linux

Are all Linux distributions created equally?

Brian Proffitt notes something on Linux Today that won't please many in Raleigh or Redmond, but which is arguably true: Linux is Linux is Linux. There really isn't much inherent in a base Linux distribution to distinguish it from its neighbors.

I think the distributions are becoming so similar in their construction, and the differences between them so subtle, the whole notion of distribution superiority is completely moot.

Ian Murdock, founder of Debian, has been saying the same thing for years.

Lately, Microsoft and Novell have tried to suggest that Suse Linux is very different from Red Hat (in terms of interoperability with Microsoft), while Oracle has been saying the exact inverse for its Unbreakable Linux (100 percent compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux).

They're both right. It's just a question of degree.… Read more

OpenSolaris follows Linux to the mainframe

Free-wheeling Linux was an improbable enough operating system to be used on IBM's mainframe line, but now an even more unlikely operating system is making an appearance there: Sun Microsystems' Solaris.

Sun and IBM have been archenemies for decades, but through the combination of open-source flexibility and something of a detente between the companies, the operating system has arrived. IBM expressed interest in collaborating with engineering firm Sine Nomine Associates, which has been working on a mainframe translation of OpenSolaris since Sun opened the source code in 2005. Now Sine Nomine is demonstrating the software on a System z … Read more

Linux and Windows grow data center market share

As Computerworld reports, the search for simplicity is driving Linux and Windows into the data center in ever growing numbers. Gartner expects Windows to hit $19.6 billion in 2007, growing to $22.2 billion by 2012, 13% growth. Linux will pull in $8.6 billion in 2007 and boom to $12.2 billion by 2012, 40% growth. Linux, then, is growing faster, but largely because it's starting from a smaller installed base.

The big loser in all this is Unix, which will not lose revenues (holding flat at roughly $16 billion), but won't grow them. Consolidation of … Read more

The source(s) from which all Linux distributions spring: Debian, Slackware, and Red Hat

I came across this Linux distribution timeline today and found it fascinating. Truly a picture is worth a thousand words or, in the case of Linux, a thousand (thereabouts :-) Linux distributions. Looking at the graphic, it's clear that the many Linux distributions essentially come down to three primary springs:

Debian, Slackware, and Red Hat.

Virtually every other Linux distribution branches out from these three "trunks." I'm not sure if this indicates the inherent quality of these distributions, or if it has more to do with the vagaries of history, but it's interesting to me … Read more

Microsoft FUDwatch: Windows vs. Linux security

It's been at least a week since the last bout of Microsoft FUD hit the wires, so I guess it was time for a new wave. Today's FUD comes from an article Microsoft released on how its security compares with that of Linux. It should come as no surprise that Windows comes off as the Second Coming while Linux is left on the wrong side of Acheron.

It's amusing to watch Microsoft attempt to claim the moral high ground with security. Pat Edmonds, Senior Product Manager for Microsoft, writes that the "many eyes makes all bugs shallow" aspect of open source doesn't work for security, and points to several studies that purportedly confirm that Windows is more secure than Linux:

In reality, the "many eyes" mantra for Linux security has largely been disproved for two primary reasons. First, it assumes that all of the "eyes" are qualified to know what they are looking for. In reality, security expertise is not widely distributed across most users, but is actually a fairly rare and valued skill set. [Mr. Edmonds should know, as this skillset has been sorely lacking at Microsoft for decades.]… Read more

Public beta now open for Red Hat in the Cloud

Want to take Red Hat Enterprise Linux for a test drive without having to install anything? Today the public beta for RHEL on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud went live. It's not perfect, says Red Hat, but that's part of the plan:

We have certified and tested the released AMIs [Amazon Machine Images] within the Amazon EC2 environment and will be providing email-based support for the public beta. While the software is well-proven, we anticipate modifications to the deployment models and use-cases during the beta period and will refine the delivery of our services throughout the beta period. … Read more

Episode 610: Stop killing the universe

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Torvalds calls flexibility the 'biggest strength' of Linux

I made this same point over the weekend in a post or three. But when it comes from Linus Torvalds, it means more.

When asked in an InformationWeek Q&A how Linux compares with Windows, Torvalds didn't go into a marketing discussion of Feature Y over Feature X. Instead, he discussed the strength of Linux's process/approach over Windows' "We are Microsoft--trust us to be your god" approach:

I think the real strength of Linux is not in any particular area, but in the flexibility. For example, you mention virtualization, and in some ways that's a really excellent example, because it's not only an example of something where Linux is a fairly strong player, but more tellingly, it's an example where there are actually many different approaches, and there is no one-size-fits-all "One True Virtualization" model....

...I mention that as a strong point of open source! Why? Because it actually is a great example of what open source results in: one person's (or company's) particular interests don't end up being dominant. The fact that I personally think that virtualization isn't all that exciting means next to nothing.… Read more

Scary news for Microsoft in HP's earnings call

HP never saw a "Vista moment at any time over the past year" declared HP CEO Mark Hurd in yesterday's earnings call. Think about what that means for HP, and what it means for Microsoft. As it turns out, it means essentially the same thing:

Microsoft's dominance of the PC industry may well be fading.

For Microsoft, this is a Very Bad Thing. For everyone else on the planet, it is a Very Good Thing.

Including HP. As CIO.com reports, HP's growth is increasingly coming from developing nations:… Read more