Linux is now the fastest-growing operating system on the market, with a
powerful presence in corporate computing — primarily behind servers — and
strong potential in the embedded space; but, unsurprisingly, it faces
difficult-to-overcome barriers when it comes to desktop usage, according to
a recently released survey by InternetNews.com parent internet.com Corp.
internet.com, together with third-party research provider Insight Express
LLC, polled 169 members of internet.com’s Technology Advisory Panel, a group
drawn from the audiences of the company’s 169 Web sites catering to IT-savvy
Internet professionals.
The study, “Linux: You Get What You Pay For?” found that 39 percent of the respondents
use Linux and 31 percent plan to explore using Linux in their organizations.
Of the respondents using Linux, 67 percent said they are using it as the
operating system of a Web server, while other popular uses include running
Internet access servers, mail servers and network/file servers. The survey
found that 33 percent of the Linux users polled, 11 percent of the total
number surveyed, use Linux for their desktops. While only 8.4 percent of the
respondents said they are using Linux on embedded applications, the survey
found it is likely to capture a segment of that market because it is
inexpensive, easy to modify and offers good connectivity.
The low cost of Linux, its reliability and its compatibility with older
systems all contribute to Linux’s popularity for use with single/limited use
appliance servers. But the OS has drawbacks — though firms in the Linux
sector are working to iron them out. Currently, large-scale application
servers and e-commerce applications are often beyond the scope of Linux. The
OS also lacks a strong, robust journal file system, supports a limited
number of processors and has relatively few administration tools and little
backup support compared to products from UNIX vendors and Microsoft.
But there is strong incentive to overcome these hurdles. E-commerce firms —
which depend upon Web site availability — especially could benefit from the
stability of Linux. Nearly 80 percent of the Linux users who responded to
the survey said they highly valued the operating system’s superior
stability.
But non-Linux users, while valuing stability highly, also placed emphasis on
ease of use, ease of upgrades, vendor support and good documentation. Even
Linux users, only a little more than a quarter of whom said ease of use was
part of their operating system selection criteria, showed a tendency to
gravitate towards easier to use, Windows-like operating environments like
GNOME and KDE — though those environments also have the benefit of being
open source and thus more appealing to many Linux users.
Internet.com’s survey also found that Red Hat was the most recognizable
Linux vendor — 79 percent of respondents were familiar with the company and
55 percent recognized it as a major player in the market. Even two-thirds of
non-Linux users said they had heard of Red Hat. Sun Microsystems and IBM
Corp. both appear to be getting their involvement in Linux across — 20
percent of the respondents recognized both companies as major players in the
field. Caldera, VA Linux and Corel were also recognized. The bad news,
however, is that 35 percent of the respondents said they don’t know who the
major players in Linux-based solutions are.
