Backbytes - Any port in a storm

I plan to standardise the WongCorp systems on the Linux operating system as soon as possible. In the last few weeks I have held discussions with major software vendors, all of whom are busy telling their marketing communications departments that they are porting their software to the Linux platform, thanks to the interest Linux has generated among analysts.

I was told by the representative of a large software company that the Wong organisation is typical of the profile of Linux early adopters. 'That is why,' he went on, 'our organisation plans to complete the first stage of its Linux roll-out before the third quarter.'

'Are you sure?' asked Gary.

'I refer of course to the third quarter of 2004, when we will have time to pursue a project of this importance. At this point its management priority is amber minus.'

'What else is amber minus?' asked Gary.

'At the moment,' he said, 'The development of an IP protocol for use in interplanetary travel, and a laptop battery charged by your brain's alpha waves that you wear as an amusing hat.'

'What a coincidence,' I said, surprised. 'They were the other two items on my agenda.'

'You can be sure that of those three, Linux is in the top two,' he added.

'However, please feel free before then to adopt whatever Linux technology you can download. I believe there are some excellent cover disks available, although I personally would not use them for my mission critical systems.'

Of course, this is exactly what people used to say about Warp OS/2, and I personally correspond with the members of the worldwide user group, both of whom are still very satisfied.

WORK in porting the WongCorp systems to Linux has already begun. It's a pleasure to meet members of the Linux community in person, many of whom have been a part of the computer industry since the psychedelic era of the late 1960s. Gary doesn't seem to share my faith in co-operative development, and has put a lock on the management fridge.

'It's amazing,' said a programmer, who I think is called Chet. 'Last week these developers were living in a world of their own, blind to the realities of the 1990s. Some of them had lost touch with reality and were stuck in the past. And now here we are, building mission-critical applications in Linux.'

'Truly a paradigm shift,' said Gary.

'Have you seen my hat by the way?' Chet added. 'I've only got five minutes of battery life left.'

itdept@wong.compulink.co.uk.