* Peugeot Citroen plans largest linux desktop rollout by a private enterprise to date
French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen gave a major boost to Linux desktop legitimacy with its recent announcement to install 20,000 Novell SUSE Linux desktops and 2,500 SUSE Linux servers into its IT infrastructure over the next several years.
Details on what roles the Linux desktops will have at the carmaker were not widely released, but observers are calling the planned rollout one of the largest Linux desktop projects ever by a private enterprise.
Peugeot Citroen says the ease of use of the SUSE Linux desktops and interoperability with Windows operating systems and applications drove the decision to go with the desktop rollout. Peugeot Citroen also cited Novell’s support offerings behind Linux as another reason it went with the open source desktop and server technology.
France is starting its own small Linux desktop trend, as the Peugeot Citroen deal follows a recent Windows-for-Linux desktop swapout in the offices of the French Parliament. The government organization announced it will install 1,154 Linux desktops in its offices. (That organization was so interested in Linux, it announced these plans before even settling on a standard Linux distro for the project).
Novell has been trying to capitalize on the Microsoft Vista product rollout by aggressively pushing its SUSE Enterprise Linux Desktop (SLED) as the lower-cost, but technically comparable, alternative to the Windows offering. Of course, Novell leads with the pricing difference between the two systems — $50 for SLED costs vs. $299 for Vista. The company also offers more data on its Web site.
