Wyse Technology Prepares Ubuntu Linux Thin Clients
Wyse Technology, the prominent thin client company, is preparing a “completely new product in the consumer and enterprise space” that leverages Ubuntu Linux, The VAR Guy has learned. Our resident blogger is nearly sworn to secrecy… Still, here are some preliminary details about the emerging Wyse-Ubuntu effort. Plus, the implications for Canonical (Ubuntu’s chief promoter) and channel partners that focus on thin clients.
According to those in the know, Wyse is working on a project that involves embedded and server side development across Linux and Windows. A small team of engineers is striving to create an “entirely new look and feel” for desktop-oriented computing and desktop applications. And yes, that user interface apparently will run on Ubuntu.
The forthcoming Wyse initiative apparently will leverage Clutter (an open source software library for creating fast, visually rich, portable and animated graphical user interfaces) and Glade (a graphical user interface builder for GTK+ and GNOME).
Alas, The VAR Guy doesn’t know when Wyse will publicly announce its Ubuntu-oriented project. But our resident blogger’s best guess suggests Wyse will be in the market talking about the consumer and corporate effort in late 2010 or so, with potential products in 2011. (The dates are speculation on The VAR Guy’s part.)
Timing Is Everything
Wyse’s interest in Ubuntu comes at an intriguing time for both Canonical and its channel partners. Canonical is preparing to launch Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) in April 2010. The forthcoming Ubuntu 10.04 is a so-called L0ng Term Support (LTS) release, which means software and hardware developers, as well as corporate customers, might be more inclined to support Ubuntu.
Wyse isn’t the first company to think about Ubuntu as a thin-client opportunity. IBM and Virtual Bridges have been working with Canonical to promote virtualized Ubuntu desktops running on centralized IBM servers. But so far, it’s unclear whether the IBM-Virtual Bridges-Canonical effort has gained traction with customers.
Hardware Moves
Also of note: Canonical has been working hard to promote OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) that preinstall Ubuntu on a range of devices. But the OEM strategy remains a work in progress. Dell’s Ubuntu efforts have been hit and miss; HP has offered only a limited endorsement of Ubuntu; and smaller (but savvy) Ubuntu OEMs like System76 and ZaReason remain below the radar of most corporate customers.
Meanwhile, thin client computing has had a mixed history. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison predicted the world would start shifting to thin clients way back in 1996. But for the most part, thin clients have been limited to specific vertical market applications.
Still, Wyse is one of the best-known providers of thin clients. And the company has a channel-centric sales strategy. The VAR Guy will be watching to see where Wyse ultimately takes its Ubuntu devices. Into businesses? Into homes?
The VAR Guy’s best guess: Both.
And yes, The VAR Guy has reached out to Wyse for additional comment. Stay tuned.
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LISCON is programming a OS based on Ubuntu since many years for thin clients and repurposed pc – so it’s not that new. Seems like Wyse just realized (pretty late if you ask me) that they need a good OS for their devices.
http://www.liscon.com/lmd
Chris: LISCON may be in the market, and Wyse may be late. But Wyse has a strong brand, big enterprise customers, and a big channel partner network. In theory, that could mean success for these alleged Ubuntu Linux thin clients that Wyse apparently is developing.
-TVG
I suspect the reason for Dell not doing so well with Ubuntu is because they don’t really “sell” it. They are pressed heavily under the thumb of a large corporation in Redmond and do not want to jeopardize that relationship along with the implied discounts they receive.
It is possible that they only sell Ubuntu because it provides needed “competition” to help keep the DOJ of of Microsoft’s back–serves Microsoft’s purpose. I’ll bet you a cup of coffee they had to clear exactly what and how they chose to sell it through Microsoft.
If you don’t actually “sell” a product, how can you expect to do well with it. After all, Dell recommends Microsoft Windows. You have to dig deeply into their website to find any mention of Ubuntu. Even then they only provide it on a limited basis. You think they are being influenced from the outside on this?
Ubuntu thin clients are already available, check out Edubuntu, or LTSP. Wyse is joining the group with a hardware solution. Maybe it will help take-up of GNU/Linux –cheers to them.
So… its Ubuntu with a custom UI…. same approach as litl took with its webbook.
But just because its based on Ubuntu doesn’t mean its going to be Ubuntu in name or in spirit. There are lots of Ubuntu derivatives out there, lots and lots. Is this just another example of a company leveraging the zero-cost acquisition model Canonical is using to cut Canonical out of a potential revenue stream?
The real questions are:
1) Is this going to be branded Ubuntu? When you boot this device up are you going to see the Ubuntu brand in the UI?
2) Is Wyse contracting with (ie paying Canonical) to do engineering work to help build this?
3) Is Wyse contracting with Canonical to provide customer support services beyond the initial engineering of the devices?
4) Will the new interface be considered proprietary (like Litl’s interface)
5) Is it going to make use of the existing repository infrastructure that Canonical has in place for software updates or is Wyse basically going to spin up pre-cooked thin client software images on their own? ChromeOs while originally based on Ubuntu has moved away from deb packaging to Gentoo portage system.
-jef
This is interesting to me. I am surprised they would be doing something with any other Linux distro outside of SUSE.
I was just at a VMware/Wyse conference and the “co-creator” of the Wyse terminal kept stating how Suse is the only Linux distro they use because the others have had infringement lawsuits against them file by….you guessed it..Microsoft.
So for them to now be looking to Ubuntu seems a little strange to me.
Zman58@3: The VAR Guy thinks Dell deserves some applause for pre-loading Ubuntu even as Windows Vista and now Windows 7 arrived. Dell could certainly do a lot better in terms of marketing and publicly discussing its Ubuntu efforts. Regardless, The VAR Guy thinks Dell’s Ubuntu efforts (though sometimes flawed…) are sincere.
Jef@4: The VAR Guy will be sure to ask Wyse those questions when he hears from the4 company.
PunksUndead@5: The VAR Guy believes this Wyse-Ubuntu project is in the very early stages. The development team is still in the formation process, from what our resident blogger has heard. The VAR Guy will be watching to see if the consumer and business projects ever see the light of day…
-TVG
Liscon is a decent product offering and they’ll sell you the hardware or just software (thin client OS). Almost no other vendors are doing that to the extent that Liscon does.
Additionally, purchasing hardware through a vendor like Wyse locks you into that hardware and management platform. Many in the VDI/SBC realize the downside to that lock-in and are condsidering alternatives.
For example, we decided to build our own ‘thin pc’ to replace 80 older thin client devices (previously Wyse). Using a fanless Intel D510M0 mobo, 1G RAM, M350 enclosure, and either a 30GB SATA hard drive or 4GB SATA DOM, I have 3X the hardware of the current thin client vendors and each unit cost between $200-250 depending on the storage option. We’ll use our own Linux build, Liscon, or even Windows 7 depending on the use case. I can manage these with any of the various Linux tools, Liscons management platform, or our standard Microsoft tools with no vendor lock-in.
I appreciate Wyse coming to the table (late as it may be) with a Linux offering, but I would personally avoid the hardware vendor lock-in. And the case for using Windows Embedded Standard on a thin client is decreasing rapidly since it adds at least $90 to the package.
Rodd:
So lets talk about Liscon OS. It’s “based on” ubuntu. So what does that mean exactly? Does Lincon OS pull updates directly from Ubuntu’s repositories? Or is it more like how Canonical positioned Ubuntu as a derivative of Debian with its own separate packaging infrastructure?
Is any of the money paid to Liscon flowing back to Canonical or into Ubuntu development? Or is Liscon yet another company that is making money by leveraging the zero-cost acquisition model of Ubuntu without materially supporting the infrastructure that makes that possible?
-jef
They can surely expect a visit from the Microsoft Secret Police if they haven’t already for using anything other than SUSE or possibly Red-Hat on an embedded platform. Microsoft is making the rounds apparently looking to extort protection money from its software patents minefield. ANY hardware vendor that shows up on the radar with a successful commercial Linux product can expect The MSP to pay them a visit. It’s going to be a long time before Ubuntu shows up on any big name hardware. I wonder how long it will be before Microsoft sues google and Nokia producing devices with the Linux kernel that they claim violate some of their patents. Here is a good writeup by Sun Ex-CEO Jonathan Schwartz on his blog about the issue.
http://jonathanischwartz.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/good-artists-copy-great-artists-steal/
Andydread:
That’s a very interesting measuring stick for success you have there. You haven’t made it till MS hits you up for patent protection money. Makes you wonder why MS hasn’t approached any netbook vendor already doing with Ubuntu pre-installs. Could it be because Canonical has signed up as part of OIN? I wonder does Canonical indemnify OEM partners against patent infringement?
I find it interesting that MS has so far stayed away from threatening any OIN licensee directly yet. It could be that the best way for up and coming embedded vendors like Wyse or Liscon to avoid this sort of bullying is to hurry up and join the OIN as a licensee.
-jef
@Jef,
Those are good questions, but I don’t have all the answers. We’ve just begun investigating Liscon as a possible solution. I suspect Liscon chose Ubuntu for the LTS aspect and consistent release schedule.
Liscon is based in Austria and I have spoken with the CEO and sales staff. They are actively working to develop a US distributor in CA. From my very limited discussions, they seemed to be OSS advocates and I would ‘suspect’ they contribute back to the community. Likely with code submissions instead of money (they’re a tiny company as of yet).
I would ask the VAR Guy to follow up on vendors like Liscon to provide more detail (right now, it’s not my priority…too many projects)
-Rodd
Rodd, Jef: The VAR Guy will follow-up with Liscon as soon as he hits a few other deadlines.
-TVG