By: conz@cyber.com.au
Created: 1998-10-10
Modified: 1998-10-27
History tells us that the modern basis of the Internet was
the synthesis of the TCP/IP protocol suite with the Unix
operating system which was achieved in the University of
California at Berkeley in the very early 80's. This
combination produced an environment which made possible
open, distributed team-oriented software development. Groups
of very able programmers where now able to work in unison, to
deliver software with the functionality and quality which
had previously only have been achieved in the confines of large
software development organisations.
In effect, Linux, which began on and is still evolving
within this environment, is the first major operating system
to be created on the 'Net, and an example of just what can be
achieved through collaborative world-wide development. Linux
is both powerful and stable, yet runs on hardware which is
probably sitting on your desk right now. It has always been
popular with the technical crowd, simply because it works and
is free. Through the years, it has acquired an extensive set
of applications, networking services, a modern GUI and more.
Is free software any good?
('free' as in freedom)
The development basis of free software is very different
from that of commercial software. By definition, commercial
software vendors are primarily interested in your money. By
comparison, free software exists to fill a specific functional
requirement, which it most often does very well; simply,
efficiently, and with minimal code bloat. New versions of
commercial applications and systems are often developed with
most effort directed towards adding more extraneous features
(like talking paperclips) rather than eliminating bugs, as you
would expect from a model which requires users to be (for revenue
generation purposes) on the perpetual upgrade treadmill.
So who writes free software? Generally the same people who
write commercial software (mostly as individuals, after hours.)
They do it to solve a problem at hand, and then continue
development often to gain kudos from their peers.
Who uses Linux?
In short answer, almost every type of person and organisation.
While it is true to say that many years ago, Linux was the exclusive
preserve of the technical guys, nowadays, it is used by almost
all groups with IT needs. Since Linux is available in a form
which encourages you to make copies for your friends, it is
impossible to determine the current number of Linux systems in the
world. The latest data from the International Data Group
(Framingham, Mass.) indicates that approximately 6 million new
Linux systems were installed in 1997. Compare this to the 3.8
million new systems running MacOS for the same year. Consider also
that these figures are achieved with almost no advertising budget.
Why should you be interested in Linux?
The most likely method of introduction of Linux to most
non-technical organisations is through the role of web and
email server, in use externally (Internet) or internally
(intranet.) Linux is perfect for these roles. It has all
the communications and server systems needed to operate in
TCP/IP, Web and Internet Email and Workgroup environments,
has high quality (free) firewalls available, and can run
at very acceptable speeds on half the hardware NT requires
to perform these same tasks. Added to the fact that you
would need to spend thousands to get NT into the same feature
set for these roles, comes the analysis from a recent
Infoworld (US) column which indicated Linux could be
installed in half the time (and effort) as NT, by a
non-expert user.
The second excellent use for Linux is as a replacement
for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 desktops in organisations
which cannot afford 'yet another round' of upgrades. Linux
is considerably more robust (and secure) than either of
these platforms. It will work acceptably on 486 level hardware
with 12-16 Meg of RAM. Most importantly, it comes with
distributed windowing software (the X-Window System) which can
be combined with Windows-terminal servers such as Citrix Winframe,
the Microsoft-Citrix Hydra/Picasso combination, NTerprise from
Exodustech and many more. This will allow you to install and
run on one, heavy-duty NT server all the latest and greatest
resource-hungry desktop productivity apps your organisation
requires, and display them on your legacy PC hardware workstations,
each equipped with the zero licence cost Linux, in all their
splendour. This has some wonderful advantages: no hardware
upgrades; no need to purchase Windows95/98/NT licences for each
and every desktop; you need only install and upgrade your
productivity apps once (on the server) and not for each desktop;
your users will be happy that their applications can run at the
breakneck speed of the heavy-duty server; if mandated, your
users will not be able to tinker with the desktop OS (Linux) as
it can be made bulletproof against their fiddling.
Recent Linux Achievements
In the past few weeks, Linux has been awarded the
1997 Infoworld Network Operating System of the Year
Award, the Linux Community won the Infoworld Best Technical
Support Award for 1997, and at last week's Software
Development '98 trade show in San Francisco, (the most
important event of its kind) Linux won the much sought-after
JOLT Productivity award.
'Titanic' affirmation of capability
As a final example of the its power and flexibility, Linux
was used to render the fantastic Computer Generated Imagery
on the James Cameron film 'Titanic', the most expensive
(and potentially the highest grossing) film of all time. This
was done by Cameron's own CGI company, Digital Domain, who
chose Linux over workstation platforms like SGI and NT.
How do you get Linux?
Nowadays, numerous distributors have packaged Linux in what
are known as 'distributions' These can be purchased through
IT bookshops and retail software outlets, in multi CD-ROM
format, which is much easier to get started with, than
down-loading everything via the Internet. Prices should be
around the $30-$60 mark. Alternatively, if you know someone
who has a freely distributable Linux CD-ROM, borrow theirs.
Due to the fact that Linux is of minimal or no cost, you have
nothing to loose but to try it.
For more information, check out http://www.linux.org/