'The world is really changing': Why Linux on desktop is taking a sudden leap forward (TechRepublic)

TechRepublic interviewed Lenovo's general manager and executive director of the Workstation & Client AI Group Rob Herman about the company's plans to begin optionally pre-loading enterprise versions of the Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux distributions across its P Series ThinkPad and ThinkStation products, putting Linux on parity with Microsoft Windows for those product lines. "'Around the workstation and what I would call the performance computing world, the world is really changing [...] We're starting to see a lot more use of data science and AI workloads on performance client products like workstations, [and] we're seeing software development need the ability for more customization and flexibility.' This is where Linux and the power of open source come into the picture, says Herman. This is particularly crucial in artificial intelligence data science and content creation applications, areas Lenovo is eager to tap. 'Overall, we see content creators looking for an edge, looking for a new way, a new platform to develop on,' says Herman. 'The number of Linux users is increasing year on year, so from a market standpoint, we see it's the right time to do it.'"