COREL RAISES SOFTWARE STAKES
COMPANY PLEDGES TO DEVELOP PRODUCTS FOR BOOMING LINUX PLATFORM MARKET
By SUSAN TAYLOR -- Ottawa Sun
ÿ Corel Corp. is expected to announce today it will soon sell its software to a small, but exploding market that competes with Microsoft Windows.
ÿThat could mean long-awaited good news to the embattled software firm with a potential sales boost and a new weapon in its competition with Microsoft.
ÿ"What we're doing is announcing a huge amount of support to the Linux platform from Corel," said president Michael Cowpland. "This could become a viable alternative to Windows with 7 million users and growing at 100% per year."
ÿLinux, a free UNIX operating system derivative, was developed about five years ago. It's gaining support with anywhere between 5 million and 25 million users. Estimates are difficult because there are no licences to track, though it's generally agreed adoption is doubling each year.
ÿLinux has become popular because many claim it's faster, more powerful and flexible than other operating systems.
ÿCowpland recently told the Ottawa-Carleton Linux Users Group that Corel will develop its software to run on the Linux system. A Linux version of its WordPerfect 8 will be released in June or July and Corel developers will now work on the office suite of software. CorelDRAW is also being considered.
ÿ"We're doing a phased approach, where we're orchestrating our resources to deliver the suite product first and then phase in the other major products as fast we can," Cowpland said.
ÿCorel Computer Corp., a subsidiary of the software developer, also announced its public support of open source software. The source code for the Linux portion of its NetWinder network computer operating system will be open to the public in the next month.
ÿThat means the code can be used by anyone for modifications or corrections, though that code remains public domain.
ÿAgreements ensure that companies, such as Corel Computer, have sole possession of the product name and new versions, which can include the improvements.
ÿ"Corel, by being one of the first major companies planting its feet in the water and getting at the front of the line, has put itself in a significant position to be a major, major software player," said Dave Neil, spokesman for the Linux group.
ÿLinux fans point to the popularity of Netscape, which released source code for its browser in February as a move in that direction. That's been the largest firm to take the strategy to date, though smaller software firms have released code.
ÿ"Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of developers and users around the world are now Netscape fans and are going to support them hell or high water," Neil said. "And the same will happen with Corel."
ÿSpecial effects for the movie Titanic were done by Digital Domain on computers connected to 150 servers run by Linux. And NASA uses Linux for its Particle Acceleration Laboratory, said Oliver Bendzsa, spokesman for Corel Computer.
ÿOnce the domain of eggheads, Linux popularity has expanded to include IT managers, universities and small business. Linux and open source members include developers and corporations such as Netscape Communications Corp., Cygnus Solutions and Digital Equipment Corp.
ÿ"The next stop, naturally, is corporate users and home users," Neil said. "That's where we hit the wall."
ÿA limited supply of software that runs on Linux has stalled wide-scale adoption, Neil said. Though, he adds, Corel's decision will likely sway other software developers to follow suit. Until recently, major developers shied away from Linux software because users were reputed to buy little software. Cowpland says that will likely change.
ÿ"Up to now it's been mainly free, but then the Internet started off free too and then of course you've got amazon.com with $2 billion in value just selling books on the Internet," Cowpland said. "So things do go through a transition. And we think Linux is now going through that."
ÿLinux also gets a boost from Microsoft's image problem in Europe and Asia, where many see the software giant as too big and too American, Neil said.
canoe.com |
