Linux & the future

[robbieb14]

I just wanted your views on the following subject.

I was looking into a backup server for our company samba server & came across a Buffalo 250gb Linkstation. I plugged it in , gave it an I.P. address, setup the security & that was it, done!! A full working off the peg ftp,samba server. No messing around.

I then came across I.P.COP. Built up a SFF PC in about 30mins, stuck in an extra nic , loaded the software, entered various I.P. address. Configured ALL from a browser, full working nearly off the peg firewall,proxy server,VPN & port forwarding.

In both cases linux was the core OS but it required no knowledge if it, which is great cos I'm lazy.

So what is the future, will hardware manufactures get together with the linux guys & start making evenmore great off the peg servers/devices all setup by the user via a browser? Could this be a real threat to Microsoft, Novell & the like??

 

[smah]

Linux is becoming widely used on router/firewall appliances. You can easily build one yourself with a setup like [

http://m0n0.ch/wall/hardware.php

]this[/url]. Many recent linksys routers are built on the linux kernel. Also as you've seen, small NAS/backup systems are also using linux quite often. I believe that is also being used in some mobile phones and personal video recorders (again, you can find do-it-yourself info for these) I do think that linux will become more widely used in specialized embedded hardware devices, even though it might not be obvious to the user.

Will this ever be a threat to MS? - Some time ago, a few companies started making Linux based handhelds. They didn't fare to well; I don't think that any still exist. Palm is still OK, but I suspect they must be losing market share to MS. Novell? - I'm not sure that they even belong in this discussion.

 

[msound]

Could this be a real threat to Microsoft, Novell & the like??

SuSE what?

 

[gbaughma]

I've been running Linux for several years now. And I started with SCO XENIX back in the mid-1980's.

I don't use the graphical interface. Just good-old text.

The great thing about Linux is that it *CAN* be trimmed down... you can compile the kernel down small enough to run on a CF card; including only the drivers and routines that you need.

I think that for specialized applications (such as firewalls, NAS servers, heck, even TOASTERS) that Linux has the stability and flexibility that is required.

As far as Doze... I have an IPAQ they gave me at work. As soon as the battery goes dead, it loses everything. Pfft. I never use it.

When it comes to down-and-dirty get-er-done work, Linux is the way. No icons, no unnecessary DLL's, no GUI, just do the job, do it right, and do it quickly.

I run my web server at home on an old Dell server, with dual 233MHz processors. The thing is lightning fast, because I don't have all that other stuff running to support a GUI.

The old saying is "Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away".



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg