Looking forward to a Linux world
By NATHAN COCHRANE | LAST year, Corel announced it would
unveil a range of corporate products, the NetWinder,
based on the open source Linux operating system.
Shortly thereafter it released Linux WordPerfect for free
download, and recorded more than 250,000 downloads
in a few days, making it one of the biggest software
releases last year.
Corel has also indicated its active involvement in
pushing along open source projects, most notably by
backing a European group developing a Windows
emulator, WINE.
Corel late last month announced it would sell its Corel
Computer division to Hardware Canada Computing by
the end of the first quarter.
HCC will acquire all of the assets of Corel Computer
supporting the NetWinder family of Linux-based thin
client and thin server computers, and other
considerations, in exchange for a 25per cent equity
stake in HCC.
The interviews took place in the days surrounding the
announcement.
I.T.: There has been much debate about the adoption of
Linux. Some analysts say it is about to peak and
subside, others say it will continue to grow at the current
rate, while a minority predict it is about to explode
exponentially. What is the feeling within Corel about the
platform's viability?
Michael Cowpland: The adoption of Linux as an OS will
continue to grow exponentially over the next few years.
This new OS provides many exciting opportunities for
independent developers and software companies alike.
Corel has already acknowledged the viability of Linux
both on the software and hardware sides of our
business. On the software side, we have developed
WordPerfect for Linux; furthermore, we have made the
commitment to develop the entire WordPerfect Office for
Linux as well as CorelDRAW 9 and Corel PHOTO-PAINT
9.
On the hardware side, Linux is the OS on our NetWinder
Series of products.
I.T.: Won't the decision to sell Corel Computer to HCC be
seen as a vote of no confidence in Linux and open
source?
MC: Absolutely not. In fact, this move is a vote of
confidence for the NetWinder. As it was, the NetWinder
product line would have always been secondary for
Corel. Under HCC it becomes a primary focus for its
sales force, which is already equipped with the
resources and channels to get the product into the
market most effectively. By handing the NetWinder
technology to HCC, Corel is ensuring that this leading
technology will receive the necessary resources to make
the NetWinder a huge success.
I.T.: How will this affect Corel's investment in Linux?
MC: Not at all. Corel's commitment to Linux remains
strong, with plans to ship the full WordPerfect Office
2000 Suite by December 1999 and a commitment to port
all applications to Linux as well.
Corel has been using WINE to port our 32-bit
applications to the Linux platform. We will continue to
use the best tools and technologies at our disposal in
order to bring about our ultimate objective, which is to
allow our users to run Corel applications on their
platform of choice. Our involvement with the WINE
project is a demonstration of our commitment to the
open source community and its philosophy of offering
platform-agnostic solutions.
As an end note, Corel has received high praise from the
Linux community for WordPerfect8. As of 19January,
there have been more than 500,000 attempted
downloads of WordPerfect8 for Linux. This number
includes the more than 25,000 users who have already
registered their products.
I.T.: Can you offer any soothsaying about where Linux is
headed and what sort of numbers of users we can
expect in a year? Two years? Five years?
MC: RedHat Software has released very compelling
figures stating that there are currently 10 million Linux
users world wide. Furthermore, RedHat predicts this
number will increase to more than 15 million by the year
2000. This same report states that in five years time
Linux will be the default OS on all servers.
I.T.: Some are suggesting that Microsoft's reign may
soon be over (indeed, the more evangelistic are saying it
is already). Can Linux, as someone has said, smash
Windows? How is this likely to happen? Will Linux wipe
out Microsoft's server market before attacking it on the
desktop and finally pulling its Office applications out from
under it?
MC: Yes, Linux will become the dominant OS in the
server market before it gains significant grounds in the
desktop market. However, in the near future, Linux
developers will have refined the features necessary for
Linux to become popular in the desktop environment.
Linux lacks both a standardised API and an integrated
desktop environment, however new software
development projects are quickly rectifying the issue.
Two leading contenders are KDE and GNOME.
I.T.: What does this mean for Corel if a scenario like this
plays out? Could all those nay-sayers about the
purchase of WordPerfect finally be forced to eat their
words?
MC: Regardless of the Linux Platform, WordPerfect sales
are increasing. Corel has an estimated 34 million users
worldwide and this number grew by 10per cent in 1998 in
the United States alone. Corel will continue to support
both Linux and Windows by developing and supporting
industry-leading business applications on both platforms.
By doing this, we offer our customers a choice in their
operating environment, without having to compromise
the quality of their desktop applications.
I.T.: Do you get a sense that Microsoft is becoming
distracted by all the negative publicity, the DOJ case and
attacks on its core business? What might its next move
be?
MC: We recognise that Microsoft remains extremely
focused not only on its core technologies, but also on
new technologies. As Microsoft continues to move
forward with both existing and new technologies, Corel
will continue to press forward developing our core
technologies while, at the same time, aggressively
pursuing and exploring new technologies.
I.T.: What are the biggest advantages/drawbacks of
Linux?
MC: The strongest advantages of the Linux platform are:
Open source - Because Linux is non-proprietary, anyone
may fix bugs or customise the OS or applications to his
or her own requirements. Fixes are done in a timely
manner and, in a sense, there is a limitless engineering
resource base for Linux, as there are developers around
the world modifying and improving it 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
Proven stability and scalability - the quality of the Linux
source code is extremely high as it is peer reviewed.
This results in a more reliable and efficient OS.
Low system requirements - this is very important as we
are on the brink of a new age of computing - the thin
client era. As the industry moves towards thin client
computing, the need for a stable, high quality, robust OS
that requires little disk space will be essential. Corel
Computer has already recognised this and uses Linux as
the OS for its NetWinder line of products.
There are minor obstacles for the Linux environment.
However, due to the huge developer community
worldwide and support from commercial industry, these
issues will soon be overcome. Currently the issues are:
Commercial application support: This is being remedied
by companies such as Corel, Netscape, Oracle, IBM,
Star Division and ApplixWare, which all have been
developing and shipping products for the Linux OS. In
addition, there have also been some excellent
grassroots applications to come out of the Linux
developer community. One such example is GIMP, a
photo editing and bitmap creation package.
Solid technical support: This is changing as commercial
software developers and hardware vendors release
products for Linux. The commercial applications will
naturally be accompanied by full technical support.
Lack of an integrated desktop environment: This void will
soon be filled by desktop environments such as GNOME,
which is being sponsored by RedHat, and KDE.
When one examines both sides, there are only
advantages for Linux with a few small obstacles that are
already in the process of being resolved.
I.T.: A lot of vendors are reporting interest in open
source licensing, mainly to port their products to Linux,
but also to harness the creative talent of the Net. Sun,
Creative Labs, IBM and others have joined Corel and
Netscape to offer open source style licensing programs,
but many report being unenthusiastic about the GPL.
Does the GPL (GNU Public Licence, system under which
open source is licensed) need to be modified for the bulk
of vendors to jump to open source business models?
Does this in any way inhibit Corel's adoption of the Linux
platform?
MC: The GPL as it exists does not in any way inhibit
Corel's adoption of the Linux platform.
I.T.: What sort of comparisons can you make between
the rise of open source and other business phenomena?
Is its spread akin to the adoption of the WWW?
E-commerce? Y2K fixes? Supply chain management? Or
is it just hype, as many are suggesting, that will quickly
blow over?
MC: Linux is a part of the WWW phenomenon and is
being driven by the ability of the Web to provide instant
global communication between developers worldwide.
it.fairfax.com.au |
