A lengthy overview of the Linux biz, with quotes from
TurboLinux’s new CEO and an analyst who say Red Hat and Caldera are
the future, while others will likely “just struggle along”:
“There are just not a lot of pure Linux companies with
products that people want,” said Bill Claybrook, a Linux software
analyst with Boston-based Aberdeen Group Inc. “And many of these
companies have very poor business models. Even in a good market,
they weren’t doing that well.”But Ly-Huong Pham, the recently appointed CEO of Brisbane,
Calif.-based Turbolinux Inc., contends that the primary issue
facing the Linux industry is no different than that afflicting any
emerging technology.“The hype over Linux is over, and this is the year where we have
to do some business,” Pham said. “When PCs entered the market, the
PC companies had to go up against the mainframe; everyone was
wondering how they would make money and survive. It is not a
question of the technology, it is a matter of finding the right
business model.”