ServerWatch: The State of Enterprise Linux

“For more than 20 years, Unix played the role of the 800 pound
gorilla in the server space, especially in enterprise, scientific,
government and academic environments. But traditional Unix vendors
have faced increasing competition on two fronts. Microsoft Windows
Server products have made significant inroads, particularly in the
business back-end. To a lesser extent, but cutting closer to the
bone, is competition from Linux.

“While Microsoft servers represent a wholesale platform shift
from Unix options, luring customers to Linux is less of a sea of
change. Since it first began as a hobby project in 1991, Linux was
inspired as a free alternative to proprietary Unix implementations.
Although Linux is closely modeled after popular Unix systems in
both form and function, its code is freely available and open
source, without derivation from protected Unix code…”

Complete
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