“IT industry vendors should brace themselves for a year of
unprecedented change, according to Summit Strategies, Inc., an IT
market strategy research firm headquartered in Boston. “The entire
computer industry faces more uncertainty in 1999 than at any time
in the past two decades,” said Tom Kucharvy, president of Summit
Strategies.”
“The top 10 emerging forces that Summit Strategies’ senior
analysts forecast will drive change in the IT industry in 1999
are:”
“6. Linux Threatens Commercial Operating Systems and Provides
Model for Freeware Industry: Previously confined to the fringe of
the computer industry, Linux is breaking out, with a huge potential
impact. Kucharvy believes that even if it does not capture the
operating system market, Linux serves as a model for open source
software and is thereby laying the seeds for a revolution in the
software industry.”