“One barrier to the acceptance of Linux in the enterprise may be
falling.
Corporate users are used to graphical user interfaces they get
with Windows and the Macintosh. Now they can get a similar look and
feel for Linux, thanks to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) of
Boston. Linux is the open source code operating system long popular
at universities but now gaining ground in small and medium
businesses and even a toehold in large enterprises.
Wednesday, The Free Software announced release of Gnome 1.0, an
enterprise GUI running atop Linux.
Gnome is the FSF’s desktop project, designed to provide an
alternative to Microsoft Corp.’s Windows environments.
The project began 18 months ago and involved 250 worldwide
developers working in their spare time, said FSF officials.
‘It grew out of user frustration with using proprietary
software,’ said Miguel de Icaza, designer of Gnome, at LinuxWorld
Expo, held here.
The Gnome interface, introduced at the event, looked like a
combination of Windows and the Macintosh operating system. This was
deliberate, said de Icaza.
‘Users can make it look like they want,’ he said. ‘You can
tailor it or use the prepackaged configuration.’
The FSF, in general, promotes the development of free software,
particularly for the GNU operating system a Unix like operating
system that consists entirely of freeware. “