Linux: All systems are go

Linux, the freebie Unix operating system, is beginning to attract big- name software vendor support.

Netscape recently announced its support, then Oracle got in on the act, with Informix hot on its heels.

Less well known is that Software AG has supported Linux in the Adabas D relational database for over three years. Adaptec and Sun Microsystems support Linux, both having a place on the Linux board. Recently, Software AG made a further commitment to Linux when it announced DCom object technology support for Linux 2.

Why the sudden enthusiasm for an operating system originally designed as a university project? Industry analysts, such as Gartner Group and Datapro, agree that Linux is the fourth most common flavour of Unix. It has between five and 10 million users worldwide and has a share of around 14% in Unix operating systems.

The reasons behind its success depend on who you talk to. The consensus view is that a combination of low cost of ownership, speed and reliability makes for an operating system that has the potential to be a commercial success. Darrin Johnson, Adaptec?s programme manager, says that his engineers have been reverse engineering Linux?s network interface card products for years, but it is only recently that the company has actively supported Linux by making its product technical specifications available to Linux developers.

Asked to explain the sudden interest, Johnson says, ?The delays in Windows NT 5.0 have increased demand for a low-cost alternative. But more importantly, Linux is seen as a viable operating system.?

This is particularly attractive to those businesses that yearn for Unix?s famed stability combined with the comparatively low cost of running Intel-based boxes.

Oracle is concerned about retaining its pole position in the database market following the positive press surrounding Microsoft?s SQL Server 7.0.

It needs to arm itself to fend off Microsoft?s expected assault on its core database market. A good way to do that is to support an operating system which is free.

Nick Gregory, database marketing manager at Oracle UK says, ?The time is right. Linux is popular, open and offers a real low-cost alternative to NT.? Gregory says the database will be ported to Linux by the end of the year with the all- important applications suite going over ?sometime in 1999.?

But the real attraction to Oracle lies in the way the user community behaves. There is considerable momentum behind making Linux as good as it can get.

Although there is no direct support for the operating system in the same way as there are for commercial ones, patches and fixes are usually available from the developer community.

Apart from the major security patches one sees posted on the Internet, this sort of fast turnaround would not be possible for giants like Microsoft or Sun.

But there is an added attraction. The legal wording of the Linux licence prevents anyone getting control over the kernel. Even if someone came along with a pot of money and suggested that Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, quietly went away, it would be very difficult to bring the whole operating system under commercial control.

As Johnson says, ?The cat is out of the bag and it would be a devil of a job to get it back in.? Also, Torvalds is also said to be one of those rare people who is not primarily money-motivated, but is interested in advancing computer science.

However, the lack of commercial control and support poses problems for the buying community.

Tony Provoas, network operating manager at bespoke Internet developer TECC says, ?Although our developers are happy to use it, there have been problems. You can never be quite sure whether you?re working with a version that?s broken something that was working well in a previous version.?

This reflects Linux?s history and Provoas has little option but to accept the inconsistencies. All the same, he notes that hardware incompatibilities remain an issue.

Such problems are widely acknowledged as a limiting but fast diminishing factor as more hardware manufacturers make technical specifications available to Linux developers. Distributors such as Caldera, and Red Hat in particular, have taken Linux a lot further than providing operating system code wrapped up in a pretty box.

Red Hat has removed a lot of the pain associated with installing Linux by providing a simple installation procedure. Some commentators still say that Linux is tough to install compared with NT.

One user we spoke with who preferred not to be identified said, ?That?s daft. It?s like saying Netware is difficult. Of course it is, if you don?t know Netware, but if you need file and print you get a trained person to put it in. If you want a robust web server and you want it at low cost, you use Linux.?

Another criticism is that Microsoft compilers do not run on Linux. This means that although commercial desktop applications exist ? Caldera has had a Linux version of Netscape Navigator for a couple of years ? it is unlikely that Microsoft will ever port Office to Linux.

But this may not be relevant to the vast majority of potential users. Unix on the desktop is largely restricted to specialist applications such as engineering or development, so that criticism is largely meaningless. But it is a different matter on the server side. Johnson says, ?It is not a replacement for NT but we don?t accept there should ever be a dominant operating system. We?re putting it into our infrastructure where appropriate.?

Adding the weight of big companies will make the buying community take notice, not least because the cost of ownership story is compelling.

Despite the vagaries of the past, it is hard to avoid a product that is free and stable. You only have to look at the way Netscape changed the world by offering a free browser to realise that cost does matter, and matters a lot, to the user.

Today, the most common usage for Linux is amongst the Internet service provider (ISP) and development communities. When one considers the levels of reliability needed to ensure round-the-clock web serving operations, the fact that so many providers support Linux is testimony to the operating system?s robustness.

SearchUK ? the UK-specific Internet search engine ? was developed and runs on Linux. Struan Bartlett, who owns the NewsNow web site says, ?We use it as a web server operating system. Unlike NT, Linux rarely crashes. When it does, I have all the source code available, plus the bug reports of thousands of other users available to help me fix it or get a patch. Unlike NT, it is rare for any given system application to crash the whole operating system.?

Maintaining a web site under Linux has other benefits. Bartlett continues, ?Linux, like other Unix operating systems, is much easier to maintain remotely over a network than NT. We can install, remove and upgrade applications on our web servers without having to reboot the computers.?

This is not possible with many NT applications. But despite his obvious enthusiasm, Bartlett counsels caution. He accepts, as do many others, that the operating system needs to be picked carefully before it is installed. He recommends that potential users have a strong grounding in Unix before even thinking about it.

Linux is also attracting other interest. The Olivetti and Oracle Research Laboratory use it across a number of projects such as virtual network computing and also supports it in its work on object request brokers (Orbs). In the spirit of Linux, they recently offered a free Orb. Informix allows developers to obtain a free copy of its database and supports versions of Linux sold commercially by Caldera and Red Hat. Terry Lawlor, Informix?s UK marketing manager says: ?It was pressure from our users that got us to support it.?

So, with such a mixed picture, what can be concluded?

First, Linux enjoys considerable developer and ISP support and is starting to attract the serious attention of respected database vendors.

Second, it is faster than most of the commercially available Unixes and is more reliable than NT.

Third, there are doubts about whether it really does scale, but the support of major players such as Oracle and Informix means it will get serious attention and will allow those database vendors to offer an alternative robust platform to NT.

Fourth, its low cost of ownership as a web server environment is already proven. But before people go running out to find their nearest Red Hat or Caldera distributor, thinking they have a replacement for NT, a few words of caution are warranted.

Linux needs to shed its ?propeller head? image. Although its following is generally enthusiastic, it is in niche areas and does not have a breadth of applications support. That may well change in the near future, but not yet. Its real potential lies in Java support. If Linux can successfully support Java, then it takes on a new complexion. At that point, Internet applications developers will take more notice, simply because the operating system will be one more thing that is removed from the cost equation. Linux will offer demonstrable benefits over the available alternatives.

When that happens, Microsoft will have something of a problem because the operating system as defined by Linux will appear to be like domestic plumbing. Essential yet invisible, standard yet capable of custom bends, reliable but capable of a quick fix. But above all, it will be an irrelevancy because it just ?works? and will be close to true zero cost. Microsoft may be beaten at its own successful game.

But the big guns have a history of aggressive, and successful, marketing. Microsoft, Sun and others spend a lot of money winning and retaining the hearts and minds of their respective user communities. A rival operating system may be perceived as offering better results, but users need to be convinced.

In this context one only has to think about the demise of OS/2, the struggles at Apple and the difficulties at Novell to realise that good marketing wins wars. Linux, in the well-natured spirit of its enigmatic creator, has no marketing.

Linus Torvalds mystery man

Linus Torvalds is the archetypal computer geek. At Helsinki University, he developed Linux as a project to mimic Minix, a small Unix system developed by Andy Tannenbaum. He set out to create, in his own words, ?a better Minix than Minix?. That was in 1991. Today, Torvalds is in demand as a speaker, but prefers to shun publicity ? disliking the hordes of acolytes that crowd around him whenever he turns up at an event. He works for an obscure Silicon Valley outfit called Transmeta but few people are sure what he?s doing, and he refuses to answer questions about his work. Torvalds is not without a sense of humour. His ruminations over the creation of the Linux penguin logo have been seen by some as contentious, but they provide an insight into the other side of an open systems guru.