Speaking of clients, here's an interesting Dvorak piece.
zdnet.com
The Linux myth
By John C. Dvorak, PC Magazine
September 21, 1999 10:09 AM PT
Everyone likes a good fight,
especially if it's won by a beloved
underdog taking on an impossible
task. Thus has emerged dear Linux,
the "little OS that could." More
folklore surrounds this OS than just
about anything I've ever witnessed in
this industry. But what is Linux's real
potential? Unlike most observers, I
see no evidence that Linux can take
on the big server chores. Its real
potential may lie in the cheapest
low-end desktops.
Where Linux shines today is in
medium-strain server systems. It's a
near-perfect solution for the Web site
on a budget. It's close to free, and
when combined with the famed
Apache server software, Linux can
handle almost any medium-size page
service chore. This is probably
adequate for most uses today, but
ask the true networking superstars
about Linux on big systems under big
loads and they all shake their heads.
Ask Linux advocates
exactly why no IRC
(Internet Relay
Chat) server runs
Linux. One of my
networking gurus said that he has
never seen any Linux system on the
IRC?probably the roughest
networking environment on
earth?hold up to the strain. In this
instance, we're talking about the three
major IRC networks: DALNet, Efnet,
and Undernet. With tens of thousands
of users logging on at once with
numerous clients and multiple con nec
tions and with constant attacks from
sources around the world trying to
shut down the service, Linux can't cut
it?period. Why is this never
mentioned by the Linux proponents
who flood the critics with e-mail
anytime anyone says anything to
disparage the OS?
Just hating Microsoft is not a good
enough reason to promote Linux
above everything else. When Linux
fails in various subsegments of the
marketplace, people always assume
the problem is its open-source nature.
"You can't get support." In fact, many
companies support Linux in the same
way Sun supports Solaris. Linux often
fails, simply because it isn't robust
enough. Contractors know this but
fear the wrath of the Linux community
and blame support. It's a phony
excuse. This BS factor is what
bothers me. The inadequate-support
explanation creeps in for no other
reason than to keep the lunatic fringe
of the Linux movement from clogging
the e-mail system with complaints.
The fact is, Linux has yet to prove
itself at the top of the food chain, and
until it can run eBay, for example, it
will remain the "in-between" OS.
The low end is where Linux should
gravitate. By this I don't mean
Pentiums running in offices. I mean on
AMD chips in sub-$200 computers
with small amounts of memory and
$50 hard disks. Under a normal load
Linux is quite remarkable. It's small,
fast, and stable. It's quite amazing
actually. But it's still Unix and used
primarily as a command line OS.
There are numerous GUI shells for
the thing, and there's no reason the
Linux community can't standardize
one and stick with it (except that
there seems to be a rule against even
imagining such a concept as
agreement).
Many like to blame Microsoft's
dominance for the death of
competition and innovation, but more
likely, business simply pooped out.
Computers can be used to automate
only so many things. Once word
processors, database managers, and
spreadsheets were invented and
perfected, what else was there? Just
games. The modem-equipped
machine was good for remote
access; then the Web was invented,
and now there is nothing left to
conquer. For at least a decade, the
only thing that's been going on is the
debugging of old code. Without the
Net, the computer business would
have been in the toilet years ago.
Now that you can combine a free OS
with any number of cheap
Linux-oriented office suites, it's time
for a reemergence of VICs (very
inexpensive computers). Microworkz
has a $199 machine called the
iToaster, which uses the kernel of the
BeOS (the true competitor to Linux)
to keep prices low. This trend will
emerge within the next 12 months and
will take the world by storm. Intel and
the chip makers know this. In case
you haven't noticed, their strategies
are going toward the low end in a
near panic.
On a $199 machine, the OS can't
cost more than a few bucks.
Microsoft will have to shoot the OS
cash cow if it wants to play. Microsoft
won't be able to bundle its suites
down there either, and it won't give
Win CE away. So Microsoft's out of
the picture. This new market has
Linux written all over it. Get ready. |
