By Jason Compton, VNU
Net
“Linux’s development structure has made more than a few
executives nervous in the past couple of years. Once they gain a
basic understanding of the way Linux is maintained, they get
positively twitchy.
Linux, after all, is an open source system, overseen by a
committee of experts who get constant feedback from legions of
enthusiasts and developers. Any one of them could build their own,
incompatible version, throwing the Linux world into chaos.
Controlling development
This doesn’t happen, because people such as creator Linus Torvalds
have the final say on what is and isn’t in the core of the
operating system. The question ‘What happens if Torvalds gets hit
by a truck?’ is usually asked at this point, with the usual answer
being that other big thinkers, many of whom have the same level of
respect despite not being the namesake of the operating system,
would smoothly take up the slack.
Torvalds made his operating system open source, but he did
retain one very important piece of intellectual property for
himself: the Linux trademark. The terms of use on that trademark
are quite liberal, but terms can change, particularly when the
original benefactor is lost. If Torvalds is hit by a truck, to whom
or what would he leave the trademark in his will?
Heaven forbid, does one of the most influential software
developers of the last five years even have a will?
Ensuring the future of
Linux
Who could be trusted with such a thing? Handing over the trademark
to a commercial Linux enterprise would seem to be out of the
question: even if the terms of the trademark didn’t change, it
would create the impression of an ‘official’ single version of
Linux, something people have been trying to avoid for years. Giving
it over to a non-profit institution such as Linux International
might not be considered a ‘safe’ move, offering too much enticement
to the organisation to play politics.
To date, Torvalds has done a rather good job of staying out of
Linux corporate politics. Rather than work at a Linux software
company, he cleverly went to Transmeta, a hardware company with a
long startup cycle. Even if Transmeta’s Mobile Linux dream is
realised, the chances of the mainstream market regarding Mobile
Linux as the ‘true’ Linux are fairly slim.
A less-than-watertight case
Despite Torvalds’ prudent trademark moves, he didn’t pre-empt
everyone. A South Korean man listed in court documents only as
‘Kwon’ attempted to become the nation’s sole Linux trademark holder
back in 1997, registering the name as his personal trademark on CDs
and books. Because he was soundly ignored by the rest of the world,
he filed for an injunction against a number of bookstores and Linux
publishers.
Prudently, the Korean Industrial Property Tribunal invalidated
his trademark request. The case is now tied up in an appeal. Still,
if ‘Kwon’ can create headaches in South Korea, what does happen to
the trademark if Torvalds gets hit by that truck?
In 1996, no one had a problem with ‘Linux is a registered
trademark of Linus Torvalds’ – in fact, very few people really
cared: they were either interested in Linux or not.
But with hundreds of companies betting their future on the
upstart operating system, including some veterans and staggering
giants of the computer industry … well, let’s just say that if
the trademark is part of a Torvalds estate sale, I suggest you run
for cover.
Haves vs have-nots at
Comdex?
A rising tide lifts all ships, but it also raises the bar, and when
people start slipping below sea level, you have to wonder what
they’re thinking. Comdex Spring, which recently took place in
Chicago, included a Linux Business Expo that was packed with Linux
publishers, distributors, and support companies. However, Red Hat
and VA Linux both stayed at home.
Supporting a proper booth at Comdex is considerably more
resource-intensive than sending a demo squad to a humble Linux user
convention, and one can certainly be forgiven for not wanting to
pay the conference centre rates of the city’s unions if there’s
something else you could be doing that week. When the tech
headlines are screaming ‘Linux! Linux! Linux!’ however, isn’t it a
good idea to at least put in an appearance?
It’s a little early to start calling Red Hat and VA ‘have-nots’,
but their strategy is dubious. Do they feel they’ve already
permanently ingrained themselves in the minds of the business
community?
For Red Hat, that’s a gamble at best – it certainly has name
recognition, but fame is fleeting. For VA, that’s a ridiculous
notion – it is in serious danger of becoming best known in business
circles for its monumental stock price collapse.
Very notably present was BSDI, unleashing its strategy to eat
the Linux lunch buffet by parading around its own life-sized daemon
mascot, selling its own plush toys – and giving away copies of
FreeBSD to anyone who queued up.