[ Thanks to George
Mitchell for this link. ]
“As even a casual technology watcher can tell you, the NC, or
“network computer,” was a big-time bust. What’s not so widely
known is that an increasing number of major companies, including
many in the Bay Area, have enthusiastically adopted a variation on
the idea.
“The ungainly name for this new technology — “thin-client
computing” — is hardly a household word, even in Silicon Valley.
But for information-technology managers at many large
organizations, it’s shaping up as the Next Big Thing.”
“Ironically, the biggest beneficiary of the thin-client movement
could turn out to be Microsoft.”
“McNaught is… skeptical about the latest thin-client
twist: terminals based on the free Linux OS. Wyse developed
one of those, too, he said, but decided not to market it under its
own name because demand has been limited.
“Even the cost savings that might be expected from using a free
OS turn out to be mostly illusory, according to McNaught, because
Linux requires more memory in the client machine, including
relatively expensive flash RAM for storing the OS. Compared to
those costs, he said, the license fees Microsoft charges for its
thin-client systems are “insignificant.”
“It may be too early to count Linux out of the thin-client
market, though. Numerous developers are working on leaner versions
of it. Citrix, SCO and other companies already offer ways to access
server-based Windows applications from Linux clients, and last
month Ottawa-based Corel announced plans to add such capabilities
to its desktop-oriented Linux version.”