The Linux desktop community could learn something from the Firefox constituency. Mozilla took out an ostensibly dual-purpose ad in the New York Times yesterday. One reason was to thank everyone who contributed to the open source browser project and, as such, the ad included some 10,000 names, in small print of course. Mozilla’s other objective in placing the ad was to attract the browsing masses and, no, I don’t mean holiday shoppers. Prior to the ad, Firefox had garnered more than 11 million downloads, a noteworthy stride given that Microsoft already dominates the browser space, and the advertisement should only help expand the number of people experimenting with or using Firefox full time. The Linux desktop cadre, for its part, would do well to follow Mozilla’s efforts to attract consumers because those consumers, in turn, could ask IT for Linux desktops. I know, I know. You, Mr. or Mrs. Administrator, don’t simply let users dictate what desktop OS to use. Of course not, you’ve got more than their simple desires on your plate — like managing a corporate armada of PCs, notebooks and handhelds, along with several different versions of Windows and a handful of Macs, and making sure those are in working order. Even if consumers don’t understand, you know the management and cost values achieved by standardizing on one PC platform. Then again, since you could begin decreasing the number of Microsoft Office and Windows XP licenses you pay for, desktop Linux might actually be worth considering. With most of the pieces in place for an open source desktop, including Firefox, OpenOffice, GNOME, and Novell Linux Desktop 9, among others, now would be a good time for Linux desktop distributors to dig in their heels and begin trying to spread the message that, much like Firefox, desktop Linux is a possibility for consumers and not just the average anarchist geek. Winning over consumers alone might not drive Linux into the corporate desktop. But the thing is that most of those consumers spend their weekdays living double lives as what IT likes to call ‘end-users.’ Technology Industry