[ Thanks to Jeff Alami
for this link. ]
“During last spring’s Linux Expo, Linux was frequently said to
be `coming out of the closet’ in terms of business use. Well, now
it’s going into the closet — the server closet. Linux has gotten
enough momentum, enough press, and enough accolades that it is
quickly becoming an important part of many companies’ IT
strategies, and is viewed as a legitimate server platform on which
to run applications spanning the full spectrum, from intranet web
servers to e-commerce sites.”
“If you’ve been keeping track of Linux’s meteoric rise, and know
that it’s eight years old, a question might occur to you: what took
so long? This is a valid question, but doesn’t really address the
situation. Most operating systems are released among a flurry of
press releases, advertising, front-page trade journal articles (`To
Upgrade to WonderOS or Not: We Take a Look’), etc. — all things
perpetuated by slick marketing departments, and frequently bereft
of any real, useful information. Linux is an oddity here. It
started out as a purely public innovation, was shaped and expanded
by hundreds, then thousands of dedicated programmers, but known
only to those who love to cut their teeth on the latest and
greatest. Gradually, under Linus Torvalds’ purview, it gained
features, and options, but never at the expense of good, solid
code. Slowly, through some sort of grass-roots peristalsis, it
gained access into corporations — a print server tucked under a
desk here, a CIFS/Mac file repository there.”
“And then someone flipped a switch: critical mass had been
attained.“