“Despite a 17 percent increase in server operating system
environment shipments worldwide, revenue in that market will
increase by slightly more than 1 percent by 2004, according to a
new study from IDC.”
“Lower-priced products — notably the open-source Linux
operating system environment — are generally attributed by the
market researcher for the discrepancy….”
“It’s a disruptive technology,” Kusnetzky said in an interview,
referring to the open-access aspect of Linux whose source code is
available free on the Internet. “The cost of the [Linux]
shipments going out the door are at a very, very low price compared
to competitors. … It is drastically less expensive, but it can’t
do some of the things other operating systems offer. But if
[people’s] needs fit within those boundaries, people will buy
it.“