Ubuntu Linux boosted by 10,000 seat PC win
- 22 April, 2011 23:34
- Comments 3
Canonical has taken the wraps off a morale-boosting deal that has seen German insurance giant LVM Versicherungen convert 10,000 PCs to use Ubuntu Linux across the company's operations.
The project included the conversion of 3,000 desktop and laptop computers in LVM's Muenster HQ with a further 7,000 in the company's agencies around Germany. The core software used by the company is LAS, a Java-based claims-processing application of its own design, backed by Lotus Notes, Adobe's Reader and the OpenOffice suite.
The news isn't entirely a surprise given that LVM has been using Ubuntu for some time. But converting a company's entire install base to use the software is still a modest coup.
LVM is also a demanding environment for any OS. The company's workforce is bolstered by a small army of self-employed and mobile sales representatives that sell insurance at street and living room level. The LAS system is described as being used by the sales team in an 'always-on' configuration.
The official release made no mention of the operating system being displaced but Techworld understands these were running older versions of Windows in recent years.
"Many companies are waking up to the realisation that there is an alternative to an endless cycle of licence fees that can amount to millions of dollars. We believe that the investment that LVM have made in converting to Ubuntu by engaging with Canonical will pay off many times," said Canonical's VP of business development, Steve George.
Could this another sign of wider mainstream acceptance for Linux or is it a one-off? Certainly, Germany has an interesting history of using Linux which tends to make large install stories look like eccentric deviation from the business conformity of Windows.
It probably comes down to the type of business and applications that need supporting. Few businesses buy Windows out of great love for Microsoft so much as the belief that Redmond is a rock of relative stability in an industry in which companies have in the past come and gone, leaving applications unsupported. Canonical's Ubuntu Linux model is now seen as stable enough to rival this in some business cases.
That said, last year the Swiss canton of Solothurn went back to Windows 7 after hitting turbulence in a long-running Debian/GNU migration. There were special circumstances in that project but the ice melts both ways.
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Comments
Gary
I am wondering what version they are using. Are they running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, 10.10 or 11.04?
Art C.
The desktop/laptop market share of Linux is higher than most analysts think it is. Since it is actually cheaper to buy a Dell/HP/Acer/Lenovo/etc with a throw-away copy of Microsoft Windows than it is to buy from System76 et al either with Ubuntu or with no operating system installed, the vast majority of Linux installations end up counting as Windows installations when the statisticians come around.
Based on this knowledge, Linux desktop market share is actually closer to 10% than the 1% its detractors tend to cite.
Colin
There are around 1% visitors with User Agent saying Linux on every non-tech website. So why is that ? Linux users visit around 11 times less webpages than non-Linux users ? They all use User-Agent switcher to make people think they use Windows ? They have ads and popup blockers that prevent stats to count them ?
Among your non-tech friends, how many are using Linux ? I'd be happy to see Linux market share increase but truth is it doesn't, and between 1% and 2% seems to be correct. If you want to see changes on this, you have to urge your friends, your employers and your elected to give it a try. To inform them on this, to talk to them about interoperability. Also talk them about LibreOffice and how cheap it is compared to MSOffice.
And be prepared to use a big amount of energy for a very small result. But if we all do it, we'll see a result.
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