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FROM THE EDITOR[ E D I T O R I A L B O A R D ]Editor-in-ChiefMark R. Hinkle mrhinkle@linuxworld.comContributing EditorIbrahim Haddad ibrahim.haddad@linuxworld.comMigration EditorJon Walker jwalker@linuxworld.comCommercialization EditorPaul Sterne sterne@linuxworld.comDesktop Technology EditorTim Griffin tim@linuxworld.comReview EditorMatt Frye mattfrye@linuxworld.comEditorPhilip Peake philip.peake@linuxworld.comContributing EditorsKevin Larue kevinl@linspireinc.comChristopher Negus cnegus@mwt.netContributorRob Jones rob@hotlinuxjobs.com[INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD]Wim Coekaerts, Director of Linux EngineeringOracleBrian E. Ferguson, PartnerMcDermott, Will & EmeryJohn Fowler, Executive VP, Network Systems GroupSun MicrosystemsGaël Duval, Cofounder/Director of CommunicationMandrakeSoftSamuel J. Greenblatt, Senior Vice Presidentand Chief Architect, Linux Technology GroupComputer AssociatesScott Handy, VP, Linux Strategyand Market Development IBMBruce Perens Perens, LLCStacey Quandt, Principal AnalystQuandt AnalyticsThomas Reardon, VP and General Manager,Client Product Group Openwave SystemsAlan Williamson SYS-CON MediaJohn Weathersby, Executive DirectorOpen Source Software InstituteRanajit Nevatia, Director of Linux StrategyVERITASAndy Astor, co-founder and CEOEnterpriseDB[ E D I T O R I A L ]Executive EditorNancy Valentine nancy@sys-con.comOnline EditorRoger Strukhoff roger@sys-con.comAssistant Online EditorNicholas DeJesus nick@sys-con.comResearch EditorBahadir Karuv, PhD bahadir@sys-con.com[ O F F I C E S ]SYS-CON MEDIA135 Chestnut Ridge Rd. • Montvale, NJ 07645Telephone: 201 802-3000 • Fax: 201 782-9600LinuxWorld Magazine (ISSN #1544-4511)is published monthly (12 times a year)by SYS-CON Publications, Inc.Postmaster send address changes to:LINUXWORLD MAGAZINESYS-CON MEDIA135 Chestnut Ridge Rd. • Montvale, NJ 07645COPYRIGHT © 2006 BY SYS-CON PUBLICATIONS, INC.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATIONMAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM ORBY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDINGPHOTOCOPY OR ANY INFORMATION, STORAGE ANDRETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.FOR PROMOTIONAL REPRINTS, CONTACT REPRINTCOORDINATOR.SYS-CON PUBLICATIONS, INC., RESERVESTHE RIGHT TO REVISE, REPUBLISH AND AUTHORIZE ITSREADERS TO USE THE ARTICLES SUBMITTED FORPUBLICATION. ALL BRAND AND PRODUCT NAMES USEDON THESE PAGES ARE TRADE NAMES, SERVICE MARKS,OR TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANIES.WORLDWIDE NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTIONCURTIS CIRCULATION COMPANY, NEW MILFORD, NJFOR LIST RENTAL INFORMATION:Kevin Collopy: 845 731-2684, kevin.collopy@edithroman.comFrank Cipolla: 845 731-3832, frank.cipolla@epostdirect.comLINUX IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF LINUS TORVALDSLINUXWORLD® IS THE REGISTERED TRADEMARK OFINTERNATIONAL DATA GROUP, INC.SYS-CON IS USING THE MARK PURSUANTTO A LICENSE AGREEMENT FROM IDGOpen Source HardwareApplying the principles of Open Source to the laptopThe benefits of commodity hardwareare well known. Competitionamong memory, storage,and chip providers has benefited theconsumer and driven down PC prices.My belief is that the next big “openopportunity” is for the Open Sourcecommodity laptop. The consumerwould be rewarded by applying tohardware, specifically laptops, thesame principles that have madeOpen Source software a success. DesktopPCs are fairly easy to repair and your localelectronics superstore likely has all the parts torepair them. There are also plenty of local repairshops competing to fix them. This isn’t the casewith laptops. As laptop sales surpass desktops, Ibelieve there’s growing demand for local vendorsto not only sell but fully service laptops on-site.Even though laptop parts are fairly common(storage and RAM can be bought locally), everychassis is different. This is contrary to the desktopPC where there are common form factors includingATX, MicroATX, FlexATX, and BTX. The samegoes for power supplies. When it comes to laptopsthat’s simply not the case; batteries vary by modelas do screens and keyboards. Parts are usuallyavailable only from the manufacturer. What happensfive years later when the laptop is no longerproduced? You’re stuck with a disposable productthat is fixed into a short-term lifecycle.If you’re a Windows user, you could be forcedinto paying for an operating system as well sincethe license is probably not transferable to the newmachine even if you want to move the hard drive(check your Windows end-user license agreementto be sure). It’s an expensive perpetual upgradecycle.I mentioned this idea to a colleague who gotvery excited about this prospect of an openlaptop. He then turned a critical eye towardsme and asked, if this idea had merit, wouldn’tthis commoditization apply to automobiles? Hisquestion was, “Why did we have so many modelsof automobiles and not just one that could becustomized?” My less-than-quick reply was, “Theautomobile market is more efficient with lots ofcompetition, and due to a certain level of standardizationwe have many sources of parts andservice. There is even an ecosystem of customizerswho can and do alter the base model. I don’thave those same options for my laptop.”That’s the benefit I want. To buyall laptop parts locally or have themserviced at my local PC repair shop. Myexperience has been that most laptopsrequire shipment to a repair facility;on-site repairs are only available undercostly service contracts. If you couldget your parts locally you could savetransit time and lost productivity. YouB Y M A R K R . H I N K L E could also upgrade more easily since theblog: mark.linuxworld.com parts would no longer be limited to asingle laptop model. When your laptopgets banged up, you could cost-effectively buya standard laptop form factor shell and migrateparts from one to another at no additional costs.Consider the time saved just moving the harddrive to the updated chassis rather than doing afull-on data migration.Open hardware isn’t an unheard of idea. Sunhas open sourced its UltraSparc T1 chip. Samsunghas done the same with its OneNAND embeddedmemory. What does that mean to vendorand consumer? I believe the potential is there forA B O U T T H E A U T H O RMark R. Hinkle is the vice president of strategy and corporatedevelopment for Emu Software as well as the editor-in-chief ofLinuxWorld Magazine. Mark served on the Formation Board ofThe Desktop Linux Consortium and is also the author ofthe upcoming book Linux Business Desktop Migrationfor Windows Users from Charles River Press.mrhinkle@linuxworld.comwww.LinuxWorld.com5APRIL 2006