| Linux from the trenches: A frank analysis of Linux as it moves toward critical mass |
(Sep. 25, 2003)
Tom Adelstein, longtime Linux advocate and consultant has spent the last year working closely with state, local, and federal government open source software initiatives. Tom launched Government Forge, a Web site devoted to state and local governments interested in Linux and open source which is newly part of the Open Source Software Institute. In November 2002, Tom initiated the legislation for Open Source Software in Texas which resulted in Senate Bill 1579 filed by State Senator John Carona.
DesktopLinux.com recently caught up with Tom to find out what he has learned while spearheading initiatives to facilitate Linux adoption. Tom shares the grass roots efforts that have offered him an insider's view of what is propelling Linux toward critical mass and the desktop. He shares his view of Linux "from the trenches."
Q: You recently launched Government Forge, a web site that is dedicated to open source advocacy and also provides software for state and local government IT departments. Can you talk about the project, its reception and the demand you have seen for Linux in the government sector?
People in various governments have written to me looking for a portal where they can contribute and exchange software with others. I noticed such a portal in the Linux K12 project and also one within the Texas Department of Information Resources. So, I got this inspiration to build one for everybody. It's simply a web site where people can meet and upload software or give us a link.
In the beginning, I received thousands of emails about the site. People mentioned it on discussion lists and on news sites around the globe. I felt very encouraged.
Then a funny thing happened. People who said they wanted to share software held back. It didn't matter if they were in Washington State, Maine or Florida. I didn't receive a single snippet of code.
So, I went hunting and began finding projects and posting them to the site. As I built links, other web sites would link to the links and a network began to form. I followed the links and either emailed or called the contacts on those websites. That's how you and I met. I wrote you and you responded. So, similarly to our first call, people were very friendly, open and willing to share information and contacts.
As I began to compile information, I discovered Linux everywhere in government. Firms have won government bids consistently using Linux and open source software. But, the government agencies didn't know they were using Linux. In the majority of cases, government vendors won bids and because the vendor hosted the eGovernment sites, the only people who knew what was under the covers were the vendor.
In agencies and various departments, Linux existed like it did in the early days. Some administrators would install samba and sendmail and not tell anyone. They would also put Apache on servers and no one knew.
Even though we've seen many government sanctions for Linux, the grass roots people still have a significant fear of someone finding out what they're doing. Managers still have a bias for Microsoft and they don't want Linux around.
Q: Project Leopard was just named as the centerpiece of OSSI's State and Municipal Government Programs. How do the two programs interoperate?
When I realized that Government Forge wasn't going to become the software hub I envisioned, I started Leopard. If the government people weren't going to follow through on their promise to upload software applications to share, then I'd build some and make them freely available.
After announcing Leopard, Joe Barr wrote an article about us and within a day of his article appearing on Newsforge, the floodgates opened. I even read a ranking that we were the 101st most popular sites on the web within two weeks of that article's posting. Friends began asking me to write friends and I wound up meeting John Weathersby at the Open Source Software Institute.
John already had a track record doing projects for federal agencies, schools and municipalities. He had funding from the major outfits like HP and Intel. He had his non-profit status in place and had significant visibility. I asked him to put Government Forge and Leopard under his umbrella and he accepted. Shortly after that, we discovered some government projects that needed Leopard. We also found some top-notch developers within OSSI who wanted to help and so Leopard and Government Forge became affiliates. In the near future, we'll become part of OSSI.
Q: Recently, Linux has moved beyond early adopters and is now being deployed more widely in business and in government. What are you seeing as signs of mainstream acceptance and adoption in government?
We have major support from management universally. We're still fighting the same people we fought with when we were just a grass roots movement. People in the middle don't want to see Linux replace Microsoft.
Within the last two weeks, I was asked to help lead a conversion to OpenOffice.org at a major University. The top people at the college said, "convert over from Microsoft Office to Open Office. That's it. Do it and don't argue." This wasn't some recommendation. It also wasn't a migration from Windows or Mac to Linux either. It was just a simple move to OpenOffice.org.
Within a week, I recommended that we postpone the migration. We didn't get out of the planning stage before we realized a vocal group of staff members could become very unhappy. Word spread through the grapevine and I saw obvious signs of resistance within the obvious signs of support. I just didn't want to see a holy war take place in the hallowed halls.
I recommended that instead of going forward with the migration, that we educate users and build support internally first. The team agreed and as word got out that we postponed the migration, many people began asking for copies of OpenOffice.org. They wanted to change over on their own.
This last experience seems to reflect what I have seen over a broad spectrum of business and government during the last year. I even witnessed a similar issue inside IBM. Linux has helped IBM increase sales and market share. Yet, a vocal group of people lashes out when anyone tries to get the Linux desktop accepted as just an alternative. An argument exists within IBM Global Services as to whether they offer Linux on the desktop to their customers.
I spoke to a local chapter of Independent Computer Consultants last month. The meeting planner asked me to speak about consulting opportunities for Linux in Government. I went to the meeting expecting to introduce the members to Linux. Instead, everyone one in the room not only knew Linux well, they were using it. I found that surprising. A year ago, I wouldn't have seen that kind of acceptance.
So, I see Linux widely accepted and I see pockets of resistance. I don't understand the resistance because these folks aren't die-hard fanatics. In many cases, they've spent hours waiting for someone in technical support to rebuild their computers after a deadly virus wiped out their files. They just don't understand this new software thing and they're evidently afraid of change.
Q: You were involved with Texas' effort to pass legislation to promote open source software. Do you feel that is necessary? What is the status of legislative efforts in Texas? In the US? Can you give us an update?
I absolutely feel a need for legislation exists. The procurement processes in government works against the use of public domain and open source software. I've heard rhetoric such as "the products should compete on their own merit." People say that such legislation would tilt the playing field. But, that's disinformation. Provisions do not exist for open source software to enter the competitive bidding process in IT procurement. Without someone amending the laws for procurement, open source will never be considered for cost savings.
The Texas legislation went through a metamorphosis. We started out wanting to draw attention to the horrible record of project management in the state. We saw lots of places to cut costs and save the budget. We didn't want to make people change over to Linux or open source. In fact, we had the support of the Department of Information Resources though they aren't permitted to lobby.
We started out attempting to amend the procurement process and ended up with just a request to study the feasibility of using open source. Even so, the opposition to any legislation was vicious. Microsoft did not lobby directly but they had front groups do it for them. The speaker from the BSA didn't want the words open source mentioned. They wound up letting everyone see what they were really like.
The bill made it to committee but we ran out of time and did not receive a second reading on the floor of the senate. We also had the sessions disrupted by the democrats walking out of the state. Still, we got most of what we wanted without changing the procurement process.
State of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) has endorsed open source. Feasibility studies have moved forward. Methods of accounting for software licenses will change. The Project Management Office of the State of Texas has identified the horrible wastes in agencies throughout the state and is conducting audits. The people now know Microsoft and its paid advocates.
Next official session, open source advocates will be well prepared from the beginning of the legislative process. We all feel that the procurement process still needs to change. So, we'll either revive the original bill or draft a new one. We'll also petition the House of Representatives and the Senate from the beginning so we can get the bills to the floor earlier in the session. We had the backing of the best senator in the state and so we started just in the Senate. We can be more effective hitting the legislature from both sides of the capital.
Q: As the original founder of Bynari Inc. you are familiar with Linux's surge into the the data center. Can you tell us about that phenomenon? How do you see the trend for the Linux desktop in relationship to the server market?
I haven't worked for Bynari in over a year, but I am intimately familiar with Linux in the data center.
Linux exists in large data centers because IBM facilitated a port to the mainframe. First, Linux ran in an instance of VM and behaved just like Linux does on any other platform. That gave IBM mainframes a suite of Internet services and utilities. Then, IBM made Linux work on what we call an Integrated Facility for Linux or an IFL. The IFL does not depend on VM, Linux runs on the bare metal, so to say.
In the data center, Linux began to take on traditional roles such as a host for Apache, Sendmail, Samba, etc. But Linux on the mainframe became a serious workhorse. Suddenly, people could consolidate many smaller servers onto a single instance of Linux on a mainframe. The traditional mainframe facilities of safe backups and restores, high uptimes or zero downtimes, worked beautifully.
People began to port applications from older software to Linux. Linux allowed IBM customers to cut the costs of expensive mainframe software by porting to less expensive Linux software. Additionally, the PC's that acted as terminals to the mainframe began running applications converted from older mainframe software to web enabled software.
The applications running on mainframes and big servers like the RS-6000 and the AS/400 didn't need expensive MS Windows software. The PC's could use Linux and not have to incur the expense of license fees. So, instead of buying new PC's and paying for upgrades, many companies just installed Linux and ran the mainframe applications from Linux terminals.
In industry and government, Linux on PC's makes sense because as a terminal, Linux can boot from a network card and doesn't require memory and hard drives. However, if people want to use their terminal to do other tasks, Linux works great for email, word processing, web browsing and running a spreadsheet.
The main PC makers have held back on releasing Linux desktops only because they're afraid of offending Microsoft. Sun and Novell have no such ties. In fact, they wouldn't mind landing a serious blow to Microsoft as turn about is fair play. So, Novell and Sun have Linux desktops. IBM, HP, Dell and Gateway have Microsoft.
The client-server relationship boosts the Linux desktop. As people become familiar with Linux in their work environment, it will become more commonplace. With the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese making PC's, Linux will start showing up on desktops, home entertainment centers and laptops. That's the tie in.
-- more --
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.
Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.
Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.
Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.
Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.
Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.
Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.
Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.
|
|
|
|
|
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of
Service and Privacy Policy.
Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008
Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is
prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
news feed