Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 07:39:40 -0500 From: "Jack Velte" <jackv@earthling.net> To: <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: San Jose Mercury News Message-ID: <000301be5e61$32179ec0$6a6c4cd1@jackv.pacbell.net>
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Timing is everything, and for Linux it's good BY CHRIS NOLAN CNolan@sjmercury.com Mercury News Staff Writer THIS Linux thing is really taking off, isn't it? With announcements that IBM, Hewlett-Packard and others are shipping machines with Linux software inside, the guerrilla movement is inching its way toward becoming a small-scale revolution. Last week, the IBM announcement was credited by the Associated Press with lowering Microsoft's stock price by more than $4 a share. ``That makes my day,'' said Paul McNamara, vice president of business development for Red Hat Inc., the software company that sells a variety of Linux-based software packages for IBM and others. Even if Linux isn't the main reason stock traders are off Microsoft, the perception that the Linux operating system represents a threat is a measure of its new influence. That's saying something for a piece of computer code that's distributed free, that relies on a network that is unpaid and unconnected -- except by expertise, enthusiasm and programming knowledge -- to innovate and expand. It's just the kind of success that Netscape was hoping for when it released the source code for its browser. That move was widely regarded as an acknowledgment that Microsoft had trounced Netscape in the browser wars, but it doesn't seem to have worked too well. So why is Linux doing so well? Is it the Silicon Valley Linux User Group's gift for public relations? That's the rag-tag bunch that stormed Microsoft's local office last week looking for refunds for their unused Windows software. Maybe. Is it the general perception that Microsoft, once considered invincible because of its wealth, is getting trounced by the Department of Justice? An unfavorable ruling would open the way for rival operating systems like Linux to thrive. Possibly. But maybe Linux just has good timing. One of the phenomena that's clearly helping Linux develop is the enthusiasm of those self-described idealistic programmers who, having made buckets of money at companies like Apple Computer Inc. and Netscape Communications Corp., are happy to tweak Linux. They like to write code and they don't have day jobs. Apple Macintosh designer Andy Hertzfeld, who is generally credited with designing that machine's friendly software, is quietly doing Linux work. Hertzfeld is sincerely adamant about not talking to the press; not even The Gossip Columnist could break his resolve. So it's hard to know exactly what's on his mind or to say what's he doing. But his interest in Linux says a lot. With the Netscape-AOL deal moving ahead, there's going to be another group of code jocks like Hertzfeld casting about for new projects. And, of course, it's easy for all these programmers to talk to one another. ``It really is the Internet that's enabled this to happen,'' said McNamara. ``The Internet allows the guy sitting in Hungary to do what he loves and to collaborate with a bunch of guys in North Carolina.'' Linux has good timing in another respect. It's coming along just as the interest in developing embedded systems -- devices that come with ready-to-go software -- is getting more intense. ``This free product is just more reliable,'' said Jim Barton, chief technical officer for TiVo, a Sunnyvale start-up that runs Linux in its television set-tops. ``It just works better.'' And when it doesn't work, it's easier to fix, said Barton. He can either fix the bug himself or rely on work done by others, who are required by the terms of the code's license to make their work public. Small developers don't have to wait for the tech guys at some big company to fix bugs that might be affecting their product development. That's all important as embedded systems become more ubiquitous, said Barton. Either way, people are making money. ``It's sort of like thinking the only business model for highways is to collect tolls,'' said McNamara. ``We look at it differently: We have the contract to clear snow.'' To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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