The Google-Linux Marriage

It has been quite a while now that stories of Google’s Linux supported desktop have been doing rounds over the technology news websites across the world. This has been an interesting move by Google. From providing the support for Google gadgets on Linux to now providing an entire Google desktop for Linux users!

The news got confirmed when Google stated that it will roll out Linux desktop on netbooks soon. Statistics say that netbooks are the only division in PC sales that’s actually reporting increase in sales. It is hence a simple business logic to invest in applications and tools which run great on netbooks.

Google earlier indicated that it had intentions of overcoming Microsoft’s reign in the computer desktop segment. The concern here is on Google’s plans in the future considering this bold yet strategic move on their behalf. Google is keen to setup an array of Windows compatible applications that will work in tandem with Google Linux powered desktops. Various applications that Google flaunts such as Google Docs, Gmail, Google Calendar, etc. shall prove to be a part of the assortment.

The strategy that Google has adopted to hit Microsoft in operating system market is actually worth noticing and very interesting. It has avoided having a head-on confrontation with Microsoft and slowly and steadily matured in its other niches such as web searches and web applications. The first head-on product they released in the market was Google Chrome in 2008 which has been doing pretty well. Matthaus Krzykowski and Daniel Hartmann, founders of the stealth startup Mobile-facts now say,

Google’s smartphone operating system, Android, can be used as a desktop operating system.

One of the possible problems that Google and its Linux desktop can actually face is its lack of Windows business network compatibility; but it too has a solution. With Samba, it has now become much easier to run Windows domain based networks on Linux based servers. The good thing is that it can run both in native and mixed mode.

Google powered Linux based desktops and notebooks shall see the real market sometime soon, this year. It has already built a substantial amount of buzz in the entire Open Source community with a good response from fanboys and the rest. With Google’s intentions becoming pretty clear now, the role of its developers would be very significant in Google Linux Desktop’s success story.

It is also a blessing in disguise for Linux. It could have no better than Google itself starting to promote it. Does it mean more Open Source apps? Free apps? Better GUI on Linux games? What else?

Together, Google and Linux are keen to make this a real fight for Microsoft. Let’s hope that we all see the launch of Google’s Linux desktop soon.