Linux and the public sector

[bogeyman]

There's gotta be a market for a browser-only pc that boots in sub-second time.

Web appliances.

They keep appearing and then dissapearing every so often. I don't think there's been much of a market for them until recently.

That could change as more people have broadband access and more apps are available in a web-based form. There's even a fairly capable web-based image editor now!

Perhaps the day of the web appliance is finally here. An embedded Linux would be a good choice for such a device.

[cottonfoo]

Sun have been making thin clients for a while now, and X-window terminals (while not exactly the same) aren't too far off the mark.

What with Google making inroads into MS's territory (and others like Adobe getting in on the act), and most people having some broadband capability, I suspect these kinds of devices will find a real market over the next ten years or so.

[Churchill]

Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing.

[DaveB]

Citrix Metaframe has been doing it well for a while. Run up to date windows apps on crappy out of date hardware, albeit with a stonking great server in the background.

Makes a nice way of putting MS apps onto other platforms as well.

[bogeyman]

Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing.

It can still be a good choice if it's built into an appliance and the user can't fiddle about with it.

[AtW]

Windows has evidently got superior architecture to Linux...

[portseven]

Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing.

True, though cost is only one part of the whole picture (though a big part!) there are others such as, No Vendor Lock-In, Quality Code because of Peer Review

[TheOmegaMan]

>AtW
>This message is hidden because AtW is on your ignore list.

Suddenly these forums make sense.

[cottonfoo]

Windows has evidently got superior architecture to Linux...

Evident where?

[bogeyman]

Evident where?

Oh please don't get him started