NetSlaves.com: What Linux Must Do To Survive

“It would be nice if Linux survived, if only so a company
developing on it would come along and hire me. However, I know
Linux, I know Windows, and I know there is a huge, swinging gap
between the two. While no amount of Microsoft marketing can kill an
operating system that is, essentially, free, it can stop this thing
from being the juggernaut so many people wish to will into
existence.”

“Microsoft knows what I know: Linux is not a threat. It’s an
annoyance. It’s a thorn. It is not, really, a threat. Not now. With
enough marketing and cool, new developer toys, Microsoft can sway
companies just like they did before with ASP, COM, InterDev and
every other new initiative they have started in the last five
years. NET will invariably be a success. Bob enough pretty, shiny
toys before the corporations and soon the companies will forget all
about the hobby operating system that is such a hassle, just like
they forgot all about CORBA and Novell. The old die-hards will stay
with their precious BSD kernel but the jobs, the experience, the
training, and the toys won’t be there. The big push will eventually
evaporate in the name of futility and the two-second attention span
of the computer industry.”

“Right now, Linux is the flavor of the week. It is a hot and hip
topic. It is cool. Servers sprout like weeds in spring. Yet, for
Linux to survive, and to survive well, it must become competitive
in a very real, very business sense. It must appeal to the
corporations. Companies can no longer peddle half-assed technical
support and a sneer to go to the newsgroups. Patches cannot be
distributed willy-nilly on the net. Linux must become a business
product.”

“It is time for people to rise above their hacker communities
and approach it with the singular, pure aim of making money. No
more revolutions. No more conquest of Rome.”

Complete
Story