Education Quote by Miguel de Icaza

The line reads like a status update, but it’s really a pitch: Linux on the desktop isn’t a lonely crusade anymore, it’s an ecosystem with momentum. De Icaza frames “existing customers” as proof of seriousness. Not users, not hobbyists, not the famously unruly “community” - customers. That single word is doing heavy cultural work, signaling a post-dotcom, enterprise-minded Linux story where legitimacy comes from procurement cycles and IT departments, not message boards.

The phrase “also considering Linux desktop migrations” is careful, almost lawyerly. “Considering” lowers the risk, implying the pipeline is full without promising conversions. It’s optimism with plausible deniability, the kind that plays well in boardrooms and at conferences where technical ambition has to be translated into budget language.

Then there’s the quiet power move of “we’re learning from them.” It sounds humble, but it flips the usual hierarchy: the vendor isn’t dictating the future; the customers are. Subtext: these migrations are complex, real-world undertakings - legacy apps, training, support contracts, political battles inside organizations. If we’re learning, we’re already in the room where those fights happen.

Placed in the era when Linux desktop dreams kept colliding with Windows lock-in and application gaps, the intent is strategic reassurance. De Icaza isn’t arguing Linux is morally superior; he’s normalizing it as a practical option, one being tested by institutions with something to lose. That’s how platforms shift: not via slogans, but via cautious, contagious experimentation.