Perfect Pair: PowerPC and Linux

Most Linux fans are not old enough to
remember that Intel did not always dominate the PC processor
market. In the late seventies, Intel won the chip war with Motorola
and Zilog by offering certain features in its 8086 chip that
favored MS-DOS over then existing competitive OSes. Subsequently
IBM selected the 8088 for the first PC, knocking both Motorola and
Zilog out of the emerging PC market. In spite of that loss,
Motorola has managed to remain an important force in computer
processors, mainly because of the PowerPC. As a consortium with
Apple and IBM, the PowerPC is now in a position to save us from
Linley Gwennap's One World, One Processor scenario. AMD is expected
to continue its role, started as an Intel second source, a producer
of Intel clones. As such, AMD is most relevant to these discussions
because their chips obscure the real One World, Once Processor
danger.There certainly is no danger of the PowerPC meeting the fate
of the last Zilog PC chip, the Z8000, and its potential successors.
However, its role can be dramatically enhanced if the Linux
community were educated not just about the dangers of a PowerPC
demise, as Linley Gwennap has done, but also about the ability of
the Linux community to prevent such a demise by being instrumental
in helping the PowerPC become a factor in Linux desktop
systems.The Linux community is in a unique position to assure such an
expanded role for the PowerPC. The Linux community can assure that
the PowerPC will become a factor in Linux desktop systems, by
jumping on the LinuxPC bandwagon. IBM is already leading the way
toward a LinuxPC with
its
POP project, an Open Reference Design for a more or less
standard ATX/PCI motherboard, but with a PowerPC chip rather than
an x86 chip. Because of IBM's need to emulate high quality
standards for its own RS/6000 boards that use the same PowerPC
family of chips, this design project has encountered some delays,
but it now appears to be on track. I have been told that one
manufacturer has started limited production of these motherboards,
and chances of obtaining a sample board in the near future are very
good. However, those boards are only the first step. More important
is giving additional producers a good reason to also manufacture
PowerPC-based boards--not just motherboards for servers but also
planar motherboards for complete LinuxPCs, desktop systems with
much higher volumes than servers. These higher volumes will bring
the price for LinuxPCs down to a level competitive with WinTel
boxes.The best reason for a company to manufacture these LinuxPCs
is to give that company an assured demand.I must confess I have an interest in seeing the LinuxPC
become a reality. Linux, in order to continue its phenomenal
growth, needs enterprise applications. The non-profit MD-Linux
Foundation I am in the process of establishing will facilitate the
widespread availability of thousands of proven enterprise
applications that now run on a family of Multi-Dimensional
databases (mdRDBMS). For that purpose, the Foundation will devise
an open-source Linux distribution with an integral, not a ported,
mdRDBMS engine. Such an integral database engine will not only
allow these existing database applications to run on Linux, those
database applications will also be able to interoperate seamlessly
with native Linux applications. Pure Linux! That integral database
engine and OS mix is designed to run only on PowerPC-based
hardware.Undoubtedly, you have read references to the Post-PC era in
which computerized "appliances" will be much more numerous than the
PC. Because most of these appliances run some form of embedded
Linux, and because most of these appliances also run on RISC
processors like the PowerPC, these appliances have become a natural
stepping stone for a LinuxPC hardware platform. That such LinuxPCs
will have very little, if anything, in common with the existing
WinTel platform is evidenced by the briQ from
Total Impact and
similar products from
SiliconFruit and
Eternal
Computing now nearing production. A typical LinuxPC would
be about triple the height of the briQ, about 6" x 5" x 9", and
would contain within that space as much, or more, functionality as
today's giant WinTel boxes.Where can you buy such a LinuxPC? That is the crux of this
whole article. During the last several years we have seen lots of
activity from organizations like
LinuxPPC,
OpenPPC and
Yellow Dog Linux
intended to promote the PowerPC as a Linux platform. However
well-intentioned those efforts have been, they tend to put the cart
before the horse. While the typical Linux fan is interested in
broadening the Linux market via hardware that cannot be shared by
any Microsoft OS, taking the PowerPC and turning that into a 6" x
5" x 9" LinuxPC is not within their capability, similar to building
PC's 25 years ago. Linux fans, like WinTel fans, now have a normal
expectation that some manufacturer will produce the hardware on
which they will run their OS and applications. The reasons for such
expectations are quite simple. Producing hardware has become much
more capital intensive, much more complex and much more risky than
producing software.So why can you not yet walk into a store and buy a LinuxPC?
Are technical issues holding up the LinuxPC? Designing a new
product always involves some technical issues, but those technical
issues are not really preventing PowerPC-based LinuxPCs from being
broadly available at competitive prices. The current lack of
availability of such a LinuxPC is a marketing issue. It is a "NO
guts, NO glory" issue where both IBM and Motorola, on first blush,
appear to have exhibited a marked lack of guts. However, upon
closer examination, their lack of enthusiasm to compete in the
WinTel market may have been a blessing in disguise. Because of the
binary aspect of WinTel software, competing head-on against WinTel
with a PowerPC did not make sense. Had IBM and Motorola done so
anyway, there would have been a lot more ongoing innovation. As it
was, the lack of competition produced the typical result: bland
hardware and software, an environment ripe for Linux and the
LinuxPC to thrive.Open Source Linux changed the competitive landscape in both
software and hardware. Whereas Linus Torvalds developed Linux to
take advantage of the inexpensive WinTel platform, he unleashed
market forces that go way beyond the scope of the legacy PC. Linux,
already a force in servers, typically on rackmount hardware that
lacks all semblance to a WinTel PC, and a much bigger force than
Microsoft on those so-called appliances, is now poised to play a
similar role in bringing dramatic changes to desktop hardware.
Evidence of such dramatic changes in Linux desktop hardware can be
seen in the briQ and similar products that are certain to fill the
demand for "better than WinTel" hardware, a demand that Linux has
created by being a better product than a competing Microsoft OS.
However, bringing those dramatic changes to desktop hardware will
require a guiding light, a company that can set the pace in
conceptualizing the LinuxPC. Who will be the guiding light in Linux
hardware development?With all the deserved criticism for the roles they have
played, both Microsoft and Intel also deserve credit for the
frantic pace of hardware development. Had it not been for Wintel
spurring an incessant drive for smaller and faster hardware, many
of the hardware milestones, like 75GB hard drives, would not have
been reached for a long time. Yet we all tend to forget that it was
IBM, not Microsoft or Intel, that was the real guiding light not
only behind the PC revolution itself, but also behind many of the
revolutionary products and processes that have enabled us to enjoy
unparalleled increases in computer power on our desk tops. Because
of that earlier role, it is also my assessment that IBM will, once
again, be the guiding light that will enable Linux to grow beyond
the confines of its erstwhile WinTel platform. It is my assessment
that IBM, already firmly committed to Linux across all its
platforms, will bring its tremendous resources to bear on making
both Linux software and Linux specific-hardware the most popular
desktop platforms.Will IBM and Motorola manufacture LinuxPCs? That IBM will
brand LinuxPC hardware is almost a certainty. Both IBM and Motorola
produce huge quantities of highly reliable and, consequently,
pricey PowerPC-based professional hardware used in applications
like telephony, the military and medical instrumentation, to name
just a few. However, neither IBM nor Motorola play any visible role
in marketing $600 WinTel boxes now. Chances that they will try to
enter a market for LinuxPCs at similar price levels are highly
unlikely. However, both companies have the enabling technology, the
ability to produce the crucial PowerPCs and steer the development
of the rest of the components, like planar motherboards and
integrated chips, that will be the hallmark of the LinuxPC
evolution.If not IBM and Motorola, who then will produce LinuxPCs? The
most likely producers of great quantities of LinuxPCs will be China
and Taiwan. China especially seems to have a vested interest in
freeing itself from its dependence on WinTel. Red Flag Linux has
given China its independence from "Win", and the LinuxPC is capable
of delivering China out of the "Tel" clutches. Companies like Acer,
a Taiwanese company with ties to both China and IBM, are sure to
play a role in bringing us affordable LinuxPCs, just as Acer has
played a role in bringing us affordable WinTel boxes. However,
companies like Silicon Fruit and Total Impact are certainly capable
of playing a valuable role in the PostPC revolution. If one
compares the possible labor content of today's typical WinTel box
with the 6x5x9 LinuxPC, the labor content for the LinuxPC, as a
percentage of manufacturing cost, will certainly be far less.
Therefore, the customization that occurred in the WinTel market via
manual assembly of boxes and boards and components will occur in
the LinuxPC market via totally automated processes, not unlike
those that Motorola and Apple used to revolutionize the manufacture
or cell phones and the Mac, respectively. With such highly
automated processes capable of producing incremental quantities of
one of a kind LinuxPCs, domestic production might well account for
a substantial portion of the total LinuxPC volume.What about Apple's role in the LinuxPC? First, Apple defines
the capabilities of the LinuxPC against the Wintel. We don't have
to build LinuxPCs to know how they will perform against Wintel
because Apple already has a LinuxPC, the cute little cube that
Steve Jobs introduced about a year ago that can also run Linux. All
other Apple products run Linux as well, so that gives us the needed
benchmark to see how a certain LinxuPC will perform. The major
difference between Apple products and LinuxPCs will be price and
that the LinuxPC will not be able to run OS X unless Apple provides
the enabling firmware. As pointed out, Apple is also the third leg
of the current PowerPC consortium and has the capability for highly
automated assembly, as evidenced by the fact that their Mac
assembly labor factor is so low that they don't even track it. As
such, Apple could play an invaluable role in furthering LinuxPC
production. If for no other reason, Apple should assist wherever
possible in furthering LinuxPC production because it is dependent
on PowerPC production. If Apple can use its knowledge and influence
to help convert annual production of about 25 million WinTel boxes
into LinuxPCs, then, together with its own use of roughly 5 million
PowerPCs, that 30 million piece annual volume would give the
PowerPC a fair chance at gaining further market share against the
roughly 95 million box market that WinTel boxes would then
have.What role can the Linux enthusiast play in bringing the
LinuxPC to market? Success typically starts out as a dream, and you
can help create a successful LinuxPC by responding to my dream.
Think positive, not about what is but what can be. Think back about
the defining moment for Linux. It certainly was not when Linus
Torvalds started his project. It was when people responded to his
dream of what Linux was to be. That enthusiasm was there long
before Linux became a practical product. So is dreaming also
required to assure that the PowerPC-powered LinuxPC becomes a
practical product. The defining moment of the PowerPC will have
arrived, when you and millions more like you, respond with
enthusiasm to this article and to the future availability of the
LinuxPC. The PowerPC will arrive when you create demand. When,
instead of buying a typical WinTel box for your Linux now, you wait
for a LinuxPC to become available.Dream with me on how your LinuxPC will be so neat with that
flat monitor you are lusting after. Dream with me of the ways the
ergonomics of a typical cubicle can be improved using a
wall-mounted flat monitor and a LinuxPC stuck on the wall with
Velcro, and soon our dreams will ring in the ears of companies like
Acer, Apple, IBM, Motorola, the companies that can make our dreams
come true.Henry Keultjes lives with
his wife Alicia and daughters Claire and Hannah in Mansfield, Ohio.
An enthusiastic user of multidimensional (MD) databases and an
architect and interface designer of MD applications for more than
twenty years, Henry is now more than knee-deep into a research
project to give Linux those same unique MD database capabilities by
natively integrating an MD database engine with Linux. His e-mail
address is keultjes@earthlink.net

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