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	Issue TOC Print full article Print this page Download as PDF E-Mail this URL Flame the author     In this article Introduction More Storage--Less Space Challenging the Chip Companies to Watch Linux in 2003 Web Links

The number of server-side software offerings for Linux will continue to grow, both in the open-source community and from commercial vendors, providing a wide variety of choices for the enterprise. Some 80 percent of Gartner clients, typically enterprises of 1,000 employees or more, have Linux deployed somewhere in the enterprise, but at least 80 percent of those deployments are in appliance and network functions, file and print services, Web front-end applications or computational server farms (source: Gartner Research, CIO Update: The Status of Linux and Its Outlook in the Enterprise, Sept. 11, 2002). Consider deploying Linux where it makes sense; the cost of a server farm can be reduced substantially in terms of licensing and hardware by moving from Microsoft Windows to Linux, but only if it does not require a substantial change to your application development strategy.

The considerable increase in computational power of hardware over the past two years has enabled J2EE to become a viable deployment platform for corporate-class applications and will continue to make Linux on the Intel architecture an attractive, cost-effective platform for Web infrastructure deployments for the next two years. The flexibility of J2EE in terms of platform deployment offers more choice for the enterprise. It is expected that Linux will continue to displace RISC/Unix deployments next year, however, the addition of Linux compatibility to Sun's Solaris 9 may slow the replacement of Solaris installations. Solaris' integration of essential application infrastructure and the scalability of the SPARC architecture should not be ignored.

You'll need to evaluate the time and effort of an investment in Linux before jumping in. Support and training for Linux needs to be considered, and dealing with the aggressive upgrade cycle for Linux can be as time-consuming as the application of hot fixes for Windows implementations.

Linux on the desktop is making headway, though its impact on the enterprise will continue to be minimal for the foreseeable future. Sun, SuSe and Xandros will be aggressively addressing the desktop market in the next year and for some situations, a move to Linux could be worth the effort. Before moving, however, you'll need to evaluate the needs of desktop users and the ability of your desktop management infrastructure to support the move. The deciding factor is, and will continue to be, the use of custom and legacy applications in your enterprise. Users who require only messaging, Web-based access to applications and productivity software can easily be supported by a Linux desktop, and at a substantially lower cost than a Windows-based solution. The advent of Linux desktops with a Windows look and feel will reduce the training required by such a move and the cost of such a migration should be carefully examined. If custom, Windows-based applications are necessary, such a move is more difficult to make, though SuSe and Xandros address this issue with the inclusion of technology to allow binary compatibility (for more on Xandros, see "Xandros Propels Desktop Linux"). This technology has not yet matured, however, so a large-scale migration to a Linux desktop is a move you won't want to entertain seriously in the next year if you're tied to Windows applications.