Linux on the desktop in Aus gets dial tone

Telstra (Australia's incumbant near-monopoly telco) has launched a project code named Firefly aimed at reducing the TCO of their desktops.

Nothing particularly new in that. But in addition to the expected Wyse thin client option, the bulk of the test revolves around users with Linux as their desktop - and the application suite of Sun StarOffice, Ximian Evolution and the Mozilla web browser.

In fact, Telstra CIO Jeff Smith was quoted as saying "I would see a big movement from Windows and Unix to Linux". Wielding a $A 1.5 Billion IT budget, he is not a man to ignore!

Perhaps the biggest impact on this for the rest of the Australian IT community, is that it gives a ringing endorsement to Linux and Open Source technologies. Mr Smith was also very clear that Sun's SunOne strategy and product line was more comprehensive than Microsoft's - which opens the way to completely remove even Microsoft Exchange from the backend.

On the heels of Sun's own announcement of their Mad Hatter project, things are staring to look rosey for Linux on the desktop. Interesting times we live in.

Interestingly, there was no mention in the article of testing a directory system to potentially replace the horrendus Active Directory from Microsoft. With the obvious strong Sun partnership Novell's NDS (or eDirectory as it seems to be called now) seems like a non-starter, and LDAP is yet to have the sort of corporate products around it that Telstra would be looking for - it will be interesting to watch Apple replace NetInfo with LDAP over the coming iterations of MacOS X. But wait a minute, I hear you ask, didn't Novell buy Ximain last month? True, so guess we should also expect Evolution to integrate well with Novell Groupwise in the future, which in turn integrates well with eDirectory (of course), and since the demise of Banyan, eDirectory is probably the directory system most capable of handling an organisation like Telstra... and eDirectory supports LDAP, and will increasingly integrate with Linux via Novell's Nterprise Linux Services

Speaking of Apple and MacOS X, both are noticeably absent from the Telstra picture. Telstra has never been very cosy with Apple - their cable internet product still barely supports the OS. Optus, the main rival to Telstra, was once a very large Apple user, but increasingly less so.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic! You can read an article about the Telstra announcement in today's Australian IT section, or online: external link.