  
>> extremely profitable for Google.  They
>> could gather more data about users and provide lots of
>> additional advertising.
>
> This presupposes that people are going to put the new OS on their  
> hard drives more than they are doing now. How are they going to get  
> people to do that?

They could release it as a secure (encrypted filesystem) distro on a  
USB drive that used Google's back-end for storage, and would run either
hosted on top of Windows (already known art) or bootable on a semi- 
modern PeeCee, either as USB only, or able to allocate part of the  
HDD for
storage, or heck, a "full install" once people understood that they  
could still do what they want and need to.

> The thing is, Google would have better luck making Windows software  
> that accessed this new network. People are far more likely to  
> install new software than install a new OS. As for Goobuntu, if it  
> exists, I suspect it is for internal use:
> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060131-6087.html
>
> Ask yourself, what's their market for YALD? Geeks? None of us would  
> tolerate such an invasion of privacy.
Yet all of us use Google now.

> N00bs? They try Linux if a Geek helps them.
Or Google promises to end the days of malware on their PeeCee.

> The efforts of Xandros and Linspire are just a drop in the bucket.

Ah, but erosion is happening in the markets dominated by Microsoft.   
Erosion is a powerful force.

We live on land that has been changed over time by countless drops of  
water.

> Corporate customers? Those that try Linux typically put it in servers.

And 10 years ago, very few (if any) did so.

> A few companies have tried Linux on desktops. Either way, no  
> company wants the kind of snooping Google is capable of.