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July 28, 2008

Glacier Computer, an industrial computer vendor, is now offering two Linux distributions as new options on its Everest PCs. The company also announced it is offering some customers a choice of IGEL Linux or Fedora Linux distributions.

Everest's PC line targets customers in warehouses, in the freight segment, distribution services and rugged field service markets. The Everest model is an all-in-one industrial computer deployed into harsh environments containing extremes of temperature, vibration, shock and moisture.

Everest's most common installations are on forklifts, dock doors, manufacturing floors, and construction vehicles. Everest industrial computers feature a color display and touchscreen.

Everest PC users now have operating system options that include Linux, Windows XP Professional and Embedded XP.

In mid-2007, Glacier officials first noticed a potential market for Linux when a sales agent for IGEL Technology approached them with software-related questions about running the Linux distribution on forklifts.

IGEL didn't sell customizations for that purpose on its thin client and desktop hardware line.

Installing a computer on a fork lift truck is actually more commonplace than most people would think, according to John Geary, vice president of sales and marketing for Glacier Computers. IGEL was looking for a stable system to run its version of Linux. Other Glacier customers needed different features and were willing to consider Linux.

"We were getting a smattering of calls for supporting a Linux distribution without a lot of bells and whistles," Geary said.

That demand from customers for other options actually led Glacier to consider Fedora Linux as one of the company's pre-installed options.

Geary admits that Glacier has a fair amount of marketing to do in selling the Linux options. But the company is sure that those efforts will pay off. "We see sales growth coming with the option for Linux," he says.

The problem Glacier faces with offering Linux is that many people don't know much about IGEL Linux in particular or the extent of Linux use in general in computers utilized today in various industries.

"I'd bet that about fifty percent of our customers using the Windows platform simply run emulation software and browsers to access inventory," Geary says. So Glacier is adjusting its marketing strategy to get out the word about the addition of Linux to its rugged computer line. Those plans include retooling its Web site to prominently display the Linux options.

Browsers available include Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer, which runs on the Linux platform under Wine.

Adding Linux to the company's operating system offerings expands the flexibility and application potential of the Everest line of industrial computers, according to Don Berch, sales manager for Glacier Computer. "Linux can be installed once with fewer upgrade needs, and the installation and management is completed in one action. Overall software costs are also lower versus Windows, as most people usually expect."

IGEL isn't in the industrial PC business, so this is a good marriage, according to Jeff Kalberg, thin client solutions product manager for Computer Products Corp., which resells IGEL hardware.

From the outset, IGEL Linux is pretty much its own distribution, according to Kalberg. It's not built from Debian, SUSE, Ubuntu or any of the other established Linux versions. The company built its operating system out from the Linux kernel. This specialized Linux OS uses a compression technology IGEL developed to compress a complete Linux OS into a tiny flash memory container. The company released its first commercial thin client ten years ago.

"A need among industrial users exists for an industrialized device running Linux. My company and others haven't had a solution for that. We tried to do it but finally deferred it to Glacier," says Kalberg.

IGEL developed a read-only flash Linux file system. The combination of these core technologies produced a new Linux-based embedded OS. Among other uses, the product runs TV Internet set-top boxes, OEM thin clients, network appliances, Linux/Unix workstations, and embedded computer systems for industrial and residential applications.

This ability to embed the operating system eliminates the need for hard disk drives. That requirement can better serve some industrial users. The feature sets available in IGEL Linux differs from those in the Fedora distribution.

One major difference is that Fedora does not compress. Another is that Fedora is not a commercial distribution, which may limit the level of support for some industrial applications. Adding two inherently different Linux distributions brings more flexibility to users of rugged computers.

The specific requirements asked from customers for Linux options in those industrial PCs show significant interest that could lead to greater Linux adoption in this vertical market, according to Glacier officials.

Source: H.P.N.

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