'maddog' Barks at Linux Naysayers

At the Enterprise Linux Forum, programmer Jon 'maddog' Hall sounds more like a lawyer as he refutes the common reasons IT execs give for not using Linux in the enterprise.

by Colin C. Haley of boston.internet.com [December 6, 2002]

For years, Jon "maddog" Hall espoused the virtues of Linux and open source at IT industry events.

After each presentation, audience members would crowd around the white-bearded computer vet, at first expressing excitement but then invariably rattling off a litany of reasons the code was unsuitable for their large company or organization.

As time passed and Linux and open source movement advanced, Hall, now executive director of Linux International, determined that all the IT executives' misgivings were unfounded from the start or no longer valid. So now, when he speaks, the expert programmer sounds more like a lawyer, offering a point-by-point refutation of allegations against his client.

"People associate certain characteristics with Linux that I don't believe are true," Hall said in his keynote address at the Enterprise Linux Forum on Wednesday.

One of the most popular charges against Linux is that it lacks applications. Hall, citing figures from IBM, said there are more than 3,500 commercial applications for the Linux operating system, including those most popular with corporate users—office and accounting tools.

There are also applications that emulate the look and feel of Windows offerings. Or, if a user is intent on running an application on Windows, a machine can use Linux to run most, while activating Windows exclusively for the specified program.

A second misconception is that Linux is too hard to learn. A slew of books, discussion groups and white papers have been recently published to help beginners. What's more, high schools, colleges, IT services firms and vendors are rapidly offering courses, Hall said.

For example, in an earlier Forum keynote, Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik pegged training as the firm's fastest growing segment.

Another common concern about Linux is that it is too hard to manage. Some see ongoing revisions as a red flag for buggy code. Engineers at proprietary software companies also make revisions, but they are not making them in the public forum, Hall explained.

Also falling under the mangement heading is scalability and support concerns. While it began on PCs, Hall said Linux can now be run on everything from a handheld personal digital assistant all the way up to supercomputers. As for support, most vendors have toll free numbers or e-mail service to troubleshoot problems. Private consultants are also available.

At the conclusion of Hall's talk, he cites the most-common justification for not running Linux in the enterprise—it's just too risky. It's an assertion that makes maddog, well, just plain mad.

"If (Linux) is too risky then go with a company like Wang or Prime or Digital Equipment Corp.," Hall scoffed. "Even if a company stays in business there is no guarantee that a product line will continue to exist.

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