(Other stories by Adam Doxtater)
“By and large, the Information Technology professionals of today seem to be taking the position of the famous three monkeys: hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. From where I am standing it appears that they are buried in this method of thinking so deep that they actually believe that if they simply ignore it, Linux will go away on its own. Why? I am not quite sure, but I have my opinions. People like this have a lot to learn about their chosen field of expertise. If you are one of these troubled folk, read on. I have some words of advice, and you might need to take notes.
“The approach of ignoring something and believing it will go away is no different to the mentality of a child, and sheds light on an underlying psychological barrier that will prohibit an individual from functioning at full capacity during the coming changes in the information age. While this approach may work for you now, it does not stop the rest of the world from carrying on… and that is precisely what the world is doing now…”
There are two types of individuals I am referring to here. Type A is the veritable new kid on the block, or newbie as we like to call him. While there is nothing wrong with being new (we were all there at some point in our lives), there is certainly something wrong with being new and close minded. This type of person probably went to some sort of schooling for his career in computer technology and has no real world experience to speak of. These schools teach their pupils how to drag and drop but not much more… after which they are unleashed on an unsuspecting world. Since Windows is all he was taught, Windows is all he knows. These types come out of school thinking they know everything there is to know about computers and can prove it (usually by adding a printer or USB device to Windows with one of those wizard things. This is total rocket science you know). While this may make mere mortals ooh and aah with amazement, the rest of us are left scratching our heads and wondering how on earth he made it this far.
The real problem with type A is that he thinks that he knows it all. Having this type of knowledge entitles him to a comfort in knowing that there is nothing left to learn… especially Linux or anything to do with Open Source at all. After all, Microsoft does not endorse it and is not charging money to license it, so it must be a passing fad, or worse yet, illegal. Ignore it and it will go away eventually…
Type B is similar to type A, but with some seniority. Type B has been around awhile, but probably in a job that he has kept for just as long. While job security is a wonderful thing these days, some jobs can be very limiting in the fact that you deal with the same things day in and day out. This type is not exposed to the real world for the most part, and he is comfortable with that. As long as the company he is working for keeps him sheltered in his technological bubble, he will remain happy. New things scare him, especially if it involves anything remotely resembling thought. It is interesting to note that Type B is usually amazed at the amazing maneuvers Type A can pull on a new Windows XP machine, but probably doesn’t understand how they work.
Both types, while separately do not amount to much, when used in combination are dangerous. Both ignore the fact that the world is moving on without them as they play solitaire, watch TV, and show off their latest wallpaper changing software to their friends… but you know what? As time progresses, they will disappear from the landscape as they are filtered out. Although I am ashamed to admit it, this seems like it is mostly an American problem. The United States is populated by closed-minded people who prefer to live in their own perfect little make believe bubbles (I can say this for certain as I am American and I work with these type of people every day of my life) that have no intention of venturing outside. Other countries are already seeing the path to the future and are converting their systems en masse. For instance, here are a few notable migrations (data courtesy of IBM):
England: Military and intelligence agencies use Linux servers.
Japan: Leading manufactures like Sony and Matsushita incorporate Linux into video recorders and other electronics.
Key Largo, Florida: City workers use 800 Linux desktop PCs.
Extremadura, Spain: Regional government plans to distribute 10,000 Linux desktop PCs to government agencies.
Brazil: University students at Universidad Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul use 1,300 Linux desktop PCs.
Belgium: European Union commissions study moving member governments to Linux.
Germany: More than 500 government agencies agree to make wider use of open source software.
Italy: The Department of Innovation and Technology is studying Linux.
France: Ministries of taxes, culture, defense and education use some Linux servers.
India: IBM introduces new line of Linux PCs for the Indian market.
Australia: Telecom giant Telestra standardizes their business applications on Linux.
China: The Beijing city government uses 2000 Linux desktops, plans to use more.
Wall Street: Big names in the financial industry like Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston use Linux servers for transactions.
Hollywood: Disney Pixar and Dreamworks use Linux to create animated movies and special effects.
As I said earlier, the world is moving on while the people content with complete ignorance are left behind. If they don’t care to keep up, then so be it. It never ceases to amaze me when I meet a ‘technology professional’ who has either never head of, tried, or is considering trying, Linux and OSS. It doesn’t take much effort on their part to see that huge corporations such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Novell, and Sun Microsystems are placing huge amounts of cash into Linux and marketing efforts to promote the Open Source OS. This isn’t even taking into account the multitude of businesses such as Google, Yahoo, and Amazon.com who are using Linux to run their critical systems.
Security is another huge issue that seems to elude Type A and B. Aside from having a security model that is completely upside down, Microsoft keeps building on top of an operating system that is years past its expiration date and subsequently is prone to leaks and cracks. They have failed to repair these problems time and again even when they are aware they exist. This failure to fix products that they know are flawed is nothing short of criminal… especially when it is costing corporations millions of dollars to repair each time a serious virus outbreak occurs. Yet still they continue to use and endorse the software. Remember last summer? I know I do. Microsoft issued patches at that time, but only because they were looking so bad in the public eye at the time. This is obvious only due to the fact that they knew there was exploitable code well in advance of the attacks. After the chaos died down, rather than beefing up their efforts to produce a more secure environment, they simply offered money to persecute the virus writer. How can anyone knowingly use this software and call it anything close to being secure and solid? This is so far from the truth that it’s amazing people actually believe it. Then again, these are probably the same people that are buying beach front property in Arizona over the Internet. The same rules apply to the transaction. Microsoft is selling beach front property in Arizona and it’s called Windows XP.
Past the fact that there is are serious flaws in security and an increasing interest in moving away from the Washington based company, looking at the way that Microsoft actually views Linux and Open Source software (OSS) is also critical to note. In their 10-Q quarterly filing, the software giant warns shareholders that due to the increasing interest in OSS, it might have to lower prices to simply compete. As a result, valuation will decline. It’s also interesting to note that this notice was issued following the first flat quarter Microsoft has ever had. Coincidence? It could be, but I would otherwise find it pretty bad timing on their part. It is important to mention that their most recent quarterly earnings were back in the positive, but that could very well be attributed to the time of year. It will be interesting to see the next quarter’s numbers. I have included some of the text from the 10-Q report below for your reference if you don’t want to read through the whole filing:
Challenges to the Company’s Business Model. Since its inception, the Company’s business model has been based upon customers agreeing to pay a fee to license software developed and distributed by Microsoft. Under this commercial software development (“CSDâ€) model, software developers bear the costs of converting original ideas into software products through investments in research and development, offsetting these costs with the revenues received from the distribution of their products. The Company believes that the CSD model has had substantial benefits for users of software, allowing them to rely on the expertise of the Company and other software developers that have powerful incentives to develop innovative software that is useful, reliable and compatible with other software and hardware. In recent years, there has been a growing challenge to the CSD model, often referred to as the Open Source movement. Under the Open Source model, software is produced by global “communities†of programmers, and the resulting software and the intellectual property contained therein is licensed to end users at little or no cost. Nonetheless, the popularization of the Open Source movement continues to pose a significant challenge to the Company’s business model, including recent efforts by proponents of the Open Source model to convince governments worldwide to mandate the use of Open Source software in their purchase and deployment of software products. To the extent the Open Source model gains increasing market acceptance, sales of the Company’s products may decline, the Company may have to reduce the prices it charges for its products, and revenues and operating margins may consequently decline.
This is a pretty sobering message if you pay attention to what they are saying. Microsoft is openly acknowledging that Linux and OSS is a viable threat to their way of doing business for the long term. In todays economy, it simply isn’t reasonable to charge $500.00 USD for an office suite when you can either download a free version or buy a supported one (StarOffice from Sun, for instance) for less than $80.00 USD tax and shipping included. With the prices of PCs falling well below the $500.00 USD mark, how can an office suite cost more than the PC itself? Or how about the operating system? That will be another $150.00 – $200.00 USD easily. This is simple math, folks, and it doesn’t add up… regardless of locale.
At this point, if you still doubt the power and market penetration of Linux in any way, you should be asking yourself again why you are still employed in this industry. Thank your lucky stars for what you have had thus far and either start learning Linux or find another career. If you are new to the industry, read what I am saying and take it as words of advice. Linux will become part of your job description. It’s only a matter of time. Short time. The time is coming when we will all need to put up or shut up. I have been foreseeing that day for years, and it looks like we are getting closer to it being a reality.