Will Linux-based handheld devices ever gain momentum within enterprise or
consumer markets?
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Kate Gerwig, Editorial Director
Linux delivers a number of attractive elements to developers and devices
vendors. Because of its open-source nature, it offers flexibility in terms
of licensing fees and overall customizability, as well as independence from
the constraints of major platform vendors. Within the desktop and portable
computing spaces, however, Linux remains a fringe player because
enterprises are unwilling to broadly adopt a platform without a central
vendor behind it, and most consumers refuse to look beyond the mainstream
strategies of Microsoft and Apple. A similar paradigm exists in the world
of mobile devices. Both enterprises and consumers rarely look beyond
mainstream Palm OS, Pocket PC, or BlackBerry-based offerings. Beyond
Sharp's Zaurus strategy, Linux-based device options are relatively limited
and as they remain similarly priced to devices based on mainstream
platforms, they are not expected to break beyond their niche status in any
market.
This was first published in April 2003