Computers Today, October 16-31, 1998 Networking

With IS managers of giant corporations fast dawning to the Linux advantage, the Unix-clone freeware OS is all set to grab the mighty Microsoft bull by its horns. And thanks to the geeks out there on the Web, it is now the fastest growing OS in the world.

It's like the tyrannical Goliath getting stoned down by David, a lean and lanky unheard of youth. Since more than a decade, the infotech world has been shadowed by this one mighty power--the Microsoft Corp.--with the sky blue screen of its ubiquitous Windows gleaming at you from each and every monitor. And when you start surfing for relief, it's again the revolving 'e', of the controversial Microsoft Internet Explorer that offers you a ride. Instead, it has been taking the world for a ride, figuratively that is, as is indicated by recent revelations about Microsoft's monopolistic manoeuvres.

Until entered Linux, the bolt from the blue, which started off as an improvisation by a student, Linus Torvalds, in 1991, when he was with the University of Helsinki, Finland. Dormant for so many years as another attempted OS, this sleek 32-bit Unix system has lately grown into a Net-based software phenomenon, with countless software additions submitted to various ad hoc Web sites for use, and millions of converted users. An estimated seven million users are now availing Linux worldwide, including 70,000 in India, as per Linux Online.

The present upswing has been propelled by growing endorsement of Linux by IS managers in some of the globe's largest corporations. A list of the names that are now porting the freeware, reads like a who's who of the infotech world--Oracle, Netscape, Intel, Dell, Corel, Computer Associates and Informix. Oracle and Netscape have gone public with their plans to embrace Linux while Dell Computer and Informix have just decided to. And take it, Intel--one-half of the vaunted Wintel duopoly--is saying it is toying with the idea. Corel, which has already announced plans to build a Linux-based network computer, says it will soon post free Linux-based development tools to its Web site, joining a number of software companies supporting the Linux open source movement.

Netscape says it will add Linux to the list of operating systems supported by its server software. In this expansion, Netscape will plough ground which is already well prepared, since Linux is currently the most popular Unix platform for the firm's Netscape Communicator 4.5 Internet client. If some choose to see this support by Netscape and others as a slap at Microsoft, Oracle is doing nothing to discourage it. The database giant will port its flagship product, Oracle8, and its Oracle Applications line to Linux. It will make a 90-day trial version of Oracle8 for Linux, available for free download over the Internet before the end of the year.

A free and powerful OS would be just what is needed by users in India, traditionally considered a Unix country. Although Win NT is the fastest growing commercial platform in the country, Linux has the status of being the fastest growing OS globally. In India, as per estimates, around 10,000 users are using Linux as the primary OS. High-profile institutions, which spearhead the IT growth in India, like the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, are already using the freeware.

Even the most cost-effective PC-based Unix like SCO or Solaris involves investments exceeding Rs 60,000 as total cost of ownership. Linux being freeware, even robust commercial applications cost only 10 percent of what they cost on other platforms. Caldera, an independent software firm, has launched NetWare for Linux, currently offered free-of-cost. The product is tipped as being 20 percent cheaper than Novell.

Over the past three months, several high-powered Silicon Valley businesses, including Sun, Digital and Adaptec, have signed on with the Linux Vendor Group (LVG), which speaks volumes for Linux's commercial potential. It has 27 members excluding Intel, Oracle and Informix who are about to come in, claims Larry Augustin, founder-president of VA Research Inc., and member, board of directors, LVG.

Not surprisingly, the only company that seems completely unwilling to offer Linux-compatible versions of its productivity software is Microsoft. "The real value product of Microsoft is not Windows, as many think; it is their office suite, Microsoft Office. In fact, if Microsoft starts to offer Office for Linux, there would be absolutely no reason to have a Windows machine anywhere," says Augustin.

Ironically, the very thing that could have doomed Linux to an untimely death--its open challenge of Microsoft--is proving to be its USP. Anyone nurturing a grudge against the Redmond giant, is now jumping on to the Linux bandwagon. Linux, being a Unix operating system with loadable module support, is more appropriate for a server environment because almost all configuration changes do not require system restarts. Says an MIS manager using Linux: "Windows NT doesn't even come close. Even insignificant changes to an NT configuration require or request a shutdown and reboot in order to make the changes take effect."

To be fair, one should compare the NT server's performance to that of Linux or FreeBSD, since all three operating systems run on the same hardware, Intel. Unfortunately, a truly objective analysis of performance would have to based on benchmarks, but these are not plentiful and usually only focus on specific areas like Web performance. In a test (see chart) conducted recently by Byte, scores for Linux on the Pentium 133 were nearly as fast as Solaris 2.5 on a 167 MHz Sparc Ultra or a 200 MHz Pentium Pro!

All Unix kernels are custom-compiled to contain only the required software, hence they can function more efficiently than NT. Also, Linux does not require a graphical user interface, while NT does. Graphics require incredible amounts of disk space and memory. The same holds true for sound files, so vital to Microsoft's operating systems. Overall, there is consensus among IT professionals, that Linux greatly outperforms NT

Torvalds the Geek

The modern-day Linux took birth from Linus Torvalds' experiments with a kernel based on Minix--another Unix clone written by Andrew Tannenbaum. All Linus wanted to do was to rewrite it to produce an 80386-specific 32-bit Unix kernel--just for showing that it could be done.

Actually, Linus is responsible only for the kernel. The whole OS consists of the kernel plus a massive amount of supporting programs and utilities written by other people. But, Linus holds the copyright to the kernel and the source code. Unlike other copyrights which are aimed at restricting distribution to commercial channels, Linus wanted Linux to remain free, and his stipulation to distributors is that while you may charge for Linux, you must ensure that the purchaser has access to the source code always. Within months of an announcement to this effect, hundreds of people were writing or porting software that worked with the Linux kernel.

One of the biggest pushes that Linux has received of late is the rapid emergence of easy Internet access. The Net is very Unix-oriented, and one of the fastest and most convenient ways of offering services via the Internet is by setting up a Linux host connected via TCP/IP to the Internet. Since all the required software for this is included with every Unix distribution, users holding a Net account can instantly be up and running on the Internet.

Best of all, Linux is essentially Unix without the strings of any copyright issues from Bell Labs or any other vendors attached, which means that it fosters rapid growth and tremendous third-party support.

NASA Bonds Linux

For enterprise-level processing power, clustering with Linux can produce awesome results at a modest price. NASA's latest Beowulf project sets an example for the potential of Linux in the area of supercomputing.

Beowulf is a system that uses a parallel-processing architecture and off-the-shelf machines running Linux operating system. One machine is the server node, and distributes a processing job to all of the other machines, which are client nodes.

The total hardware cost for 24-node Beowulf cluster was $57,000-as compared to most commercial supercomputers today, which cost between $10 million and $30 million. The cluster gives 2.4 GB per second throughput, which means that a 200 GB hard drive can be scanned in only 20 seconds.