[Linux-bruxelles] Linux set for world domination
Marc HEERBRANT
marc.heerbrant at wanadoo.be
Sam 25 Jan 16:07:00 CET 2003
Linux set for world domination
21-01-2003
Peter Williams
(venant de: http://www.vnunet.be/detalle.asp?
ids=/News/Ebusiness/Technology/20030121011
Goldman Sachs report spells bad news for Microsoft and Unix.
Linux will flourish at the expense of Windows and Unix, and Red Hat may win out
as the standard version of the open source operating system, according to
Goldman Sachs.
The investment bank's Fear the Penguin report said that Linux is now considered
enterprise-class.
It warns that vendors need a clear Linux strategy for ongoing success, and
favours Red Hat over UnitedLinux in the race to become the 'standard' Linux.
"Linux has evolved into an enterprise-class operating system," the report
said. "[But] the majority of corporations still appear to view Linux as a
nascent technology that is not yet enterprise-ready."
Goldman Sachs added that Linux would thwart Microsoft's efforts to move further
up the enterprise food chain.
"Although Windows is cited as the leading server operating system, it primarily
functions in the lower end of the server market," said the report.
With Windows remaining dominant at the low-end, including on the desktop,
Goldman Sachs said that the largest opportunity for Linux is for "servers on
which higher-end, mission critical enterprise applications and databases are
run".
It quotes figures from analyst IDC showing Linux market share rising from 16 to
25.2 per cent over the next three years at the expense of all other server
operating systems.
And Goldman Sachs insisted that IT departments moving from Unix/Risc to Intel
would invariably choose Linux. "It is also possible that Linux could exert
pricing pressure on enterprise versions of Windows," it added.
Roger Whittaker, UK Unix User Group council member, and technical consultant at
UnitedLinux supplier SuSE, agreed with most of the findings.
"SuSE is also seeing a move away from Microsoft, and there is serious interest
in a Linux desktop," he said.
Whittaker explained that SuSE's release of a Linux desktop during the next
quarter is in response to demand, and dismissed the report's view that "the
only viable pure-play Linux vendor is Red Hat".
He pointed out that, while Red Hat is dominant in the US, it is not in Europe.
Because Linux source code is freely available, independent software vendors
have the opportunity to contribute to the operating system's development,
leading potentially to faster return on investment and faster functionality
increase, according to the report.
Conversely, for vendors that 'lock-in' customers using the proprietary Unix
stacks, "a clear Linux strategy [is] becoming critical to ongoing success",
said Goldman Sachs.
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