Linux flexes its muscles

Electronics Times, Sept 4, 2000

Last month's LinuxWorld show in San Jose set out three target markets for the upstart OS. Paul Swart reports

Two hundred exhibitors and 20,000 visitors made up the third LinuxWorld Expo, which revealed that the Linux operating system (OS) is now an industry in its own right. But any assessment of its ambitions had to be based on signs of commercial progress in three sectors - servers, the desktop and embedded solutions.

By far the strongest of these is servers. This was clear from the presence of major players pushing Linux-based kit - including IBM, Compaq Computer, Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard (HP) - alongside specialists such as VA Linux and Penguin Computing. Linux servers offer an alternative to proprietary network solutions on a software platform that is scalable and reliable. They took 25% of the market in 1999, and this year that share could top 30%, heading towards 40 or 45% by 2003- 04.

One factor promoting server growth should be Intel's 64bit Itanium processor, launching soon. Several exhibitors had prototype Itanium Linux servers, while Intel took one of the larger stands to promote the processor.

A further boost could then come from servers powered by AMD's in- development 64bit processor. Germany's SuSE Linux is working to port Linux to AMD's new x86-64 architecture, the specifications for which emerged three weeks ago.

By contrast, Linux's desktop penetration remains almost immeasurably small against Microsoft's Windows. Few PC users are willing to learn the Unix-based Linux, yet such knowledge is required to install even the simplest application.

At the same time, a lack of compatible software is hampering desktop growth. There are few Linux equivalents for Windows programmes, such as Adobe's PhotoShop or Intuit's QuickBooks. Again, most PC users depend so heavily on these types of application that dumping Windows is not an option. That may change as Linux vendors combine OS proven reliability with more user-friendly graphical user interfaces and applications.

Some applications that will help Linux gain desktop ground could be based on the state-of-the-art OpenGL 3D graphics technology from SGI (formerly Silicon Graphics). SGI, which is making a major effort in Linux with a line of servers and workstations, has released the OpenGL source code for use by any developer.

But perhaps the biggest desktop boost has come from IBM, Sun Microsystems, and HP, with the joint announcement that they will support the Gnome user interface in their Unix systems. Gnome is the desktop adopted by leading Linux distributors Red Hat, TurboLinux and SuSE.

Like Windows, everything on a Gnome desktop is represented by clickable icons, buttons and pull-down menus. But one `cool' feature of Gnome is the availability of four desktops: users can run different applications on each one.

The three-way deal means any Gnome-based application will run on any AIX, Solaris or HP/UX server or workstation, as well as any Linux machine. As a result, developers can write applications just once for any Gnome machine.

Marco Boerries, creator of the StarOffice business software suite that Sun is distributing freely, said: "This unifies the existing Unix world and the Linux world." Sun says it will release the source codes for all StarOffice so that developers can create powerful applications for Linux and Unix.

A second important debut at LinuxWorld was a desktop from Eazel, a company founded by Andy Hertzfeld and members of the original Apple Macintosh OS team. It aims to make Linux as easy to use as a Mac. The company showed a pre-beta version with an interface that sat on top of the Gnome desktop. Playing around on the Eazel desktop without any assistance or instruction made it clear that most Windows users would have little problem transferring. Eazel should be available for free download availability from January.

Embedded solutions are Linux's third, and rather unexpected, growth market. Half a dozen companies, including Lineo and LinuxWorks, used the show to promote developer tools for applications including set-top boxes and Internet appliances.

IBM, meanwhile, had prototypes of a Linux-based wristwatch that offered calendar, e-mail and other functions. IBM says the project demonstrates just how small the Linux OS can be scaled while remaining highly functional.

Lineo is to provide Windows NT and 2000 developers with a toolkit to develop embedded Linux solutions from the Windows platform. Its Embedix V-kit provides Windows developers with a virtual Linux environment boasting all the related tools.

IBM used the show to underscore further its support for Linux in other ways. Among those, it unveiled a deal with SuSE to ship single-CD versions of SuSE Linux 7.0 with every IBM Netfinity server in Europe. The agreement also enables IBM to ship Netfinity servers preloaded or bundled with SuSE Linux.

It's all good stuff for Linux, but somehow those niche worries persist.

Copyright: United Business Media Ltd.