Business Week discovers “The Linux Uprising”
Feb 21, 2003 — by LinuxDevices Staff — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 5 viewsBusiness Week's March 3 issue features nine articles focused on The Linux Uprising. The articles discuss the history of Linux, why Linux is gaining in popularity, the open source philosophy, the difficulty of money selling “free” software, Microsoft's reactions to the Linux “threat,” and the overall impact Linux is having throughout a wide range of companies, organizations, and industries, . . . and more.
The series, which begins here, includes . . .
What makes open source software so powerful?
“For one thing, it taps into the true motivation of programmers in a way that corporations often don't. “Programmers are like artists,” says open-source software consultant Bruce Perens. They like to showcase their best stuff for their peers. In open source, they can. But at most corporations, their best work is hidden behind locked and guarded doors.”
Desktop Linux making inroads in the enterprise:
“For example, Xandros, a privately held New York-based seller of Linux desktop software, has deployed its operating system at several Hilton hotels — a move the hotelier hopes will save it millions of dollars. If Hilton likes what it sees, Linux could end up on the desktops of as many as 70,000 employees worldwide. Once CEOs realize how much they can save with Linux, “it's a natural step to deploy it more widely,” says Frederick Berenstein, co-chair of Xandros' parent company, Linux Global Partners.”
'Killer apps' on the way:
“OpenMFG can charge less, in part, because it builds its applications on top of two pieces of customizable open-source software that are available free on the Web — the Linux operating system and the PostGresSQL database. The only parts of its product that OpenMFG has built from scratch — the proprietary components — are the manufacturing planning modules, financial packages, and other top-level business functions.”
Big names are backing Linux:
” The Linux suppliers could also get a big push from an ongoing effort to move open-source desktop applications from the geekstream to the mainstream, something that's happening particularly quickly overseas, where foreign governments have grown weary of air-mailing bags of cash to Bill Gates. With that kind of wind at their backs, no wonder the Big Four are cruising on the Linux highway.”
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