Accommodating large patch sets in Linux is expected to
mean separating version 2.7 of the platform to accommodate these
changes, according to Andrew Morton, lead maintainer of the Linux
kernel for Open Source Development Labs (OSDL).
Commenting on the planned 2.7 release of the Linux kernel,
Morton said OSDL expects a few individuals with big patch sets will
want to include them in the kernel. But there will be no place to
put them.
At some point Linux founder Linus Torvalds will separate Version
2.7 to accommodate the changes, Morton said at the SDForum
open-source conference.
Discussing the requirements and planning process for Linux,
Morton said Linux is guided by standards such as Posix and IEEE.
"Either features will come at us or they won't," Morton said. He
cited clustering as a feature sought for Linux.
OSDL does not anticipate, for example, having to ever rewrite
the kernel, which would take 15 years, Morton said. Top
contributors to the Linux kernel have been Red Hat Software and
SuSE, he said. Also contributing have been IBM, Silicon Graphics,
Hewlett-Packard, and Intel.
OSDL has high standards for Linux, he said. The drivers that
OSDL sees for other operating systems are not up to Linux
standards, Morton said.
Asked about Sun Microsystems's plans to provide Solaris
technologies on an open source basis, Morton said this was a good
first step but that a community would then need to develop around
the platform after it becomes open source.
"Ask me in two years' time [about open source Solaris]. They
need to develop a community and learn how to interact," said
Morton.
Successful open-source projects have largely focused on
providing legacy infrastructure, which is 30-year-old technology,
Morton said. Open source has focused on software such as the
operating system, kernels, runtime libraries, and word processors,
Morton said.
"Leading-edge projects are the exception in the open-source
world," he said. If anyone is developing leading-edge technology,
"they should get their act together and form a company and take a
shot at getting rich with it", said Morton.
Even the Linux kernel itself is based on 30-year-old technology,
Morton said.
Morton panned SCO's lawsuit against IBM over Linux code issues.
"We have sufficient faith in the legal system because we are
expecting it all to fall over because it has no basis," Morton
said.
Kim Polese, chief executive of SpikeSource, described the
open-source movement as forever changing the IT market.
"There has been a lot of talk about doom and gloom when it comes
to IT," Polese said. "But in fact, I believe there is a profound
movement underway."
"I believe we are entering the most exciting decade for software
development that we have seen," with a cross-section of open-source
and enterprise IT representing the heart of the new era, Polese
said.
In the old marketplace, a top-down model had suppliers in
control of technologies and customers. But now, customers are
beginning to supply themselves and take charge. "That is why we are
seeing companies drop prices right and left," Polese said.
"Increasingly, open-source software is higher quality and is
starting to meet the capabilities of commercial software and in
some cases is overtaking commercial software," said Polese. "What
is different about this new marketplace is nobody rules."
No one supplier, not Microsoft or IBM, can dominate anymore,
Polese added. Companies that fight this change in the marketplace
will not survive, she said.
"I don't believe the old model is ever coming back," Polese
said.
The internet also has impacted technology providers, she said.
"Certainly no supplier would have allowed something like the
internet to happen. No supplier controls it," Polese said.
Also at the conference, Rob Gingell, who until recently served
as chief engineer at Sun Microsystems, said he has left the company
to serve as chief technology officer at Cassatt, which was formed
in September 2003 and is focused on grid computing
and service-oriented architecture technologies.
Gingell joins Cassatt chairman/chief executive Bill Coleman, who
was founding chief executive of BEA Systems and a former head of
Sun's professional services and development.
Paul Krill writes for InfoWorld