Linux: The back door is open

Joachim Feise (jfeise@ICS.uci.edu)
Fri, 11 Sep 1998 21:23:45 -0700

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Excepts:
[...]
To date, Linux largely has been the favorite of
Internet service providers, some Web sites and
a lot of academic institutions. Lately, it's
sprouting around some large organizations,
such as The Boeing Co., Cisco Systems Inc.
and Northern Telecom Inc. And it's gaining
support from mainstream developers, most
notably Informix Corp., Oracle Corp. and the
Web's first software darling, Netscape
Communications Corp.
[...]
The developers who are molding and enhancing
Linux do so not because they want to make
money on the operating system. Instead, they
want to make money selling information, digital
transport and hosting, advice, merchandise or
something else on the Net. Or they want to
model the atmosphere. Or what have you.
Regardless, they want a reliable operating
system at the lowest possible cost.

Second, usage of Linux will prove whether or not
it is indeed more reliable and flexible than
Windows -- and Windows NT in particular,
whenever the fifth version finally comes out.
Because of Microsoft, many people just assume
computers crash all the time. But that doesn't
actually have to be so. As Linux's namesake and
1998 Net poster boy Linus Torvalds notes:
"Computers are really reliable things that do
everything you want them to do and nothing
else."

Finally, there's more to the "free" aspect of Linux
than just price. What also will drive usage
among information systems (IS) managers is
that the code itself is free. If something needs to
be fixed, a decent programmer can get inside it,
fix it and share the results. With Windows, the
engine comes without manuals and the hood is
welded shut. Therein lies the back door through
which Linux can get to corporate IS
departments. What gets Linux in the door may
be financial exigency -- there's never enough
money to start up a reliable Web site, for
instance. But what will keep it around is superior
performance, which can be proven by tracking
how often Linux servers have to be rebooted vs.
Windows NT servers.

And if Windows NT proves to be a train wreck,
as its continuing delays suggest is possible,
then Linux's rise to prominence could prove
exquisitely timed: Get Linux onto servers; wait
for a decent interface and better office
applications to develop; then, move onto the
desktop. All the while, keep emphasizing that
support will come from the thousands of Linux
developers -- all who understand its inner
workings and who don't work for a single
monolithic software company.

That's a model that indeed could make life
uneasy for Microsoft, which can't ever afford to
open Windows to outside developers to tweak
or fix. If it ever tried to give Windows away for
free, it would have a hard time explaining to an
antitrust judge why it used to charge for it.

Lest you think that such "open" computing can't
possibly win, just look back at the primal lesson
of desktop computing of the '80s: Open up your
architecture to all comers and win -- or keep it
closed, like the Macintosh, and lose.

-JoeF

-- I admit that X is the second worst windowing system in the world, but all the others I've used are tied for first. --------------31CEA9E1FDA653AD0DFBA9D1 Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1; name="0,3443,2136711,00.html" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline; filename="0,3443,2136711,00.html" Content-Base: "http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn _rc_display/0,3443,2136711,00.html"

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Linux: The back door is open<= /b>

By Tom Steinert-Threlkeld, = Inter@ctive Week Online = =
September 11, 1998 9:27 AM PT

Have an opinion on this opinion? Make your comment part of this page!
=

=
It's sometimes called the Internet's operating system. No, I'm not tal= king about the Java OS from Sun Microsystems Inc. and IBM Corp.
Rather, it's Linux, the Unix clone that has suddenly -- or so it seems= -- become the programmer's choice to unseat Windows as the operating sy= stem of choice on servers and desktops.
To date, Linux largely has been the favorite of Internet service provi= ders, some Web sites and a lot of academic institutions. Lately, it's spr= outing around some large organizations, such as The Boeing Co., Cisco Sys= tems Inc. and Northern Telecom Inc. And it's gaining support from mainstr= eam developers, most notably Informix Corp., Oracle Corp. and the Web's f= irst software darling, Netscape Communications Corp.
Yet, the idea that Linux could become a serious alternative to Windows= still seems absurd, a dream born of desperation. How could any responsib= le company think about putting an operating system with no unified market= ing or support organization to work in "mission-critical" situations? Aft= er all, Apple Computer Inc., Novell Inc. and Sun all seem unable to stop = Microsoft Corp. from dominating the desktop and, eventually, the server. = How could a piece of free software, like Linux, ever hope to turn the tid= e?
By changing the underlying economics of operating systems, in time-hon= ored Net fashion.
How did Netscape get its Navigator product to become the dominant brow= ser on the Web almost overnight? By allowing it to be downloaded for free= =2E
How did Microsoft take away market share? By giving away its Internet = Explorer browser for free, after Netscape began to sell Navigator.
Now, the tables could turn again, in the very heart of computing. It's= hard to imagine a collaborative effort of professional developers succee= ding at giving away an operating system, but that doesn't mean it can't b= e done.
First, the Netscape and Microsoft browser instances show that quality = software can be given away -- if there is an ulterior motive for doing so= =2E In Netscape's case, it was to lay the foundation for a larger Net sof= tware business that could be built on having its "net-top OS" on every sc= reen. For Microsoft, it was to undo Netscape -- and retrofit its OS for t= he Net era.
The developers who are molding and enhancing Linux do so not because t= hey want to make money on the operating system. Instead, they want to mak= e money selling information, digital transport and hosting, advice, merch= andise or something else on the Net. Or they want to model the atmosphere= =2E Or what have you. Regardless, they want a reliable operating system a= t the lowest possible cost.
Second, usage of Linux will prove whether or not it is indeed more rel= iable and flexible than Windows -- and Windows NT in particular, whenever= the fifth version finally comes out. Because of Microsoft, many people j= ust assume computers crash all the time. But that doesn't actually have t= o be so. As Linux's namesake and 1998 Net poster boy Linus Torvalds notes= : "Computers are really reliable things that do everything you want them = to do and nothing else."
Finally, there's more to the "free" aspect of Linux than just price. W= hat also will drive usage among information systems (IS) managers is that= the code itself is free. If something needs to be fixed, a decent progra= mmer can get inside it, fix it and share the results. With Windows, the e= ngine comes without manuals and the hood is welded shut. Therein lies the back door through which Linux can get to corporate IS de= partments. What gets Linux in the door may be financial exigency -- there= 's never enough money to start up a reliable Web site, for instance. But = what will keep it around is superior performance, which can be proven by = tracking how often Linux servers have to be rebooted vs. Windows NT serve= rs.
And if Windows NT proves to be a train wreck, as its continuing delays= suggest is possible, then Linux's rise to prominence could prove exquisi= tely timed: Get Linux onto servers; wait for a decent interface and bette= r office applications to develop; then, move onto the desktop. All the wh= ile, keep emphasizing that support will come from the thousands of Linux = developers -- all who understand its inner workings and who don't work fo= r a single monolithic software company.
That's a model that indeed could make life uneasy for Microsoft, which= can't ever afford to open Windows to outside developers to tweak or fix.= If it ever tried to give Windows away for free, it would have a hard tim= e explaining to an antitrust judge why it used to charge for it.
Lest you think that such "open" computing can't possibly win, just loo= k back at the primal lesson of desktop computing of the '80s: Open up you= r architecture to all comers and win -- or keep it closed, like the Macin= tosh, and lose.
=

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