The future belongs to Linux

The rising generation of programmers isn't being fed .Net and Windows. It's growing strong on Linux and its associated LAMP stack, as Robert Guth of the Wall Street Journal notes. Microsoft thinks it has an answer to this trend toward Linux. It is very telling how far from reality Microsoft is by its response:

Microsoft hasn't been a player in the Net start-up world, in part because of the cost of its server product. Mr. Hilf tells [the WSJ] that Microsoft is trying to fix that with new licensing schemes that make Windows Server more affordable for start-ups....

The technology has also been a hindrance, which Mr. Hilf says Microsoft tried to overcome by making additions to Windows Server 2008 that might appeal to Linux programmers who want better access to the technical guts of the software. Such changes "will be a big impact to that next-generation Facebook," Mr. Hilf says.

Well, no, Bill. Such changes are largely irrelevant at this point. You've already lost the mindshare war, and tepid changes to Microsoft's server licensing policies won't change things, either. Your company's limp olive branch to the open-source community ("You can use our software royalty-free and without fear of legal retribution...so long as you never make a penny from your efforts") is worse than insulting.

Microsoft's model is perfect for the client/server model that it helped to pioneer. It is irrelevant for the web-enabled future that is being built even as I type. This new world looks more like Firefox: platform agnostic. It doesn't care if people run Windows. Neither should you.

[seanupton]

The problem is a poisonous ecosystem; cleaning up a bit of pollution or making it easier to drink the water doesn't really matter if the dirty air chokes you. I have a sense that developers who create startups want essentially zero barrier to entry other than work; their time isn't worth as much as money early in the process, and they have little to lose leveraging free. Even if Microsoft's server pieces are easier to acquire, there will still be other non-trivial barriers to entry in the ecosystem.

[RTFM]

TIP: Use what is best for you. I travel in many OS worlds and each has their good points. Use the best from each. Hoorah for capitalism! RTFM

[alloyking]

As long as the "Free" product (this being Linux) is always better or comparable to what Microsoft can develop.... Then I'm always going to choose the free option.

So the message for Microsoft:
If I had Thousands of dollars to burn on Server08 and ASP... then who knows maybe I'd join the darkside. But for now, while I'm developing on a used car budget... I'll stick with openSource.

Then When I am rich.. and can afford Windows. I won't bother. Because I never learned how to write in your language.

The internet is slowing killing off the hold MS has held for years.

[digiplaya2005]

Yes, the Windows platform, (as I'm sure has been noted by others) is starting to fall apart.

What is really unifying the forces of computer programming and design, for example? Or even, the internet in general? Certainly not .NET or ASP, XML or JavaScript etc, though I have little knowledge of how to use these technologies myself.

And what about 3d Desktop support? Sure, you can buy a 3d desktop-like program for XP/vista, but it doesn't come close to have the full functionality that either:

Beryl / Compiz Fusion / Metisse / Etc.

has! And on that note, the latter of those may have the most functionality / practicality of all three, though unrelated to this article.

Tom Anderson

[mister_lister]

Sorry Microsoft, you are clearly behind the REAL game. People who love programming, love linux. Sure we make money developing commercial or internal applications, but our true love is doing stuff on our own and that means LINUX baby. Open source is a great way to go when you just love to code. MS sucks, it's api and sdk is limited. With Linux I can rebuild the BLOODY kernel! I can create an OS to my liking. Yeah, enough said, programmers love Linux and programmers fuel software development and implementation. Obviously I use linux full time at home. At work I am forced to support and develope for Windows. Sure it has some eye candy and is simple to install stuff. Distributions like Ubuntu are ramping up Linux for home users, Dell is even selling Ubuntu systems. Right now people are brain washed but those effects will diminish over time.

Move over MicroCrack, Vitamin L is on it's way and invading your OS market share slowly but surely.

[rthutchison]

Explain this:

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2008/02/06/february_2008_web_server_survey.html

[qwerty75]

Explain what?

A lot of the "growth" you see for windows is crappy web services like GoDaddy. They stuff a gajillion people on 1 windows server and a gajillion windows server instances get reported even though it is still only 1 server.

Then there is the parked domains.....

The real numbers for Apache running on Linux is much higher.

[phagos]

Simple - it's a survey of deployed web servers, not developer's preferred platforms. Some businesses choose to use Microsoft, a lot don't. Point being, some developers voluntarily choose to use it (ick), others just code in it to pay the bills. So what if more MS servers are being deployed? More Linux servers are too, and at a faster rate. Next time you ask for an explanation, at least have the decency to specify what you want explained.

[sameole]

How many time has tech future prediction has been wrong. Every few years a prediction comes out on the eminent death of windows and MS. Get real Windows will be here, two world can coexist. What was it in the 90's net pc will be the end of Windows. Here one prediction that will come true, its a fight between MS and Google for the internet space.

[CFMunster]

I just switched from XP to Ubuntu 7.10 on my desktop, but I don't believe open source is the entire future. Saying that Linux is the future because of a youth movement toward LAMP ignores the reality of the market.

Windows has a serious lead over Linux in enterprise IT environments. As long as that remains the case, CIOs will continue to purchase Windows over competing platforms.Many of those CIOs will be committed to running as Windows shops.

[balboa41]

I think that Linux can become a good competitor to Windows when everything work together. Linux programmers must make a good real alternative to the Active Directory, with all the integration that comes with it in Windows environments. For systems administrator, integration is everything, it is a lot easier to deal with certain problems when everything is designed to work as a whole. Time will come when Linux compete directly with Microsoft's technologies, but I think it still needs a very large development in some areas. But, I have to admit, Linux and the Open Source community have great solutions, not so-well integrated, but that kicks off a lot of Microsoft's products.

[AppleSuxLeo]

I tried Linux , but...it wouldn`t run my games , work with MSFT outlook/activesync , no drivers available for my Epson scanner or my D-LINK wireless card.
No wonder the world runs primarily on Windows. It isn`t "opensource" but it has the most drivers , apps , and game support in the world. And for all the "bluescreen hahaha dweebs" , I haven`t had a bluescreen in years and have never had a virus or malware.