By BRIAN GRAINGER: brian@grainger1.freeserve.co.uk

Over the last few months there has been a fair amount of hype in the trade press and beyond about Linux. What is it and is it something we have to take notice of? This article gives some background to the origins of Linux and my thoughts on its potential impact on the world of computing.

Before introducing Linux I need to address two other concepts. The first is what has now been termed 'open source software' and the second is UNIX.

I think we have all seen the terms public domain, freeware and shareware applied to software. They differentiate between different licensing models for the use of software.

When you buy a product from Microsoft, Lotus or whoever you have to supply the readies up front before you get your hands on the complete product. Then having got the product you actually do not own it. You simply have a licence to run it in some way.

Shareware started life as a way for the small software supplier to enter the market. It also addressed the problem of not being able to try the software before paying for it. In its purest form shareware is a full software product that you get for free. However if you like it and continue to use it you are obliged to pay a fee, usually much less than commercial software. There is a tendency, in this country at least, to think that shareware is permanently for free. For this reason I guess some shareware now comes with reduced functionality. This is one way to encourage registration. Another is to provide a written manual.

Freeware is an interesting term. In this licensing model you can use the software free of charge but you do not have the right to hack it and update the software yourself.

Public domain software, which we hear little about these days, gives the user complete freedom to do what they like with at no charge.

Open Source Software is nearest to public domain except there is usually some altruistic organisation who is trying to organise the development process. They usually co-ordinate activity via the Internet. In this way you get software that is free to use, you can add your own features, but hopefully does not become an out of control mess.

Probably the first example of open source software that you came across, or heard about, was Emacs. This was an editing tool, used to edit documents or programs, that was available on a wide variety of platforms including the PC and Amiga. It was also available on mini-computers. I've read that an open source software version of AmigaDOS, called AROS, is being worked on. The techies among you will probably have heard of another open source product, GNU. GNU stands for 'GNU is Not UNIX', (that's an example of a recursive acronym!).

That brings us on to UNIX and what it is. It is an operating system. Commodore BASIC, CP/M, AmigaDOS or MSDOS are examples of operating systems. They are used to look after the operating functions of a computer; the file handling and communication with the hardware. UNIX is an operating system which grew up on workstations, although there have been some PC variants. UNIX grew up from the CP/M and MSDOS style of operating system. It is based on a similar syntax which is executed from the command line. It is a multi-user, multi-tasking system. UNIX has been loved by techies for many years but never really hit the mainstream. One of its problems was that it came in various different flavours. IBM came up with AIX, Microsoft favoured XENIX and there was SCO UNIX amongst others. More recently things have stabilised a bit by virtue of certain vendors coming to the top of the pile. The two chief protagonists being Sun's Solaris and HP/UX from Hewlett-Packard.

Some while ago a Dane, called Linus Torvalds, developed his version of UNIX. He was eventually persuaded to call it Linux, although this was not its first moniker. Commercial versions of UNIX have centred on the server side of the network. While still being capable of being a server operating system, Linux also focuses on the desktop. As time has gone on a group has built up around Linux and it has now become open source.

That explains the background to Linux but has not explained why it has come to the fore during recent months. My own feeling is that it is to do with the anti-Microsoft feeling that abounds. The techie fraternity has always had a love hate relationship with Microsoft and the commercial sector know that they need to co-ordinate to fight the Redmond giant. Linux acts as a common focus to fight Windows in all its forms. The fact that it is 'free' helps it sell! As a techie myself I can see how irritating Microsoft software has become. Since Windows 95 Microsoft has focused its software to 'think' for itself and try to anticipate what users want to do and then do it automatically. Unfortunately, this is the antithesis of what a techie wants. They have lost control. They cannot easily make the product sing and dance to their tune. Linux gives them an opportunity to get that control back again. It makes computing fun again.

Over recent months Linux has made news in a number of areas. There are two major commercial suppliers of Linux. Red Hat and SuSE. One of the problems to business of 'free' software is how to get support. Both IBM and Hewlett-Packard have recently announced that they would provide support for (Red Hat) Linux. No doubt they will charge for this but it could be the final piece in the jigsaw that will encourage take up. A company called Cobalt networks (www.cobaltmicro.com) have introduced a box, roughly 18-19" in each dimension and called the Qube, which comes preconfigured to be used as an intranet/Internet server. It uses Linux as its operating system and Apache, (another open source product), as its web server software.

Of course, no operating system is going to cut the mustard unless it has applications. Here is where the commercial anti-Microsoft brigade had made their contribution. There are three Office software products that I know of, Linux Office, Star Office and Corel Office. The latter two are free to personal users and have already appeared on the cover disks of PC Magazines. Star Office 5 appeared on PC Plus in February and Corel Office appears on Personal Computer World for April. I said earlier that UNIX and therefore Linux is like MSDOS. That means that a GUI system is required, if you like such an interface. Two of these that I know of are KDE and Gnome. The former seems to be spoken of more often. For browser capabilities then Netscape Navigator, now free, is available. To give file and print services on a Linux server one can obtain yet another open source product, Samba.

The products are there. Do I think Linux is going to take off. Well, I do not see it on too many home computers. Techies may use it but I do not see your average punter installing anything but Windows. However, if a company came up with a preconfigured machine, sold purely on giving the basic Office and Internet functionality, at the right price they may have some sales. In the commercial sector Microsoft is becoming entrenched so there would not be a massive change to a new operating system.. However, I believe it could appear on departmental servers and I suppose it might replace existing commercial UNIX. Its best chance of success is in the niche products, like the Qube. I believe we are going to get products, much simpler than a PC, whose sole purpose will be to access the Internet. The operating system for that is another area that Linux might go for. Summing up, I think it is a niche product, but it might be a rather large niche.

If you want to try out Linux then the April PC Plus magazine has the latest version available to run from a Zip disk.

Finally here are some web sites which may be useful to those who found this article interesting:

www.linuxworld.com Linux Magazine.

www.lwn.net Linux News.

www.slashdot.org Techies Paradise!

www.freshmeat.net Open source announcements.

www.deluxe-tech.co.uk Source for SuSE Linux.

www.dnuk.com Source of machines, in the UK, that come with Linux installed.

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