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Vendor Accent
Linux spreads its wings
 Linux
has come a long way in India with major successes in the corporate segment.
Its growing popularity has resulted in an increased demand for Linux professionals,
says K Venkatesh
Derided as a passing fad in its early years, Linux has since grown at such
a pace that technology giants like IBM and Oracle are endorsing it, and Microsoft
has had to sit up and take notice. A number of organisations in the country
are increasingly using Linux, whether it is IRCTC for vendor management, financial
and HR management systems on Red Hat Linux; IDBI Bank for financial management,
HRMS (ERP) and e-banking; or BSNL (Chennai) for its billing applications. All
these use Linux to run their core applications. Indeed, Linux has become a popular
option for mail-servers, proxies and firewalls.
Early days
In the early eighties, Richard Stallman wanted to change software that was not
working to his satisfaction, but was unable to do so as the source code was
not available to him. His reaction was to set up the Free Software Foundation
and the GNU Project with the intention of preventing the commercialisation of
such software. He published all his work on the Internet, and people could download
and customise it as per their requirements. With time, more people contributed
with their programmes and newer versions were brought out, all of which could
be downloaded for free.
Next, with the creation of GNU tools, a kernel was required to run these programmes.
This is where Linus Torvalds filled the gap with Linux. In 1991, Linus posted
a message to Usenet, in which he asked for interested parties to contribute
to his effort. Linux expanded from just a kernel to a huge suite of applications
and utilities. Admirers of Linux state that the greatest advantage Linux has
over its competitors is that no other software or operating system can match
a system designed and developed by thousands of talented and motivated programmers,
many of whom are professional software developers.
Linux is a freely distributable, fully 32-bit, pre-emptive multi-tasking operating
system written and distributed under the GNU General Public Licence, which means
that its source code is freely distributed and available to the public.
Technically, the term ‘Linux’ denotes only the kernel of the operating
system. Various companies and groups of volunteers have built Linux distributions
around this kernel. A Linux distribution contains all the necessary tools and
programmes to install and maintain the system, perform basic operations, and
develop software. In addition to this, a number of applications are also included—Web
browser, MUA, newsreader, bitmap editor and audio manipulation tools. Almost
all of these application programmes carry an open licence similar to the Linux
kernel.
Linux runs on widely differing hardware platforms ranging from small embedded
systems over commodity personal computers to huge clusters for processor-intensive
jobs like scientific calculations or 3D rendering.
Growing acceptance
Linux is gaining acceptance in corporates as they are able to expedite project
implementation with the availability of the source code. The IT industry is
dependent on rapid change, and Linux enables IT departments to move projects
forward faster than what has been the norm. Secondly, the current economy is
based on tight budgets and cost-cutting measures. Linux is inexpensive and does
not require royalties. The Linux market share (server-side) is growing at a
phenomenal rate.
Research firm IDC says that Linux has 14 percent of the $50.9 billion market
for server operating systems, and will climb to the number two position behind
Windows by 2006. Recently, the operating system has been espoused by a large
number of major technology vendors, including giants such as IBM, HP and Oracle,
with each drawing on their vast programming resources to develop business solutions
based on Linux.
Because Linux is based on Unix, there are already a large number of Unix professionals
moving into the Linux space. Additionally, as the demand for skilled Linux administrators
continues to grow, a greater number of professionals are earning Linux-based
certifications. The industry certainly needs well-trained and certified professionals
in the Linux space. An IDC study suggests that the market for training professionals
on the open source operating system could grow to between $118.9 million and
$311 million.
Job opportunities
Career opportunities exist for Web developers and software professionals for
creating an improved version of Linux, and also for preparing programmes based
on those improved versions. Sizeable numbers of Linux professionals are working
in India, the Far East and US on applications specific to personal digital assistants,
mobile computing and e-mail. Opportunities also exist in telecommunications,
and for developing system tools. In addition, there are vacancies for professionals
in the marketing and distribution of Linux-based software to different parts
of the world. Certified professionals can even work as freelancers, consulting
with clients on Linux maintenance.
- Freely distributed source code: Since the source code is freely
available, it has undergone scrutiny by innumerable programmers; this
has helped improve performance, eliminate bugs, and strengthen security.
- High level of technical support available: Due to its open
source design, Linux is supported by commercial distributors, consultants,
and by a very active community of users and developers.
- Lack of vendor lock-in: Source code availability ensures that
in case of technical problems, users and support providers are able
to get to the root of the same quickly and effectively. This is in sharp
contrast to proprietary operating systems, where even top-tier support
providers must rely on the OS vendor for technical information and bug
fixes.
- Far simpler than Microsoft operating systems and proprietary versions
of Unix: This means that companies using Linux for specific business
solutions (such as point-of-sale terminals or e-commerce servers) do
not have to buy a bulky package with numerous superfluous functions.
Further, the open-source concept makes it possible for companies to
have their own software specialists or consultants adapt the operating
system to meet their specific needs.
- Runs on a wide range of hardware: Linux supports a wide range
of PC devices.
- Inter-operates with different types of computer systems: Linux
communicates using the native networking protocols of Unix, Microsoft
Windows 95/NT, IBM OS/2, NetWare and Macintosh systems, and can also
read and write disks and partitions from these and other operating systems.
- Low cost of ownership
- All for one and one for all: being open source software, changes
in it will benefit all users.
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The author is Vice-president, Business Development, SSI
Education
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