SearchWin2000.com: The Linux love affair: Will users ever be able to commit?

[ Thanks to Jostein Berntsen for this link. ]

"...Linux, an open-source Unix cousin, has captured a lot attention from many of technology's most powerful juggernauts. The Linux operating system is used in systems ranging from personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Tivos (digital VCR-like machines) to IBM mainframes and supercomputers. Last year, IBM pledged to spend $1 billion on Linux and offers Linux on all of its servers. Big Blue along with Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Computer Associates is backing the non-profit Open Source Development Lab. The Lab is charged with helping to bring enterprise class enhancements to Linux and other open-source software.

Why then are IT shops taking a go-slow approach? Among the reservations cited in the TechTarget survey and follow-up interviews were: Expense of re-training end-users and IT staff, concerns about the newness and long-term viability of the Linux OS, lack of adequate vendor support, questions about security and stability and a dearth of compatible business software.

"Most of our critical applications run on Windows NT/2000 and not on Linux," said Tony Matos, manufacturing administrator with Lockheed Martin Corporation NE&SS-Marine Systems of Baltimore, Md., whose division is testing Linux as a Web server. "As more of our engineering applications become available on Linux, we will have to re-evaluate those critical processes," Matos added."

Complete Story

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