Group launches desktop Linux confab

A breakaway group of organizers has set up its own conference devoted to desktop Linux, after acrimony tainted a show held earlier this year.

The Desktop Linux Conference, which will discuss the use of the open-source operating system on ordinary desktop computers, is scheduled for Nov. 10 at Boston University, the Desktop Linux Consortium said Thursday. The consortium, which includes Hewlett-Packard and Linux seller Lycoris, was formed in February in reaction to dissatisfaction with the Desktop Linux Summit.

Several consortium members withdrew from that conference, held in February, after accusing desktop Linux seller Lindows, the initial organizer, of hogging the spotlight.

The companies behind the Desktop Linux Consortium include several Linux sellers such as SuSE, MandrakeSoft, Lycoris, Xandros and ArkLinux. It also counts as members CodeWeavers, which sells software to help run Windows programs on Linux systems; OpenOffice, an open-source competitor to Microsoft Office; and the group behind the KDE user interface software.

On the schedule at the Desktop Linux Conference is a keynote address from Bruce Perens, an outspoken open-source advocate who was one of those to withdraw from the February show. Perens is executive director of the Desktop Linux Consortium.

Linux is most widely used on servers, which are higher-end networked machines designed to run around the clock. They typically handle data storage and processing tasks such as e-mail delivery or insurance-claims processing. Recently, though, computing companies have begun pushing the operating system for desktop use as well--even though this is a challenge, given the technical difficulties of using Linux and the dominance of Microsoft software for desktop computers.