The rise and rise of Linux has filled more than enough column inches in both the IT and mainstream press and been talked about among IT professionals for us here at ComputerScope to wonder exactly just how far it has spread into Irish enterprise.
On that note, we decided to find out. An online survey of ComputerScope readers was commissioned and conducted by Zoomerang during the first two weeks of June. Over 300 readers responded to the survey. In addition to analysing the results of the survey, ComputerScope contacted a number of respondents at random to discuss the survey in a bit more depth.
Linux has been the talk of the IT town for years now, but many will probably be surprised to learn that nearly 40 per cent of those who responded said their organisations had installations of a Linux operating system. Certainly, if you are not a close follower of the Linux story then this figure may reinforce the perception that the open source software is now a serious threat to the likes of Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and a few others.
However, for those in the know, a breakdown of the results gives a clearer and more accurate picture of where and to what extent the open-source software has penetrated Irish enterprise.
For instance, of the 38 per cent of those who said they had Linux in their firm, 52 per cent said that they used it only on their servers, compared to 8 per cent who used it only on clients. This won’t surprise many as Linux has gained a strong reputation as a reliable, easy to fix and — most importantly — cheap server operating system alternative.
Garry Clarke, an IT engineer for a PC hardware manufacturer, said his company had only installed Linux on its Web servers, network monitoring system and DNS just less than a year ago, but the firm is already keen to deploy Linux to as many of its servers as possible. The attraction for his firm, like many others, was Linux’s reputation for reliability together with the ‘prohibitive’ cost of Microsoft licences.
Nearly 70 per cent of the respondents with Linux cited cost savings on software licences as the main attraction of Linux. In addition, 70 per cent of them said they planned to migrate existing business applications to Linux from other operating systems platforms, while 58 per cent said their use of Linux had increased over the last 12 months.
Although Damien Scattergood, managing director of translation software firm Star Tech Solutions, does not run Linux in his firm, the company has implemented a Linux-based solution for a client who wanted absolute reliability and 24/7 availability for its Web service. One of the big advantages in this instance, said Scattergood, is that problems can be fixed on Linux-run servers without having to take the system down.
Linux since 1991
Others have been more adventurous, particularly if they have been using Linux for more than a couple of years (32 per cent of those with Linux installed it more than three years ago; ComputerScope even talked to a respondent who first started using it back in 1991).
Francis Crossen, IT manager at the Dublin School of English, a popular language school, first began using Linux in 1996. The school, which has 3,000 students at any one time and an admin staff of 45, runs Linux for its Internet gateway and firewall, email server, proxy server and intranet Web server. The school considered Windows NT, but its proprietary nature and expense ruled it off its shopping list, he said.
Security was another consideration, as Crossen says the support available from the open-source community meant that it was very easy to implement a good security system. Speed of implementation was another. Crossen and his team built its current Linux set up in one week, entirely in-house and using standard Linux tools.
Of those who said their organisation had no Linux, 34 per cent cited concerns over ongoing support and a lack of knowledge of open source software as the main barriers to migrating to a full or partial Linux environment.
It clearly depends on the amount of resources you require, but the quality of support from the open-source developer community is proving to be sufficient for people like Crossen. ‘The Web-based support is excellent, really good. I’ve always found the support to be at a much higher level than anything offered by service support companies.’ However, he says the school is a loyal customer of RedHat Linux distribution, which has supplied boxed Linux products that were not feasible to download.
He also takes a philosophical attitude to the Linux learning curve. ‘You have to learn the beast no matter what you’re using.’
David Douglas, an IT manager of an electronics firm in Co. Meath, says that staff who are experts in HP-UX have found they can get a good handle on the company’s SuSE supplied Linux operating system.
One observation from the survey and also from talking to respondents is that Linux is not yet a serious contender to the Unix-based backbones for the serious mission critical tasks in large enterprises. Web server applications are by far the most popular Linux use at 72 per cent, followed by security software (57 per cent), databases (47 per cent) and email servers (41 per cent).
Another observation is that the subject of Linux has not yet reached the top of the IT agenda in corporate boardrooms of Ireland. In 37 per cent of cases, Linux was installed on a technical employee’s own initiative, while 45 per cent installed it as part of an IT project. The remaining 18 per cent installed Linux as part of a strategic initiative decided on by senior management.
It is reasonable to assume that the bigger the company, the more conservative its IT strategy. Steve Brennan, an IT contractor who has one of the largest Irish banks as his main client, says that rules and regulations concerning IT strategy in that bank would prevent a straightforward migration to Linux.
Ivan Prendergast, an information systems manager in a multinational transport logistics firm, said Linux has been installed in other locations but not in Ireland. Lack of compatibility was one issue, as all of its legacy systems are Windows-based, but the main reason for not using Linux was a desire to avoid complexities of working on a new operating system from scratch. ‘Simplicity is a more important goal for us than reducing cost.’
The devil you know
One respondent wrote in response to the question of why his company did not use Linux: ‘The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t’.
A sizeable percentage of respondents, 40 per cent, used Linux on both servers and clients, suggesting that desktop applications such as Star Office or Open Office are fast gaining popularity. Indeed, 22 per cent of those with applications on Linux clients run personal productivity software. Other popular client applications include database software (22 per cent) and software development tools (16 per cent).
However, at least one respondent told ComputerScope that a move to Linux-based desktop applications seemed like ‘too much of a cultural change’.
Others freely admit to being tied to Microsoft enterprise agreements. Michael Power, IT infrastructure manager for Glanbia said apart from having a Linux-based Blackbox — said to be a very popular installation — it was happy with its current agreement with Microsoft. ‘We’re not a technology company.’
At least one respondent cited the widely publicised legal concerns over Linux as one significant reason for avoiding open source. Eddie Callan, an IT administrator for a large corporate law firm, said that while issues such as the SCO vs IBM tussle continued unresolved, it could not seriously consider using it. Apart from that, being a law firm meant that the need to ensure the highest levels of security to protect client records and confidentiality also ruled out open source because ‘it’s a hacker’s dream,’ he said.
For all those who have currently decided against moving to Linux, plenty appear to be considering it, although with a close eye on the press. Tom MacMahon, IT manager at the Blackrock Education Centre, is ‘thinking seriously’ about replacing at least one of the centre’s servers for one with a Linux operating system. He was impressed to read last month that the government of the German city of Munich, in a serious blow to Microsoft, has decided to replace the Windows operating system on its 14,000 office computers with IBM-sourced Linux.
Many commentators have said that the Irish market has lagged behind in terms of knowledge and experience of Linux, but this survey shows this has not stopped it getting its foot firmly in the door.
One could certainly argue that Linux has some way to go, but go it will. Research firm IDC is predicting massive growth in the Linux server market and a wider use of the open source operating system on desktops over the next four years. It expects Linux to ship on over 162,000 servers in Western Europe in a market worth $621 million. By 2007, this figure is expected to triple in volume so that Linux will be running on half a million servers.
12/09/2003
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