The Ximian Desktop 2

1. The Ximian Desktop 2 Tony Brett Oxford University Computing Services

2. Agenda • Linux Adoption Trends • Why Deploy Linux • Recent Progress • Open Office • Linux Desktop Challenges • Red Carpet • Ximian Desktop 2 with Demo • What’s Coming • Resources

3. From the outside in. Linux Adoption Trend

4. Why Deploy Linux Clients? • Control • Multiple vendor strategy • Flexibility, standards • Strategic independence • Cost • Reduced software licensing costs (70-80%) • Reduced support cost (fewer viruses, security, better robustness)

5. Large Ongoing Linux Client Deployments Up to 1,000,000 200,000 140,000 100,000 9,000 Largo Largo Brazil Brazil Munich Munich Spain Spain Thailand Thailand

6. Linux in the Movies • Linux on Intel outperforms SGI • Many Movie Studios have moved to Linux • Pixar • Digital Domain • Disney • Sony • Dream Works • Flash Film Works • Hammerhead

7. Harry Potter [11/16/01] R&H Lord of the Rings 1 [12/19/01] Weta Stormrider [Disney Theme Park Productions/2001] D2 A Beautiful Mind [2001] D2 Vanilla Sky [2001] D2 Lord of the Rings [2001] D2 Collateral Damage [2/8/02] Flash Film Works Blade II [3/22/02] Tippett Death to Smoochy [3/29/02] Flash Film Works Star Wars Episode II [5/16/02] ILM Spirit of Cimarron [5/24/02] Dreamworks Scooby-Doo [6/14/01] Rhythm & Hues Haunted Lighthouse (IMAX) [summer 2002 Busch Gardens] Pluto Nash [8/16/02] Flash Film Works Blue Crush [8/16/02] Hammerhead Below [Q3 02] Double Negative Santa Clause 2 [11/1/02] Tippett Star Trek Nemesis [12/13/02] D2 Lord of the Rings 2 [12/25/02] Weta (New Zealand) We Were Soldiers Once [2002] D2 Time Machine [2002] D2 XXX [2002] D2 Jungle Book 2 [2003] Disney Matrix 2 [2003] Tippett 2 Fast, 2 Furious [2003] Hammerhead Finding Nemo [2003] Pixar Dantes Peak [2/7/97] D2 Titanic [12/19/97] D2 What Dreams May Come [1998] D2 Armageddon [1998] D2 Ed TV [1999] D2 Lake Placid [1999] D2 Fight Club [1999] D2 Supernova [2000] D2 Stuart Little [12/17/99] R&H Little Nicky [11/10/00] R&H Grinch [11/17/00] R&H, D2 Sixth Day [11/17/00] R&H Rules of Engagement [2000] D2 X-Men [2000] D2 Red Planet [2000] D2 O Brother Where Art Thou [2000] D2 Enemy at the Gates [3/16/01] Double Negative Cats & Dogs [4/4/01] R&H Shrek [5/16/01] Dreamworks Fast & the Furious [6/22/01] Hammerhead Hammerhead Dr. Dolittle 2 [6/22/01] R&H Final Fantasy [7/11/01] Square (ceased operations) Planet of the Apes [7/27/01] R&H Captain Corelli's Mandolin [9/17/01] Double Negative

8. Linux Clients: Recent Progress • Product Advancements • Release of GNOME 2.4, KDE 3.2 (Feb '04) • Mozilla Web Browser 1.6 (Jan '04) • Ximian Evolution/Connector Groupware Suite (Oct '03) • OpenOffice 1.1 (Oct '03) • Commercial Support • Novell buys SUSE and Ximian (Sep ’03) • Consumer/SOHO companies (Lycoris, Lindows, ...) • Growing market readiness • Government adoption efforts (Germany, Brazil, China)

9. OpenOffice • Real alternative to Microsoft. • Over ½ million downloads per month. • File Compatibility with MS Office 2000/XP • Massively improved file support. • Finally growing community traction and momentum.

10. Linux Desktop Interface Stability • Interface stability for Independent Software Vendors • Platform interface definitions cover APIs, ABIs, component acivation and remoting interfaces, config format schemas, CLIs, ... • Backwards compatibility guarantee Core Developers Interested Linux developers, college students, etc. More Tolerance (Less Bathing) More People ISV Early Adopters Large ISVs, Broader Developer Market

11. Improved Windowing Platform • Linux font problem solved • Quality low-level font selection and rendering architecture • On screen, on paper • Availability of high quality free fonts (Bitstream, others) • X window system limitations no longer relevant • Direct rendering extension (DRI) • Vector drawing extension • Xrender for high-quality hardware alpha composition • RandR extension allows dynamic resolution switching, rotation • Fully alpha, animatable cursors

12. Standardisation • Multiple Linux desktop efforts rapidly drafting, adopting shared standards • Desktop file formats, Cut n paste, drag n drop, hardware notification, UTF8, CORBA use, file manager interactions, menus/merging, theming, runtime file location,... • Free Standards Group (freestandards.org) • Desktop committee freedesktop.org • Linux Standard Base (LSB) • OpenOffice XML document file formats: OASIS

13. Linux Desktop Software Challenges • Deployment barriers • Application availability • Address core productivity application needs • Interoperability • File formats • Network protocols, directories • Support costs • Usability • Learnability, familiarity • Integration, “total interaction” • Manageability • Deploy, administer GNU/Linux clients

14. Linux Management Challenges • Key management pain points for Linux users • Deploying software package updates • Creating standard package set images • Linux: unique technical challenges • Complex web of software package dependencies • Rapid updates of Linux OS and key applications • Rich software management primitives built into OS (rpm) • Decentralized, “back door” deployments now at critical mass • Companies now looking to enforce standards • Current state of the market • Significant administrator overhead • Costly manual methods or “roll your own” tools • No previous solution provider

15. Ximian Solution: Red Carpet

16. Ximian Desktop Solution Complete, Integrated Desktop Stack Software, Configuration Management (Red Carpet) Red Carpet ? Other Msg Servers Groupware (Evolution) Office Suite (OpenOffice) Browser (Mozilla) Other (IM, graphics) Desktop Shell (GNOME) Linux OS (RH, SuSE, etc.) = Build = Partner = Open Source Community

17. Ximian Desktop 2 • Core applications • Office • Mail • Browser • Usability through consistency • Integrated user experience • My Computer navigation • Familiar to Windows users • Interoperable • MS Office file formats • Windows and Linux networks • Messaging standards support • Media objects, fonts • Printer detection, set up • 250,000 downloads

18. What's Coming: The Next 18 Months • Desktop lockdown, manageability • Software/configuration templating, rollback • Child-proof configurations • High-resolution change management • Single sign-on, identity management • Remote debugging, administration • 2.6 Kernel • VM and VFS working together • Improved page allocator fairness • Process scheduler, I/O scheduler • Preemptive kernel • Driver work • Hotplug support

19. What's Coming: Continued • Desktop integration • Core apps exposing programming interfaces • Cross-desktop standards adoption • More shared code • Innovation: watch this space. • Intermediate hardware layer • Ability to identify devices by type • Device-appropriate interfaces • Notifications • TCO studies • Initial large deployments will complete • Cost savings will become evident • Ambitious displacements will push the software forward

20. What the press says • (With) Novell's purchase of SuSE, Ximian's future stands to get even brighter as its technology is merged into one of the best distributions currently available … Ximian is easy to use, convenient, well polished and robust. In many ways, it exemplifies the way things ought to be. http://www.ofb.biz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=273

21. Resources • http://www.ximian.com • http://www.kde.org • http://www.gnome.org • http://www.openoffice.org • http://www.suse.co.uk • http://redhat.com/ • http://users.ox.ac.uk/~aesb/ximian2.ppt