Now For Something Completely Different

As you read through this blog, you will detect a heavy bias towards online business. This reflects my own personal interest in the subject, and efforts to assist others in achieving success. But online business is only part of the “Tools, Information and Opportunity” story that underpins Avallach Technology.

My other burning desire relates to my background as a software developer and long-term computing enthusiast, and the emergence in recent times of the Free / Open Source “movement”. It’s been a real joy to watch the Linux world evolve from providing out-and-out geek hobbyist toys (powerful, but useless to any non-technical person) to well-rounded distros such as Ubuntu and LinuxMint.

I’ve hovered between these two distros for a while now, having become a Debian fan some time ago, Ubuntu really caught my eye a couple of years back, and I then encountered Linux Mint. Mint is based on Ubuntu, but attempts to create a more usable “out of the box” system, with a cleaner/nicer look and feel. For what it’s worth, I think the Mint developers have achieved what they set out to achieve – in many ways, Mint can easily claim to be a better Ubuntu.

But I still come back to Ubuntu for one simple reason – the time delay between a new Ubuntu release and corresponding Mint update. This isn’t a criticism, just a reason. Hopefully the Ubuntu team will create a different default theme at some stage (in fact I believe that is slated for 9.10), thereby removing one of the main reasons I prefer Mint.

There’s something still not quite right with Linux though – it’s not /quite/ ready to achieve its full potential on the desktop, home or business. The main reason, in my opinion, is an apparent lack of business applications. Now before people start shouting about Open Office, various open source mail clients and all those other wonderful general purpose, “horizontal” apps, I am talking about the more “specialised” business applications that are used on desktops across the globe; payroll, HR, accounts, asset management and specialised database apps in vertical markets.

Once that is solved, and Linux starts to penetrate the small to medium business desktop market, the penetration of the home desktop market will follow. Firstly people will be more comfortable with Linux, having used it at the office, and secondly the creation of business software will probably flow through to apps for home use.

I personally believe we are a long long way away from working with computers much differently than we do now – at the small-to-medium business level “cloud computing” is unlikely to have a huge impact. The biggest change I think we will see in the short-to-medium-term, is that Linux will become  the dominant desktop operating system. That’s been promised for a long time now I know, but I still believe it WILL happen, eventually.

Based on what we have today, I personally would love to see Ubuntu become the operating system that kicks Windows off the throne. The efforts and vision of Mark Shuttleworth will be appreciated for many years to come I am sure. It is for this reason that Ubuntu is the “standard operating environment” (SOE) adopted for Avallach Technology, and why one of the things Avallach will be concerned with is creating business software for that environment.

It is envisaged that the software develooped will ultimately help create greater depth to the Ubuntu desktop. With continuing efforts being made with the operating system itself, and active development of business apps, the potential of Ubuntu will finally be realised.

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