In Linux we trust?

Software Magazine, Sept, 1998 by Ann Harrison

Mike Cowpland, CEO of Corel, points out that the balkanization of Unix meant that no one platform was worth developing for, with the result that most Unix applications are legacy programs. But the popularity of Linux at universities, where it is the dominant OS, means that a new generation of programmers could eventually develop for Linux and Unix. "Linux is what Unix maybe should have been, but it just split into ten flavors," says Cowpland.

Linux supporters say Unix never made it on the desktop because it was expensive and ran on proprietary hardware. Once the desktop is lost, they say, it's difficult to get enough mindshare to make the OS grow. Now that Linux is going after the desktop, observers say they see Unix vendors uniting around Linux. "We're seeing Linux become the standard Unix," says Larry Augustin, president of VA Research Inc., a Mountain View, Calif., company that can barely keep up with demand for their PCs with Linux preinstalled. Yet Augustin notes that the Linux desktop strategy is making many Unix vendors nervous. He believes that SCO is the most vulnerable because, unlike the other Unix vendors, they are a pure-play software company and would be hardest hit if they had to give up their proprietary standard. "It's very difficult to see where they have a future," says Augustin.

But Michael Foster, director of Unix systems marketing for SCO, says Linux is good for his company because it's creating a resurgence in Unix system development. "I'm excited," he says. "It was a lot harder two years ago to market Unix."

Even so, Foster insists that none of SCO's customers would consider switching to an OS that he charges has no commercial infrastructure. SCO, on the other hand, provides "security and safety, support and service, and anti-churn and accountability," says Foster. What's more, he alleges that Linux, like Unix, has already fragmented (see sidebar, "Is Linux Too Fragmented?" pg. 38).

While Sun has already joined Linux International, Raymond believes that they and other Unix vendors will not be able to compete with Linux because they have a smaller number of developers. Some users believe the rise of Java-based apps makes Linux more attractive because Enterprise Java Beans could be used as middleware in NT and Linux environments. But Raymond says licensing problems have soured the relationship between Sun and the Linux community, which sees Java as having the same bug and maintenance problems as other closed source products.

Brian Croll, director of marketing for Sun's Solaris product, says he sees Linux as more of a partner than a competitor because it sparked the development community and it's easy to port between the two platforms. He says that if the operating system is well-defined, users don't need the source code to build interesting applications. "We see ourselves as sort of a big brother to Linux in the sense that as applications are developed, they will want to move to the point where they will want to deploy it in a stable fashion," says Croll.