Report: Novell eyeing open-source app store

PCPro UK is reporting that Novell is considering an effort to bring a "wealth of open-source software to everyday users through an open-source apps store."

Novell believes that an open-source apps store would make life easier for customers, specifically those interested in Netbooks. This certainly seems logical, but considering that open-source applications tend be licensed in a way that doesn't require an upfront fee, it's hard to see how this represents a business model.

"I would compare what's happening on netbooks with what's happening to the smartphone," Holger Dyroff, vice president of business development at Novell told PC Pro. "There's a core experience, but then the ability to customise that experience. On the user end, all they'll see is an open-source applications store with one-click downloads of new software. Unlike the other stores though, they won't have to pay for any of those applications, which will be very attractive."

"It's a new way of marketing open source," he admits. "It's also a method of educating people about the benefits of open source."

This is not a bad idea, but it's not clear that this does anything more than market open-source applications--which is fine, but it's not clear that Novell (or any company) would generate much revenue with such an effort.

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[cfmxpro]

Weak story. Lindows aka Linspire aka Xandros created this years ago. And how is an "open source app store" any different that a current package manager that every big linux distribution already has?

[hawkeyeaz1]

I was thinking the same about Lindows, but it seems Novell is smart enough not to charge for free.open source software, just provide. But I don't see how this is anything more than what they already offer.

[grossj144]

I think that Novell needs to provide the framework and make it available to each manufacturer for a fee. They could host the servers, quality check the apps, and brand the stores accordingly (for instance, you could have a Dell Mini store, an Asus EEEstore, etc). How the company makes money on this is to provide a convenient service that is reasonably priced.

Dell/Asus/Novell can charge for the costs associated with making sure that the apps will work on the devices supported, the servers that are used to house the apps, etc. So there are plenty of ways to make money on this idea. Granted, there isn't going to be a huge amount of money to make compared to the traditional boxed software paradigm. But they would be providing a service that I am sure many people would be willing to pay for. Additionally, if you look outside of the netbook ecosystem and on toward more traditional hardware, you could easily package legal versions of different codecs that are patented (such as DVD playback, mp3/wma, etc). I am certain that there would be a market for folks who've purchased Dell Inspirons with Ubuntu that want a hassle-free method of downloading/installing the various codecs (I know that I've run into issues trying to find the proper sources entry in order to update my computer).

Again, the market isn't necessarily a huge one, at least not yet. Of course, as the netbooks continue to gain marketshare, I'm sure that more and more people are going to want to have such a service. If the service was in place right now, many more people would likely give the Linux-based netbooks a shot, knowing that there was a fast, easy, and inexpensive method for obtaining software that doesn't require a lot of research and heartache. It would definitely lower the percieved cost of entry when switching to Linux. And that is a good thing.

[forever4now]

A Moblin (or full desktop Linux) app store needs to support paid apps as well, so that developers & commercial software companies, who want to, can make money from software they develop for it.

It?s not the free apps that are making the iPhone app store such a major hit with developers. It?s that developers can actually make a living, building & selling apps for the iPhone. Ditto, for the other smartphone app stores.