| Linux from the trenches: A frank analysis of Linux as it moves toward critical mass |
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Q: Open source advocate Bruce Perens has declared that the "ingredients are ready" for Desktop Linux. Sun and SuSE have released products targeting the enterprise desktop. Red Hat has not been as willing to talk about the desktop, but is more focused on the server. From your perspective, what is the status of the desktop today based on deployments you are seeing happen in government and in schools?
Well, Red Hat became uncoy today and announced their desktop. Bruce isn't operating as a prophet, he's as close to the market as anyone. We're probably seeing similar situations. It doesn't require a big leap to see Linux desktop adoption when one of your clients rolls 28,000 Linux desktops over a weekend. I'm working with a program that's part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The funding on that program provides for only Linux desktops going into school districts in economically challenged areas in the South.
As far as the status of Linux on the desktop right now, it's definitely there. The main issues I heard from Leigh Day at Red Hat was one of hardware drivers. She said that when Linux has all the hardware drivers that OS X has, then Linux will be ready.
I don't quite buy that but then I'm not the spokesperson for Red Hat either. I used to be a serious user of Microsoft Project, Photoshop, Act and some scanning software. Funny, before I used MS Project, I used Project WorkBench and before that Harvard Project. I'm fine with just Linux. I don't have Microsoft running anywhere.
My wife has OS X running on her Mac. I installed Fink and a bunch of familiar applications on her OS X. She's happy with OpenOffice.org running on Apple's X. In fact, she asked me what Internet Explorer was doing on the application bar and I removed it for her. I had to explain that it was bundled with OS X.
I don't think of Linux as a replacement for Windows like I did five years ago. I think of Linux as a unique, modern. and fun desktop operating system. Once the major distributions forget about Microsoft as a baseline, I believe we'll see more and more people using and loving Linux.
I also see history repeating itself. Remember when IBM had 96% of the PC Hardware market. Don't be surprised if you see Sun and some new market entries taking over from the current market leaders.
Q: Cost seems to be the overwhelming reason for enterprises of governments to adopt Linux. Recently, though, security has leapfrogged over this as the compelling reason to switch to open source. Just yesterday the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) announced that Microsoft's monopoly was a threat to US national security. What are the chief reasons to move to open source software?
Coincidentally, just yesterday morning, I listened to someone I consider one of the finest academicians in the country tell me why we should use open source software. He said that we need compliance with open standards during a time of war. He also said that to guarantee open standards we need to be able to audit the software. He feels threatened by the lack of connectivity of databases on the state and local government level. He sees the need to harvest documents and data from applications in the court system. He believes we need to up the quality of the computer sciences and provide more human capital for the nation. He sees a massive need for security and protection of the data on our computer systems. I agree.
Q: Commercial Linux vendors do seem to be battling for the Linux desktop at the moment. We have multiple products that are all based on the same freely available generic Linux kernel with, in some cases, value added features that set them apart from the rest of the pack. Can you summarize the main players and give us a brief overview of who is offering what to consumers?
I don't see much separation for consumers within the highly branded commercial Linux distributions right now. Of the lesser known, if you asked me which distribution to install for my aunt, I'd look toward Lycoris. If she was the youngest of my aunts, I might recommend Red Hat since I have had too many installation problems with SuSE.
The Lycoris interactive tutorials impress me. Lycoris also has a lead in device drivers and I like their font handling. I also think that consumers look for more digital camera support and WiFi connectivity. I see consumers as having the least amount of interest in how to even configure their computers to hook up to an ISP. So, given that, I have to go with Lycoris for the uninitiated.
I have a high regard for what Lindows.com and Xandros have done. I wouldn't hesitate to use either depending on the situation. I look at Xandros as a professional desktop and Lindows as a product to bundle for the consumer.
I think when Scott McNealy said that Linux is a "great environment for the hobbyist but not for corporate IT shops"; he was not heard or read in the proper context. I think he was referring to the current distributions. When you look at most of the well-known Linux desktop distributions, they don't have the polish of OS X or Windows XP. I expect Sun's Java Desktop System (Mad Hatter) to turn out as the most polished.
Q: Usability of the desktop is the primary concern for businesses deploying any desktop computing system -- Linux or otherwise. Many vendors are emulating the typical "desktop" found in commercial distributions from Apple and Microsoft. Why is there a perception that Linux is "difficult"? Is it any more difficult than other operating systems?
For businesses, I see Linux as equal to any desktop. The perception of Linux being more difficult has to do with its UNIX roots. When Mac debuted, the concept of "ease of use" won them a great market share. Microsoft copied the "look and feel", "ease of use" and coined the term "user-friendly." At the time, AT&T, IBM, Apple, and Microsoft all attempted to grab the desktop market.
UNIX never made its way into the consumer desktop market because of the break-up of AT&T. Microsoft was busy 'Windowizing' UNIX and called it XENIX. If you ever saw that product, it looked like Windows 3.1. When UNIX appeared vulnerable, Microsoft sold XENIX to the Santa Cruz Operation with the understanding it would become a server-only system. Microsoft's party line was that XENIX didn't fit the model of a "user-friendly" operating system. Microsoft then went after Apple and IBM and essentially won the desktop market.
Development of UNIX as a desktop ceased for a period of time after the AT&T breakup. The UNIX companies seemed content to market the client-server concept and use Windows as an interface. No one really expected Microsoft to go after the server end as aggressively as they did.
Linux inherited much of the market perception of UNIX. As the World Wide Web emerged and Internet adoption became an obsession, Linux provided a much-needed product to fill in gaps left out by the server companies. Linux wound up with the reputation as a command line operating system.
In business, Linux usability now equals any competitor. In fact, you will see graphics designers in corporate environments using Linux applications on Macintosh computers.
Q: Open source is a relatively new concept in the computing paradigm. We have heard the mantra of both the open source community that claims greater reliability, interoperability and security. The proprietary software camp claims the very same benefits. What is the reality?
You don't have to look much father than the Apple web site to get an answer. Apple went from a proprietary operating system to an open source UNIX system for greater reliability, interoperability, and security. I recently noticed that they stated that "Apple uses time tested open source software; the developer community examines the system's security measures, illuminates areas of weakness, discusses and finally implements improvements to close security holes. Through this cooperation, which is inherent in open software development, Apple and the open software community can provide a more secure system and quickly respond to security issues. Apple works closely with security watchdog organizations CERT and FIRST."
Microsoft occupies the only other slot using the proprietary model. They have the distinction of being called a national security risk. Just today a virus disrupted computer systems at the State Department, including the database for checking every visa applicant for terrorist or criminal history. The failure left the government unable to issue visas worldwide for nine hours. The virus, which struck Tuesday, crippled the department's Consular Lookout and Support System, which contains more than 15 million records from the FBI, the State Department and immigration, drug enforcement and intelligence agencies. Among the names are those of at least 78,000 terror suspects.
According to MacAfee and Symantec over 57,000 viruses exist which threaten Microsoft's desktop. When it comes to hackers ability to breach operating systems Mi2g looked at attacks on government computers and found that Windows boxes were the target 51.4 percent of the time, compared to 14.3 percent for Linux. Mi2g also noted that if Linux users had applied recommended patches consistently, the number would have been much lower.
Q: In your estimation, what is the demand for Linux today? How has that demand changed over the past 6 months? What do you anticipate happening over the next 6 months?
Demand for Linux exists primarily in the technology sector. By that, I mean among "knowledge workers." The man on the street has no awareness of Linux. I've surveyed people in supermarkets, drug stores, in airports, in lines at restaurants, and theatres and at the US House of Representatives. I estimate than less than 2% of the population knows the term Linux.
Anyone who believes Linux has general branding lives in a dream world. By general standards, even Red Hat has little recognition among stockbrokers. They have heard the name, but they rarely know what Red Hat does.
Among technology people, Linux has a high level of recognition. Over the last six months, Linux demand among technology professionals has increased 100% because of the cumulative marketing of IBM and the relaxation of constraints by the DOD and Homeland security.
In the next six months, Linux will reach 255,000 new government projects at the state and local level. People will see Linux because it will be used to retrofit the nation's database infrastructure. HP, IBM, Oracle and Novell will attempt to win government contracts to implement an ISO and ANSI standard for metadata. This standard uses a new database vocabulary and a secure, encrypted XML data harvesting methodology.
In January or February, a Federally mandated initiative to implement Linux in schools would begin a pilot phase. If that pilot succeeds, it will become a five-year project to implement Linux thought the nation. Economically challenged schools will receive used and refurbished computers from the government.
I believe the next six months will see a heightened awareness of Linux even at the consumer level. For sure, I can see leaders of the community discovering Linux as they're applying for funds to secure the nation's data system.
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