“At this week’s LinuxWorld Conference & Expo here, the
release of the new 2.4 kernel of the Linux operating system won
some praise from IT managers. But it won’t necessarily win an
immediate place in their deployment plans.”
“Bob Ruddy, owner of Web hosting and networking firm Cycle.org
Inc. in Doylestown, Pa., said the Linux 2.4 kernel — which was
released early last month by Linux creator Linus Torvalds — won’t
by itself convince many smaller and midsize companies to make the
jump from Windows or other operating systems.”
“One of the greatest deficiencies in Linux for companies
contemplating any migration has been the lack of a feature-filled
software suite compatible with industry-standard Microsoft Office
file formats, Ruddy said. While Sun Microsystems Inc.’s StarOffice
and Corel Corp.’s WordPerfect for Linux suites are available, the
lack of default file compatibility with Microsoft Corp.’s dominant
set of office software still leaves many companies unable to fully
consider Linux as an alternative to what they’re now using, he
added.”