“Linux 2.4 hit the streets last week in a positive tidal wave of
understatement. Now with a similar degree of underhype Oracle has
announced that its products will support the new operating systems
with immediate effect. The speed of the support announcement
clearly indicates that Linux is serious news, but is it yet a
serious business contender?”
“Big companies need to be certain that any business critical
system that they run can be efficiently managed and will receive
the support that they both expect and require. “24 x7” applications
are now de rigeur; they are not an option. It has been a
combination of the performance and scalability questions,
application availability coupled with the perception of a “lack of
support” that has thus far limited the impact of Linux in the
commercial world. But now though it looks as if all of these
factors may be moving forward. The operating system release
addresses the performance questions whilst Oracle is simply the
first amongst the major software vendors to announce support for
its applications in the new environment. On the issue of support,
recent announcements of serious Linux support services by the likes
of IBM have given the platform a gigantic boost. Once a wide range
of applications become available the only serious inhibitor to
corporate exploitation of the platform, at least on the server
side, will be the availability of trained staff and selection of
Linux vendor.”
“Will Linux now enter the mainstream arena? The answer, of
course, is that there has already been growing use of the
environment in certain niche areas. Whether this penetration will
now spread widely will depend, crucially, on how customers see
their IT infrastructures developing. After all, no one is going to
want to support yet another operating system unless there are
significant business benefits to be obtained. … The next
twelve months will be decisive in determining the future impact of
Linux on the world. Either widespread usage awaits the platform or
perhaps a lingering stagnation. Any bets?”