The VAR Guy

The grand experiment is over. Wal-Mart has locked Linux out of its stores. The retail giant has stopped selling Linux-based PCs — though Walmart.com will continue selling the so-called Green gPC from Everex, according to the Associated Press. What does this mean for the open source desktop movement in the consumer market? Here are some thoughts from The VAR Guy.

Who are the world’s top Ubuntu Linux partners? The VAR Guy wants to know. And so do his readers. Our resident blogger has launched a global survey that will identify 100 of the world’s top Ubuntu integrators, solutions providers, VARs and channel partners. What’s in it for Ubuntu partners and what does it take to participate? Glad you asked.

A few years from now, open source pundits may consider February 2008 the tipping point for Linux laptops. Why is that? Glad you asked. The open source world is buzzing right now about Everex’s CloudBook, an “ultraportable” Linux laptop available from Wal-Mart and several leading Web sites. Officially, the tiny $399 laptop isn’t available until February 21. But it’s already generating big sales, according to several sources in the know. Simply put, CloudBook’s arrival is a defining moment — a critical milestone — for Linux on desktops and laptops.

Whether you attended this weekend’s Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE) or another recent open source event, one trend is clear: Linux advocates certainly love their Apple MacBooks.

The VAR Guy will be all ears when Canonical’s Jono Bacon (pictured) delivers his keynote today at the Southern California Linux Expo here in Los Angeles. Bacon will discuss the future of Linux on the desktop. If you’re not here at the event, you can watch his 10 a.m. Pacific keynote online. Here’s how.

Yes, Sun is acquiring MySQL for $1 billion. But Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz isn’t done modernizing his company. Not by a long shot. The VAR Guy isn’t ready to predict which company Sun will acquire next, but he has noticed Schwartz getting pretty darn cozy with two fast-growing open source businesses.

The VAR Guy spent most of 2007 blogging about open source start-ups and open source business models. As he looks ahead to 2008, The VAR Guy knows hundreds of open source software providers are seeking to catch on in the corporate market. Here are the top 10 open source providers and platforms that are set to succeed in 2008.

Time for The VAR Guy to stir up a little controversy, this time in the Linux desktop market. He thinks a small desktop setback at Red Hat could lead to more PC momentum for Ubuntu Linux. Here’s the scoop.

The VAR Guy received a rude greeting when he returned home from a business trip last night. His Ubuntu PC from Dell was dead. Fried. Done. Well, not entirely. But things were bad. The PC was displaying a bunch of errors and never fully booted up. But this sad story has a happy ending for The VAR Guy and Ubuntu.

OK, so Dell’s desktop Linux PCs aren’t setting the world on fire. The PC giant has sold about 40,000 of the Ubuntu Linux PCs since introducing them at the end of July. That’s a run rate of about 8,000 per month. And one of those systems was sold to The VAR Guy. So what will Dell do next? End the Linux experiment based on slow sales? Guess again.