Linux vs Windows and other things.

You would not normally think of this subject line as a political issue. Well maybe there is not a big national interest in this, but definitely amongst hams and other computer users there seems to be a big emotional argument. Just about every discussion board has some very pointed if not just plain mean threads in this area.

 First off I have no relationship financially or otherwise with either of these operating systems. I was a systems programmer many years ago, but that was on large IBM mainframes. Not these micro processors that we have today. Many of these little machines have more processing power than a room full of the big boxes with the associated hardware, air conditioning, power regulation etc.

 But even in those ancient days there was a comparable argument between IBM gear and software and the rest of the vendor community. IBM had a near monopoly on hardware and software to such an extent that they would occasionally lose a bid just to keep the feds off their backs.  There was a camp that thought anything IBM was wonderful and a camp that felt that IBM was the evil empire personified. They hated and despised everything IBM. Old man Watson (the man who is given credit for starting the company) was vilified to a great extent as an agent of the devil if not the devil himself.

 Even if you did succeed in acquiring some other computer architecture other than IBM, if it was a mainframe, you were most likely still required to run IBM software so that you could be compatible with other computers and software packages used in business. Also there were just not that many programmers who would or could work on anything other than IBM software. You could find yourself isolated and outcast with little support. Many a manger lost his or her job when the incorrect political acquisition was made. IBM had influence in many realms of government and other groups, and you would put your future on the line by picking anything other than IBM.

 I may not be that smart, but I am not crazy either. I was in the IBM camp. I did try to make the acquisition of hardware and software as competitive as I could and drive the costs down as much as I could but I am sure IBM felt I was a good customer. They flew me around in the corporate jet more than once on some boondoggle or another over the years. It was always for my education and not entertainment Ha Ha.

 There were other platforms and players who would come around over the years. Companies like DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) etc who did make some fine equipment and did actually take some business away from IBM.  I know we had some of their stuff for process control and in fact the last bit of actual programming I ever did was on a DEC computer. But as more and more business went that way the more IBM undercut and applied pressure and DEC and the like were having more and more problems selling the min-computers and when the advent of the micros came out, it was all but over for them. They tried and were somewhat successful producing their own micros but after a few years they were out of business. At least most of them were.

The micro computers like the early Apple, Pet, and Marrows for example kind of started the ball rolling. They ran an operating system that was called as I remember CPM. We got a few of these machines and were quite impressed with the ability to provide a computer solution quickly that was just for that user. The users started to buy into the process and had some stake in the success of the systems installed. For some of the first times, end users were finding themselves involved in the selection, development of applications, and support of their systems. No longer were they just getting what was delivered to them by the IT folks. There was a kind of pride of ownership for the first time. But along with this some problems started to crop up. End users started to get their own systems for home use. It became harder and harder for a centralized IT support staff to stay ahead of the curve so to speak. Sometimes end users knew more about the hardware and software than the IT folks did. There started to be a development of all kinds of products that end users would buy for their home systems or finagle somehow through the work place to acquire and put on their systems. When mission critical systems where now subject to software and hardware packages that were not supported directly, companies could find themselves vulnerable.

 Most of these micro computers were driven by floppy disks. Some systems could not use data produced on other machines. Near catastrophe had started in many companies and it was approaching a critical nature with everyone realizing the danger and trying to standardize things, but with varying degrees of success. Along about this time a new company out of Seattle was trying to peddle a new operating system called DOS. At first nobody was impressed and felt with all the investment and knowledge base out there that very few would convert to this system. That was until the old giant IBM took notice and launched their PC or Personal Computer.

 Now of all the things that IBM did correctly, standardizing, documenting and marketing were among the top. Now it could be seen that there could be some order in a company just by buying into the PC as it was introduced by our old friends from friendly IBM. Microsoft was just a little company supplying the software somehow as far as most of us end user IT folks were concerned.

 Again the IT folks could gain control of our end users. Again we could become dominant and needed and depended upon. We felt loved. We looked at these guys as job savers. We gladly bought thousands of these PCs. All was well again and we were happy in the village.

 Then someone had the audacity to bring a PC clone onto the market. And to make matters worse that little software developer that IBM had supplied us with could and did sell software to the other clones. We could see that we were again going back to having our end users select the equipment they wanted and what they wanted most was hardware and software that was like what they had at home. When these folks went into their electronics store for Christmas they got a brand new clone PC with Microsoft OS and Microsoft bundled office products. No matter what we felt in our professional opinion the products that were the most popular on their home computers were the software products that our users wanted as well. They knew how to make it work and in many cases better than what we knew so upper management went with what ever the users wanted and we as IT folks had better learn and support it or we could be replaced.

 The end users loved the new systems and software. They did not want to return to the days of what IBM gave them through the IT department was what they were going to have to use. They looked at IBM as the old stodgy Software/Hardware Company and the new Microsoft Company as the fair haired boy. They could do not wrong and the rest is pretty much history.

 We could have ended everything with they all lived happily ever after but there was one event that more than anything else changed that relationship end users and the information technology community. The Internet started to become a major player in business and our own daily lives. The new PC and clones work very well on the Internet as we had it back then. There were new products and software companies starting up almost daily. Many of these software companies started in California in the silicone valley area as it is called. It was the area around San Francisco and the valley to the South.

 One of the more useful software products was called Netscape. It was one of the first and probably the best product that gave us all a way of browsing the Internet in a graphical way. It made working in the Internet a real possibility for companies and home users. It quickly became the standard and almost everyone used it and paid a fee for that use.

 Everyone was marching along together and there were new versions being released with even more capabilities and features. Then suddenly trouble came on the horizon. Microsoft the OS producer had already taken over many software functions that were being done by other companies.  Word processing and spreadsheets had been the domain of other companies but with the resources and marketing of MS, they had been driven out of business. Now they were apparently looking at the browser business and launched a browser called Internet Explorer or IE. The worst thing was that they offered it FREE.

 That is free as long as you were running their OS in your machine. Oh my God, Oh my God. The loved package Netscape was going to be eaten by MS. How dare these guys?

 Well this was war. The war that started then continues to this day. Netscape finally was eaten by MS, or at least mostly eaten. Netscape lives on but is a far cry from the dominant browser it once was.  Many of the nerds working in IT did not take well to this development. They saw it as a case of a big bully trampling on a little friend of theirs. Suddenly MS started to acquire the reputation that IBM used to have. They went from the fair haired boys to the bad guys in many of their eyes. They had provided free software but that fact did not make any difference to them, MS had killed a loved one and they would NEVER FORGIVE them. Many have not to this day. Now it is not Watson who is the devil, it is that real devil Bill Gates.

Now days MS pretty much owns the IT world. When they say jump the users say how high and when can I come down? People like to pretend this is not true and there have been even court cased brought forth to prove MS can be controlled. Oh yaw! Oh yaw! etc. Look at the stock prices. Bet they are shivering in their boots. Fined in Europe? They make that back in a day during Christmas sales. Some very up front companies that are supposed to be competitors to MS are if you want to know the truth still in business because in some cases MS has provided them with money or technical support or has intentionally left them unopposed. In my opinion anything they want in IT these days they can have. That is until some new technology comes out that makes them as obsolete as old IBM mainframes are today.

 Ok so were does Linux come into the picture? Boy there is a lot of to do about it isn’t there? I’ve seen the penguin and everything. Gosh it is so much more stable and gee no hackers can even get close to hacking it and gee, it is FREE and open.

 Linus Torvalds is credited with developing the Linux kernel. It is kind of an off hand development of a system know as UNIX that has been used a lot in the academic world. UNIX for that matter was a competitor to the OS that the old IBM systems used to run. One of the drawbacks to this system was that it was very much without any form of security. This is one of the problems I have with Linux in that just because there is not a large group of nerd hackers causing trouble in this arena does not mean that the system is anymore secure or stable.

 There seems to be some success for this OS in the server area of IT. It is popular because it can be scaled to fit and tailored to do just those server like functions. It is small fast and cheep. I say cheep, not free because companies like Novell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun Microsystems and others take the so to speak open code, modify it to their use, and re-sell it. That is right, this open FREE software is SOLD. But even at that, the per unit cost is still less than other products especially from MS. Companies who depend on this business like Novell, make licensing very attractive to business and being that many a techno-nerd these days in IT hates MS or as they note it M$, server business continues to be strong.

 The battle cry for the IT techno-nerds is free, open, and oh did I say free? Well Bucky Boy it is not free. It is proprietor in business. It is not open and it is not free. Not only are the products not free, the support for them for these companies is very definitely not free.

 Let’s say that it is free and open. If it is open then you are saying that anyone can see the source code, blueprint of your mission critical OS and know where to plant the software hooks for later use. You are saying that anyone can take these free software, install it on your system and then hold you hostage for support as you have no idea what changes they have done and tomorrow if the support goes away you can’t just get a common OS out of Best Buy anymore. Your business is stuck to those nerds who put the customized free and open OS on you systems.

 Besides this, the only reason there is not a large group of hackers hacking into Linux is that at this time it is the fair haired boy. It is all they have against the evil empire MS. They have a vested interest in making it a success. When things change you will see as many hacks and you do with MS stuff. MS stuff has more code and protection that we as users have to put up with because of just that. If hackers left it alone all that could come out, but that is not going to happen. Linux modules can be made just for that application, running lean and mean. MS has to be all things to everyone, because anyone can put it on their machines and they expect it will run without modification. Linux basic kernel can as well, but business computers do not put a basic kernel on the systems.

 I, an even the most ardent Linux advocates, do not see it replacing Windows on the desktop in the near future. As we speak, Uncle Buck and Aunt Ruth are buying brand new computers at Circuit City with Vista on them. As these people go to work they will know how to make the Windows machine and it’s associated MS office products work. Managers will listen to them and find it hard to retrain this pool of employees to another set of products that 1. They do not like, and 2. There is no reason to replace just because the nerd IT guy doesn’t like MS.

As has been reported in the popular press, Microsoft profits are up 79 percent in the last year. Their stock value is continuing to grow not only because of Vista but with the addition of other products MS looks very strong financially. In the past year over 100 million copies of Vista with all it’s flavors have been sold in the world. It hardly looks to me as if MS is in any danger from Linux at this time.

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