he absolute flood of letters that stormed into
our E-mail in-boxes commenting on the recent cover story,
"Linux legitimacy rallies NT skeptics" (Aug. 17), was
revealing, if not particularly startling.By Jeremiah Caron
he absolute flood of letters that stormed into
our E-mail in-boxes commenting on the recent cover story,
"Linux legitimacy rallies NT skeptics" (Aug. 17), was
revealing, if not particularly startling.
These letters ranged from those with a beer-addled "Woohoo! Linux ROCKS!" approach to academic dissertations on technological history and the overall relevance of platform independence and freedom in general.
But there was consistency in that they were nearly all positive, with very few that disagreed with our decision to run the article, or to its premise that Linux is, in fact, making waves in the corporate setting.
This proves one--and only one--thing: The keen interest in the useability of this unique software platform is something that should not be ignored.
In fact, we've actually come to expect intense responses any time we write about Linux, Unix, Apple Computer Inc., and--to a somewhat lesser extent--Novell NetWare and IBM OS/2.
The reasons behind Linux's relatively sudden stardom are obscure.
Many of the letters attributed it to technical superiority, some simply heralded it as freely accessible, and many others concentrated on the fact that Linux is not a Microsoft product. And there were even a smattering of notes that directly refuted those tenets.
The enthusiasm comes from somewhere deeper. We run a lot of articles about Microsoft Windows NT, and necessarily so, because more than 75 percent of our readers tell us that they own it and plan to buy more of it. But never, ever do we get any input resembling the admiration and joy that comes through in the Linux-driven notes.
Seeing this dynamic, The Santa Cruz Operation Inc. and Sun Microsystems, eager to tap into any thin vein of anti-Microsoft sentiment they can find, are both attempting to generate grass-roots enthusiasm for their Unix versions by offering the software free to noncommercial users. The idea is simple: Create a culture of acceptance among those in universities who are about to enter the corporate world and with the all-important applications developers.
Apple, of course, has been doing something like that forever, only it starts by seeding the kiddies in kindergarten.
The hot stuff among the up-and-coming set is not currently Microsoft branded: It's Java programming and the Linux platform, for example. What does this mean for the future of corporate distributed applications? Will legions of technical experts simply modify their minds to accommodate the corporate standards?
Or will it be the other way around?