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SCO head does not see a biz case for Linux on desktops

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW DELHI:Avinash Verma, Director, Strategic Alliances, International Region, SCO Group, was in India for a short stint. He speaks on a variety of subjects - from the launch of Linux on a 64-bit architecture to the United Linux Consortium to SCO’s lawsuit against IBM.






Q: How important is the Indian market in the SCO scheme of things?


Verma: India is a very important geography for us in particular and Linux in general, all the more so given the talent and efficiency of the developer population here. The Government, especially the e-governance initiatives is a thrust area. SCO is closely working with its Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) in negotiating government purchases.





Q: What has been the revenue sharing model within United Linux? Are you open to new members?


Verma: The four components of United Linux - Connectiva S.A., the SCO Group, SuSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux have paid a one-time joining fee, that apart there is a yearly fee. Roughly $200 per box is paid as Royalty to the consortium. We thus have a product tag that reads "SCO, powered by United Linux," or "Turbolinux powered by United Linux," depending on the vendor. United Linux is open to new members, including Sun. But if you are planning to join us, be warned, you better have a lot of money.





Q: Red Hat has opted to stay out of the consortium?


Verma: Red Hat has not said that it will not join us. The official version it has given is that it is not ready to be a part of United Linux at the moment. Personally, I would say it would make sense for Red Hat to be a part of the consortium for a) it is going to reduce development costs significantly and b) it would facilitate distribution.





Q: How would you be handling the competition with Red Hat?


Verma: The partners of United Linux are also competing among themselves for market share, Red Hat is just another competitor for us.





Q: What would be the road ahead?


Verma: Next month, we are launching Linux on a 64-bit architecture, which would enable heavy duty mission critical applications, like risk analysis in the financial market or DNA analysis on the Biotechnology front, to be also run on Linux. I do not think that marketing Linux on desktops will make a business case. Given the comfort level of the average consumer with the Microsoft environment, what would be the value proposition in a Linux desktop for a consumer at just a marginally lower price? What we have to do is create a significantly high cost differential between a Microsoft platform and a Linux platform on the desktop front, doubled with clever applications. On the corporate side, one can see that Unix is getting pushed back, and Linux on Intel is evolving as a cheaper and viable alternative to the vastly expensive RISC architecture.

















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