Red Hat's CEO Jim Whitehurst pointed out several issues with running Linux on the desktop, including financial concerns the company has as a Linux vendor. "First of all, I don't know how to make money on it," Whitehurst said. "Very few people are running a desktop that's mission-critical," so they do not want to pay the company for a desktop OS, he said.

There is some money in the Linux desktop, but not much, Whitehurst said. "We do have a desktop [version of Linux], but we typically sell it to big server customers who want some desktops." Red Hat offers its Red Hat Enterprise Desktop product, but Whitehurst added he was uncertain how relevant the desktop itself will be in five years, with the advent of concepts such as cloud-based and smartphone computing and VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure). "The concept of a desktop is kind of ridiculous in this day and age," said Whitehurst. "I'd rather think about skating to where the puck is gong to be than where it is now," he said, using a hockey analogy.

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