Small Business Computing: Has Linux Finally Arrived?

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that a growing number of small and
mid-sized businesses are adopting the Linux operating system, whose
symbol is the penguin, the flightless Antarctic fowl. Many
companies opt for Linux over competing systems from Microsoft and
Unix, citing its reliability and low cost.

“One group that’s driving forward with Linux is the PGA Tour, a
mid-sized enterprise that organizes 120 golf tournaments a year. In
the first quarter of 2000, Steve Evans, vice-president of
information systems, replaced a piece of his Windows NT operation
with a Linux system. Pleased with its reliability, Evans now uses
Linux as the backbone of his mail system, and he’s phasing it into
other aspects of the IT operation.

“‘Even when we had issues with applications, the operating
system stayed intact. In the past, we’d have to reboot the entire
system,’ Evans says. ‘We’re all challenged to do more with less,
and knowing that we can restart an application without restarting
the entire operating system is a huge savings in terms of
unnecessary down time…'”

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