Hunting Linux at CES

by Doc Searls
on January 5, 2008

So what's new with Linux at CES this year? That's our question. If you have the answers, let's have 'em. Because we'll be there on a Linux Hunt, just like we are every year. The difference this time is that we'd like to make this a Team Thing.

It's never easy to find great Linux stories at CES, even though LInux is everywhere. One big reason is because CES is one of the world's largest trade shows, with thousands of events and booths spread across millions of square feet in convention halls, exhibition spaces and hotel rooms up and down and away from The Strip in Las Vegas — which is already The Most Distracting Place On Earth. The other big reason is that Linux is now so commonly used that it stands out like 2x4s in a housing development. That is, you know it's there, but you usually can't see it. And Linux is not by nature commercial or promotional; so no one company or organization is out there spreding publicity about all the Linux you'll find at the show. Instead Linux is simply useful. While that tends to hide Linux behind its uses, it also means covering Linux can bring us to an endless variety of interesting subjects.

But some companies do bother to say that they use it. Many more than normal, in fact. A search for Linux at the CES site yields 79 results, which is about 4x the usual number. With duplicates eliminated, here's our starter list, in alphabetical order:

That's not all of them on CES's list. Between weather problems here in Santa Barbara, and difficulty getting CESWeb.org to give me search results (or to bring up pages in search results), I've given up on trying to complete the search before driving to Las Vegas tomorrow (Saturday).

Meanwhile, however, we can complete the list, and add much more to it, by submitting comments below, or by going to our CES wiki and taking it from there. (I just turned the above list from HTML to the MediaWiki equivalent, so that's a start. Later... Did quite a bit of updating on the wiki. It's taking a good shape.)

I can't cover all of these, of course. So let's do it together and see what we can come up with.

My fantasy is that we can put together some docent tours of different halls or routes between target booths, events and get-togethers. Or... make a suggestion. The possibilities are wide open.

We've got a couple days to tweak this list, plan things out and get started. Let's have fun.