“I’m talking about the printer company, Oki Data. The company’s
achievement is not so much what they’re doing for Linux as much as
how they’re doing it. At a time when companies feel the need to
issue press releases merely for discussing Linux, Oki is taking its
Linux activities in stride — it’s just another platform to them.
And this is how it should be.”
“Imagine my surprise to see, on the printed cardboard box
outside and in the manuals inside, that the 6010e explicitly
supported Linux. No big type, no penguins, not even a mention on
the Web site. It was just part of a list of supported platforms, no
more and no less significant in the documentation than any
other.”
“Like in many companies, Oki Data’s Linux experience started
through the efforts of a single individual. In Oki’s case it was a
product manager, Arnie Peters, who spread the word, according to
Correa. ‘He felt strongly that Linux [would] be the next wave, and
he worked very hard to sell this to management.’ “
“Apparently Peters’ sales job within Oki Data was successful:
the company started supporting Linux, without telling anyone it
seems, back in October. …Correa said the company’s
support of Linux will be enhanced and extended to many other
products. ‘We have a really spiffy Linux driver under
development,’ she said, adding that Oki Data’s multifunction
devices (printer/scanner/fax/copier) will likely be next in line
for Linux support.”