Linux, the free operating system, has gone from an intriguing experiment to a mainstream technology in corporate data centers, helped by the backing of major technology companies like IBM, Intel, and HP, which sponsored industry consortiums to promote its adoption. Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, with the system's penguin symbol, will assist the Linux Foundation. Those same companies have decided that the time has come to consolidate their collaborative support into a new group, the Linux Foundation, which is being announced today. And the mission of the new organization is help Linux, the leading example of the open-source model of software development, to compete more effectively against Microsoft, the world's largest software company.
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Member since:2005-07-26
Member since:2006-04-21
The war for the server is over. The war for the desktop is about to begin.
What planet is this on? Last I checked Windows is now (by revenue and server shipments, according to IDC) the dominant server platform, bumping Unix from the top revenue spot in '05. Linux is in 3rd place behind Windows and commercial Unix.
Linux is great and all, but just because you want something to be true doesn't mean it is.
Well, if you go by official revenue, Linux is behind Windows (and Unix). But everyone acknowledges that Linux is the most commonly installed *Nix by an order of magnitude.
But that's not the issue. Replacing every copy of Windows on a server is the wrong battle - the right battle was making Linux a serious, practical, acknowledged alternative. Whatever the politics and underhandedness of Microsoft's deal with Novell over Linux, the fact that they made one of any kind shows that THAT battle has been won.
As much contempt as I have for Windows, it would probably be a mistake for Linux to wipe the floor with it completely - all the other server contenders are Unix-like, so having just one architecture is probably bad for the dominant one (as the dominance of Windows and IE has been proven to be bad for them - there's no incentive to improve).
Edited 2007-01-23 04:27
Member since:
2005-12-18
The war for the server is over. The war for the desktop is about to begin.
What planet is this on? Last I checked Windows is now (by revenue and server shipments, according to IDC) the dominant server platform, bumping Unix from the top revenue spot in '05. Linux is in 3rd place behind Windows and commercial Unix.
Linux is great and all, but just because you want something to be true doesn't mean it is.