Linux has come a long way since its creator Linus Torvalds unveiled
the open source operating system 10 years ago. But is it ready for
serious business applications?
While the public momentum of Linux has only really built up speed
in the past few years, the OS has been residing in the labs of
universities and corporate research departments since its inception
a decade ago.
In the commercial world, following the acquisition of the Unix arm
of Santa Cruz Operation by Linux stalwart Caldera, IBM's decision
to develop Linux across all its hardware platforms has propelled
the technology back into the limelight.
Figures produced by analyst organisation IDC show 27% of servers
shipped last year were Linux-based. Some industry insiders believe
the operating system has the potential to rival the might of
Microsoft Windows while PC companies have been considering their
Linux strategies for some time.
Dell started shipping the Linux operating system on its desktop
computers a year ago. At the beginning of August it announced it
was withdrawing Linux from the machines citing a "lack of demand
for Linux on PCs".
Neil Ward-Dutton, principal analyst at industry watcher Ovum is
unsurprised by the computer supplier's actions. "Dell's decision is
significant because Linux on the desktop is completely pointless,"
he said.
Ward-Dutton points out that Windows has such a hold in this arena
that there would be little point changing operating systems.
He noted that there would have to be a very compelling reason for a
business to discard Windows in favour of Linux on desktop PCs.
Ward-Dutton also points out that Linux would have to become the
predominant desktop OS for information and data exchange with
partners and suppliers to work.
Dan Kusnetsky, vice president of system software at analyst
organisation IDC has a similar opinion. Speaking to
Computer
Weekly earlier this month he said, "The most popular personal
productivity applications are not available for Linux even though
other packages are available which basically do the same thing. A
typical business person is not likely to be interested in Linux on
their desktop."
There are several companies that describe themselves as pure Linux
companies, including Caldera, Red Hat, SuSe and VA Linux. However,
Ward-Dutton believes such suppliers are not necessarily doing all
they could within the industry to promote the use of the open
source operating system.
But he said IBM has had a prolific Linux strategy. It has Linux on
all of its servers and partnerships with most Linux companies. It
teamed up with SCO, prior to its acquisition by Caldera, some years
ago to work on Project Monterey, initially the development of a
64-bit Unix-based OS based on IBM's AIX and SCO's UnixWare. The
result however, was AIX 5L - an operating system the company
claimed as "the next generation in Unix operating systems".
Linux is extremely important to IBM at the moment. "It's [Linux] a
strategic direction that we've taken," explained Andy Hoiles, IBM's
Linux manager for the Northern region. "We've invested in excess of
$1 billion in Linux initiatives across the world. Linux is critical
to us."
It could take some time before Linux is commonplace across the IT
infrastructure. But Ovum's Ward-Dutton believes the open source
operating system is about to make big waves in the embedded mobile
application space.
"Embedded Linux is a big thing at the moment because people are
looking to make mobile devices smarter," he said. "Linux enables
you to get mobile applications up and running quite quickly."
Linux vendor Red Hat signed an agreement with mobile software
developer 3G Lab at the end of July to do just this. The pair will
work together to design and develop what they are describing as the
"first open source real time operating system" for GPRS and 3G
mobile devices. It will be based on Red Hat's open source embedded
real time operating system eCos.
"If mobile operators and mobile phone manufacturers are going to be
able to customise these devices to user needs, there needs to be
much more openness, flexibility and modularity in the software
device," commented Steve Ives, chief operating officer of 3G Lab.
The vision of the Linux vendors and the position the OS is destined
for, at least in the short term, should become clearer this week
when Caldera hosts its first annual conference and exhibition,
Forum 2001. The company purchased the server and services business
of SCO in May, and this will be the first time the company will
have the opportunity to detail its future open source strategy.