FairfaxIT: Linux heading for the corporate desktop

[ Thanks to Phillip Brown for this link. ]

"Linux applications seem to be proliferating on the rebel operating system but are they ready for prime-time business? With more than 6 million free downloads so far, Sun's Star Office is the closest rival on Linux to Microsoft's Office on Windows. But server application vendors are rushing to the platform with database packages, email and accounting systems, plus a host of others.

Why is Linux attracting so much interest when it has possibly far fewer features than any of its commercial rivals? For customers, there are no server licence fees or client access licensing a huge reduction in up-front costs. For independent software vendors, there's the avoidance of direct competition from operating system and database vendors their former partners which are increasingly becoming their biggest rivals.

IBM is busy partnering up with these independent software companies, training their sales channels to exploit the Linux opportunity. One of these is the Computer Associates subsidiary AccPac. This move by IBM is a challenge to Microsoft, which recently acquired CA's competitor Great Plains Software."

Complete Story

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