Free linux os

Culture clash ahead as Linux goes corporate - some trade-offs will be necessary for free OS to become mainstream - Product Information - Column

Supporters must make some sacrifices if free OS is to become contender in corporate marketplace

It may not be too tongue-in-cheek to say that Linux has attracted a cowboy culture -- strong individualists and mavericks who eschew the conservative, disciplined corporate view and who avoid anything that smacks of Microsoft. When you have the freedom of the range, the busy freeways and city streets of corporate IT are a distant concern.

But there are signs that the cowboys are about to meet the cities. As the Linux phenomenon continues, this likeable and capable free operating system is gaining a following among corporate IT professionals. Changes are in the wind as major industry players begin porting their wares.

Oracle has released a native Linux version of Oracle 8. Sybase is on board. Informix is there. Adabas has been there for some time, and Corel is porting its office suite. Less well-known products such as Applixware and Star Office are competing for mind-share.

Some of these ports are political -- an attempt to counter Microsoft's dominance. But many are simply requests from an ever-growing base of professional administrators who want name-brand, corporately supported products to run on what is widely recognized as one of the fastest, most stable operating systems available for low-cost Intel boxes. This has obviously grabbed the attention of Intel and Netscape, who have now invested in Red Hat, one of the chief distributors of Linux.

The question is, where does Linux go from here? It is already seen as a serious complement, and even alternative, to Windows NT and Novell Netware in the server market, but will it ever succeed on the desktop?

The answer to this is murky. If you're an old-time Unix user, the X Window interfaces available on Linux may seem acceptable. Unix has never been able to get its act together on a common desktop interface and Linux offers not one but several X Window interfaces, not to mention add-on products such as Motif and OpenGL. While this absence of a standard desktop look and feel is one of the things many old-timers like about Linux, it is also the main obstacle to porting Windows and Mac applications. And porting is the key to widespread success for Linux on the desktop.

If familiar apps are there, with a consistent GUI interface, corporate users may have incentive to use Linux as a workstation. No amount of telling them how good the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is will convince them to ditch PhotoShop.

Another question facing the Linux community is how it will deal with the new investments by Netscape and Intel in Red Hat. Red Hat does not own Linux (no one does) and there are other distributions that have equal respect.

The Caldera distribution, for instance, is considered one of the best for business purposes due to its conservative, safe approach to kernel stability and its historical ties to Novell Netware.

Many veterans prefer Debian, Slackware, or the German distribution, S.u.S.E., which comes on five CD-ROMs and is considered the most innovative distribution, if not the best.

The thought of Red Hat becoming the Microsoft of the Linux world is anathema to some, yet this may be what sells Linux to the corporate world. The Linux community has never faced this kind of issue before. Given the fractious nature of the open-software community, there may be much contention ahead.

So what things can we expect from Linux in the next year? First, a consistent GUI interface. It may come down to fisticuffs between the popular KDE interface, which includes some licensing restrictions, or Gnome, which has no restrictions.

S.u.S.E. and Caldera are shipping with KDE. Red Hat has opposed the KDE licensing restrictions from Day 1 and is instead pushing Gnome. If Red Hat begins to assume dominance for the corporate world, its decisions will have widespread influence.

Second, expect to see better and more integrated system administration tools.

The current potpourri of scattered configuration files is just not up to corporate standards.

Look for products like the popular Linuxconf package to become part of the standard installation of every distribution.

Third, look for every distribution to standardize on RPM (the Red Hat Package Manager) for simpler installs, updates and upgrades.

Sorry, Tex, we know you like to roll your own tarballs, but it's time for Linux to start wearing a tie to work.

Gene Wilburn is ITS manager at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. He can be reached at genew@rom.on.ca