By Joseph White
As
Microsoft makes its push to rule the computer software market, we can only wonder
what could stop them. With billions of dollars in resources, Microsoft now has
a dominant 85 % market share in operating systems, Windows 95,98,2000 and XP
and their server operating systems NT, 2000 and 2003. Microsoft holds 60% market
share in office products, like Word, Excel and Access. Microsoft has a 40% market
share in web browsers and network servers. Microsoft's goal is to rule not only
the corporate desktop, but our home computers as well. Their latest quest is
to control the machines behind the internet 
web servers and telecommunication infrastructure.
Microsoft's competitive practices and tendency to buy or crush any technology that may pose a threat to its market share have come under scrutiny by the U.S. Justice Department and their Anti-Trust law suit. I believe the impact of the Justice Department will be negligible. The wheels of justice just move too slowly to keep up with the fast-changing pace of the technology industry.
Apple Computer, maker of the famous Macintosh, has had technology as good or better than Microsoft's for years, yet they have never had more than 5% market share. While Microsoft makes some good products, this competitive battleground does not promote freedom of choice for the consumer. Who dare challenge Microsoft on this field of battle and risk annihilation?
Let me introduce you to the challenger, a "FREE" operating system called "Linux." The Linux operating system was developed by Finnish born Linus Torvalds. Linus started his work on the operating system in August of 1991, while attending the University of Helsinki, Finland. When he purchased his first computer he did not like the operating system that came with it, Microsoft DOS. The university computers ran the powerful network operating system UNIX, which he preferred, but demand for computer time was so great that he could hardly ever get on a UNIX system. Buying the UNIX operating system and a machine capable of running it would have cost a small fortune.
So he set out to write a UNIX type operating system that would run on inexpensive IBM computers and IBM PC clones. After completing the core of operating system (also known as the kernel) Linus did something completely unprecedented in this "Make a Quick Buck" society: he licensed it under the Free Software Foundation's General Public License, "CopyLeft." This means the operating system and the source code (the actual programming code for Linux) will continue to be available to anyone for free, forever.
Next he contacted some of his friends on a programmer's internet newsgroup and showed them his work. They immediately recognized the genius in his work and asked if they could help. That small group grew quickly to 50, 1000, 100,000 people all working together to build the greatest operating system ever. Today, it's a global effort with its ties close to the internet's global community and the idea of intellectual collaboration. There are people working on all aspects of the operating system, to include utilities, office products and networking software. Corporations that make hardware, such as video cards, printers, modems, network cards and sound cards, are finally helping the community write drivers (software that controls the device) for their equipment.
"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is dedicated to eliminating restrictions on copying, redistribution, understanding, and modification of computer programs" as stated by the GNU. The Free Software Foundation's GNU Project (GNU is a recursive acronym for GNU Not UNIX had been writing hundreds of free software programs prior to Linus developing Linux. The Free Software Foundation was hoping to combine all their programs with a free operating system. The timing of the Linux operating system could not have been better. The FSF now had a complete operating system ready for "Free" distribution to the world.
To better understand the term "Free," I have taken an excerpt from GNU.
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One thing differentiating Linux from many other operating systems is the price, it's free. That is, it can be copied and redistributed without having to pay a fee or royalty to anyone. The word ``free'' above pertains to freedom, not price. You may or may not pay a price to get GNU software. Either way, once you have the software you have three specific freedoms in using it. First, the freedom to copy the program and give it away to your friends and co-workers; second, the freedom to change the program as you wish, by having full access to source code; third, the freedom to distribute an improved version and thus help build the community. If you redistribute GNU software, you may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring (placing it on CD) a copy, or you may give away copies. However, there is more to the issue of Linux being free than price. The last five years of Linux development has shown the importance of this freedom; it has resulted in an amazing level of involvement for hundreds of thousands of people around the world. |
Many people believe that if the software is free, it cannot be very good, but just the opposite is true. The people writing the code are not doing it for money they are doing it for respect and admiration of their peers. Also, they are not under any deadline to release the software before it's ready. For most, it's a challenge to write software that measures up to the standards Linus has set.
No matter how good the free software is, to make the move to the corporate desktop or into the average home user system, Linux needed some of the big name commercial software companies backing it. Software companies are jumping on board because the operating system is secure, stable (doesn't quit running for no apparent reason) and they have access to the source code. Most large companies are porting (re-writing) all their products to run on Linux. These companies include big names like: Netscape, Oracle, Software AG, Informix, Sybase, Corel, SGI, Sun, Dell, Gateway, Compaq, HP, and IBM, to name a few. Not to be out done by corporate America, the global community has stepped up their efforts on the internet. The global community is working to polish the graphical user interface (GUI or Desktop) to make it easier for the average user to implement. Others are working to make the installation process as painless as possible. Linus Torvalds is in charge of the group that develops the kernel of the operating system, incorporating new functionality.
The nice thing about Linux besides the price is it gives you the freedom of choice. With many different distributions and configurations to choose from, you can pick the setup that's right for you. Today Linux is a freely distributed, independent UNIX-type operating system that runs on many different computer platforms like Intel, SGI, Motorola 68k, Digital Alpha, Sun Sparc, Mips, Arm, Atari, Macintosh, PowerPC, and even the Amiga. Comparatively, Windows NT operating system runs on Intel and Alpha, but recently Microsoft dropped its Windows NT support of the Alpha architecture, leaving only Intel.
While Microsoft is quite adept at intimidating smaller companies, it may find the global community's effort a bit much to handle. Microsoft is currently unsure of what to do about the Linux phenomenon. How do you wage a marketing battle with the Linux operating system when it is better, faster, smaller, more secure, and stable, comes with its source code and it's free? Let us not forget that the operating system comes with hundreds of free programs from the GNU. I think in the months to come, Microsoft will start to feel the cutting edge of the Linux sword.
There has never been a better time to give Linux a try. Surveys predict there are 15 to 20,000,000 people using Linux. With a large portion of those people in a position to implement technology in the market place, Linux should come on like a storm in the coming years. As Linux gains popularity, we see Information Technology Managers in universities and corporations, large and small, already dropping Microsoft's flagship product, Windows Server 2000-2003, in favor of Linux.
Billionaire Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, excels in his marketing prowess. Linus Torvalds, on the other hand, is a true computer hacker, a code warrior. Linus earns no money directly from his creation, but his skill as a computer programmer has earned him a cult-like following, and people turn out by the thousands to hear him speak. At any public gathering computer hackers surround him on all sides, with admiration in their eyes, some seeking autographs, or just wanting to shake his hand and thank him for all he has done. Linus Torvalds and his global "Code Warrior Disciples" have opened a gaping wound in the Microsoft beast, stay tuned for round two.