In Linux we trust?

Software Magazine, Sept, 1998 by Ann Harrison

The Linux Wish List

Stability, accountability, and trust. These are the concerns that Linux skeptics will continue to bring up every time an enthusiastic IT person wants to load a free OS onto their company's servers. Raymond argues that Linux will continue to evolve faster and further than proprietary software until it becomes one of the world's most trusted programs. But even proponents of OSS development say this will depend on the Linux community's ability to deftly manage its own growth. OSS consultant Marshall McKusick got laughs at the recent Usenix Unix conference when he joked that organizing the contributions of thousands of extremely smart people is another branch of animal husbandry.

NT users like McCormack of Intertech acknowledge that upstart operating systems like Linux are pushing the entire software industry forward. But his clients, such as GTE, which uses NT-based customer service and billing applications, will stick with the more established OS. "If they go down, they are not going to get their revenue," says McCormack. "I'm not sure that they would make the leap of faith to more of a grassroots effort right now."

Organizations whose lawyers want to make sure that they can sue someone if their applications crash are not likely to consider Linux vendors sufficiently deep-pocketed. Others will point out that Linux still needs a good volume manager and needs to scale up to run more than four processors reliably. These companies are bound to listen to Unix vendors like SCO's Foster, who notes that he doesn't see Linux working with companies like Compaq or Tandem for high-end clustering.

Yet, as Stallman of the Free Software Foundation notes, the promise of a free operating system is the ability to freely exchange ideas in a community based on voluntary service. It's like having an enthusiastic IT Peace Corps standing ready to solve the problems you've been paying your vendor thousands of dollars to resolve --if you can get them on the phone.

It's worth noting that a mere two weeks after their release, Linux developers simultaneously harnessed four Intel Xeon processors. Taking note, Intel sponsored a Bastille Day Linux discussion at the Santa Clara, Calif., convention center where Torvalds told the audience that the Linux community would take only a few weeks to get the Merced chip up and running for their OS.

Linux developers still need to build a GUI, develop enterprise tools, convince vendors to support products on Linux, and get training companies to teach the OS. But Young of Red Hat says Linux is in a marathon race, not a sprint. Indeed, the question in the minds of many true believers is not what Linux can do for you, but what can you do for Linux? Says Young, "There is a whole industry that has to be built and it's going to take us ten years to do that before we are in a position to be perceived as an acceptable alternative each and every time to a Microsoft solution."

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