Linux to replace Windows NT?, Jan 13, 2005

As software giant Microsoft retires its ageing Windows NT workhorse, competing operating systems like Linux and Apple's Mac OS X Server could be filling that gap, well, at least in print and file servers.

A North Asian government alliance to promote the Linux operating system and reduce dependence on Microsoft's Windows, plans to release its first products for China in six months, a senior official said on Monday.

The Linux-based software - jointly developed by China, Japan and South Korea - would offer government and business users a choice of operating systems, said the president of China Open Source Software Promotion Union, Mr Lu Shouqun.

'You wouldn't want to wear the same style of clothing every day of your life, would you?' Mr Lu said in an interview. 'Government users need security, and business users need cheap software. Linux meets both those needs.'

In the battle between Microsoft and freely available 'open-source' software such as Linux, it pays to bring out the big guns.

And in the world of computer software and operating systems, there is no bigger gun than Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

He made a whirlwind stop in Malaysia yesterday to charm politicians, encourage students and address technology professionals.

The Internet has also fuelled the rise of the 'open source' movement, where industry-strength software is co-developed and released publicly by an open community of users rather than licensed from proprietary patent owners like Microsoft.

Many open source products (which include the Linux operating system that powers much of the Internet) have gained converts among mainstream government and business users worldwide.

The success of the Linux computer operating system has fuelled a rush by venture capitalists to invest in a new wave of open source software companies, creating the sort of land-grab mentality last seen during the 1990s technology boom.

"Smart, savvy people are begging to put a lot of money into open source - the venture capital spigot is back on," said Mike Olson, chief executive of Sleepcat, an open source company. Although the company did not need cash, he said it received "multiple solicitations" a week from would-be investors.

As far as PC operating systems (OS) go, it's free, more resistant to viruses and it works just as well on your five-year-old PC as it will on the latest gigahertz machine.

It is extremely stable, and is often used to run highly-secure information technology infrastructures like those in banks and stockbroking houses.

And did we mention, it is free?

So why isn't Linux running on your computer?

Linux is a rising star in the geeky back office of computing.

Its gains have come as an operating system for the data-serving computers that run corporate networks and serve up webpages. On the desktop, however, Microsoft's Windows still reigns supreme.

But IBM and the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL), whose membership includes Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Intel, are beginning a drive to promote Linux as an alternative to Windows on desktops.