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<TITLE>OpenWorld: Support for Linux broadening, panel says - SunWorld - November 1998</TITLE>
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OpenWorld: Support for Linux broadening, panel says
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Torvalds pits Linux against NT
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<CENTER><EM>By James Niccolai</EM></CENTER>
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<strong><font size="-1" face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans-serif">November 1998</font></strong>
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<strong>San Francisco</strong> (November 11, 1998) -- With goliaths like Intel Corp. and Oracle Corp.
throwing their weight behind Linux, the open source Unix-like operating
system has gathered enough steam that it's here to stay, a panel of
industry officials and the software's creator, Linus Torvalds, said in a
panel discussion here today.
<P>
Intel next year plans to launch a broad developer-support program aimed at
extending the capabilities of the Linux operating system for Intel
platforms, said Ken Shand, Linux program manager with Intel's Enterprise
Server Group.
<P>
"We're getting ready in 1999 for a large program to support this Linux
community -- hopefully, not just one or two points but in a broad way,"
Shand said during a panel discussion that took place at Oracle's OpenWorld
conference this afternoon.
<P>
The Intel program will get underway by seeking out developers who are
experts in various aspects of Linux development, including SMP (symmetric
multiprocessing) technology, and provide them with Intel systems for
testing and other technical support, Shand said.
<P>
Netscape Communications Corp. plans to offer Linux versions of all of its
server software products, said John Paul, senior vice president of
Netscape's Server Products Division.
<P>
Meanwhile, Oracle will release versions of Oracle 8.5 for Linux early next
year, and is currently testing a Linux version of Oracle Applications for
future release, said Allen Miner, vice president of strategic alliances
with Oracle's Intel Technologies Division.
<P>
"Basically, what Oracle wants to do with Linux is help it dominate the
world," Miner said.
<P>
With the kind of industry blessing on display here today, Oracle might get its
wish.
<P>
Momentum has been gathering behind so-called open source software -- also
known as freeware -- ever since Netscape went public with its Communicator
source code early this year. Linux is among the better known open source
products available today.
<P>
Proponents say the open source model is compelling because it allows
literally thousands of developers to make improvements to a software
product, the best of which can be incorporated back into the original
version.
<P>
But critics -- not least among them large software vendors like Microsoft
Corp. -- portray the freeware community as a semi-organized rabble of
hobbyists, and question whether such a group can be trusted to act as
caretakers for software used to run mission-critical applications.
<P>
"I would turn the question around, and ask, 'If it's a hobby for us and a
job for you, then why are you doing such a shoddy job?'" retorted Torvalds,
who developed Linux while a university student.
<P>
Despite not being developed by a single, commercial venture, the evolution
of Linux has been successful and the platform has proved to be
"self-governing," Torvalds said.
<P>
Internet service providers (ISPs) and several large corporations are
already deploying Linux on a broad scale, though many businesses are
unwilling to admit they use Linux because of the stigma surrounding open
source software, the panelists said. "That's one of my pet peeves; there [are]
a lot of companies that use Linux and they won't come out of the closet
yet," Torvalds said.
<P>
Boeing Co., Nortel Networks Inc., and telecommunications provider BellSouth
Corp. are among the larger companies that have adopted Linux, Oracle's Miner
said. The addition of Intel, Oracle, and Netscape to the roster of names
supporting the software will help grow that user list, Intel's Shand said.
<P>
One reason Linux will be popular is because the operating system provides
businesses with an alternative platform to Windows NT, which is rapidly
gobbling up the market for mid-size Intel-based servers, Netscape's Paul
said.
<P>
"All companies like to have an alternative to turn to and I think customers
want an alternative to NT," he said.
<P>
And that is a notion that fits in with Torvalds's goals, too.
<P>
"I'm no longer looking at the Unix market when I'm looking for competition,
I'm more focused on NT and Windows 98," Torvalds said. Other Unix vendors
have "given up" on the desktop, he added.
<P>
Linux's popularity won't be limited to the U.S., and the platform is
growing into a world-class product with distributors in both Europe and
Asia as well as in the U.S., Torvalds said.
<P>
Tokyo-based Pacific HiTech is developing a Japanese-language version of the
operating system for its local market, while the German arm of Oakland,
CA-based SuSE Inc. is a key distributor in Europe, Torvalds said.
The U.S. market is served by Caldera Systems Inc. and Red Hat Software Inc.
-- which recently secured an equity investment from Intel Corp., he said.
<P>
Because the copyright for the Linux kernel is owned by many people,
companies don't have to worry about any one organization co-opting the
software, Torvalds said. "One hundred people own parts of the Linux
copyright, which means that even if I wanted to turn to the 'dark side' I
couldn't," he said, drawing laughter from the crowded hall.
<P>
Linux doesn't support the large, multiprocessor configurations that
commercial Unix versions do, and is "somewhere in the middle of the pack"
in terms of capabilities compared to other flavors of Unix, Torvalds said.
<P>
Intel's Shand offered a more sobering view. The operating system needs "a
lot of other features" before it is ready to take on Unix in the
enterprise, including better fault tolerance and systems management
capabilities, he said.
<P>
Linux's multiprocessor support is unlikely to go beyond 8- and 16-way
configurations for the next five years, but future scalability will be
derived by deploying those 8- and 16-way systems in clustered
configurations, Torvalds said.
<P>
The Linux creator might not be the person who will lead the charge for
scalability, however. Torvalds developed Linux originally for his personal
use at home, he said, and he remains more interested in writing software
for use by "the normal person."
<P>
Currently employed by Transmeta Corp., a secretive Silicon valley startup
company, Torvalds has turned down many lucrative employment offers from Red
Hat, he said.
<P>
"If I went to Red Hat, that would put an implicit stamp of approval on them
and I don't want to do that," he said, although he praised the company for
the quality of its product.
<P>
If the panel's view of Linux is accurate, Torvalds's job prospects
don't look so bad for the future.
<P>
"The momentum behind Linux is so great, I can't see what would stop this
continuing to snowball," Oracle's Miner said.
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<A NAME="resources"><HR></A>
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<STRONG>Resources</STRONG>
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="http://www.sunworld.com/swol-11-1998/swol-11-oracle-linux.html">"Oracle outlines plans for Linux database," November 1998 <em>SunWorld</em> news story</a> http://www.sunworld.com/swol-11-1998/swol-11-oracle-linux.html
<LI><A HREF="http://www.sunworld.com/swol-11-1998/swol-11-linuxnt.html">"Microsoft: Linux is a threat to NT," November 1998 <em>SunWorld</em> news story</a> http://www.sunworld.com/swol-11-1998/swol-11-linuxnt.html
<LI><A HREF="http://www.sunworld.com/swol-08-1998/swol-08-torvalds.html">"Linus on Linux," August 1998 <EM>SunWorld</EM> interview with Linux Torvalds</a> http://www.sunworld.com/swol-08-1998/swol-08-torvalds.html
<LI><A HREF="http://www.sunworld.com/swol-08-1998/swol-08-linuxvnt.html">"Linux vs. NT," August 1998 <EM>SunWorld</EM> feature story</a> http://www.sunworld.com/swol-08-1998/swol-08-linuxvnt.html
<LI><A HREF="http://www.sunworld.com/swol-08-1998/swol-08-linuxsparc.html">"Sparking up Linux," August 1998 <EM>SunWorld</EM> feature story</a> http://www.sunworld.com/swol-08-1998/swol-08-linuxsparc.html
<LI><A HREF="http://www.sunworld.com/swol-09-1998/swol-09-linuxsparc2.html">"Sparking up Linux, Part 2," August 1998 <EM>SunWorld</EM> feature story</a> http://www.sunworld.com/swol-09-1998/swol-09-linuxsparc2.html
<LI><A HREF="http://www.sunworld.com/swol-01-1998/swol-01-linux.html">"Linux lines up for the enterprise," January 1998 <EM>SunWorld</EM> feature story</a> http://www.sunworld.com/swol-01-1998/swol-01-linux.html
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