Brian Proffitt wrote:Long-term: if Dell scales back, other hardware vendors may do the same, shifting into severs or consumer devices, as their situations warrant. That will mean less opportunities for Linux to be on desktops (pre-loaded). Couple that with the new UEFI/Secure Boot requirements coming for Windows 8-certified machines, and the road to the Linux desktop becomes a lot harder.

This potential storm, more than the mobile storm, would have a broader impact on the Linux community at large, since it is the desktop that serves as both marquee and work platform for so many Linux developers.

The signs are there, but the storms are not. But all eyes should be on the horizon for what's coming next.