PC SERVER MANUFACTURERS MAY LOOK TO LINUX (fwd)

["Richard H. Fifarek" <rfifarek@som.siu.edu>]

Subject: PC SERVER MANUFACTURERS MAY LOOK TO LINUX

PC SERVER MANUFACTURERS MAY LOOK TO LINUX                          10.09.98
===========================================================================

  Research Triangle Park, NC -- As Mark Hammond reported for PC Week, Recent
improvements to Linux and backing from industry heavy hitters are encouraging
PC server manufacturers to consider selling systems with the free operating
system pre-installed.

  Red Hat Linux Version 5.2, arriving sometime in November, will include
support for SMP (symmetric multiprocessing), enabling the operating system to
work better on higher-end enterprise servers, according to Bob Young, CEO of
Red Hat Software Inc., in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

  Linux also got a shot in the arm last week when Intel Corp. and Netscape
Communications Corp. announced investments in Red Hat. Intel is considering
investing in Linux distributor Caldera Inc. as well, said Caldera CEO Ransom
Love.

  SMP capabilities may inspire further support from server makers. Gateway
Inc., which has been doing certification tests with Linux for six months,
will likely install Linux across its enterprise server line next year,
said Ray Hebert, senior manager of servers at the North Sioux City, S.D.,
company. Hebert did not say which models would come bundled with Linux.

  In the past, Red Hat has only offered limited SMP support in its Linux
version, although versions of the open-source operating system available on
the Internet do support SMP. Companies have been wary of installing operating
system software from unknown third-party developers and should welcome Red
Hat's endorsement of SMP.

  Gateway is not alone in its plans for Linux on servers. IBM and Dell
Computer Corp. have installed Linux for several clients on a custom basis.
Officials at both companies said that if enough customers want it, they'll
likely ship Linux servers in bulk.

  Two newcomers to the PC server game, Hitachi PC Corp. and Toshiba America
Information Systems Inc., report that Linux is topping the list of Unix
versions that they will support when they reach beyond Windows NT.

  Red Hat's Young expects six of the top 10 PC server makers to offer Linux
on their machines by next March.

  Leading PC server makers Compaq Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are
considering offering Linux on their systems, but officials at both companies
said no decision has been made.

  Bundling Linux on servers will end many installation headaches for IT
managers who want to work with the operating system. But that by no means
mean that Linux will leap into the PC server mainstream.

  "Unless the big guys package their Linux boxes with a comprehensive
Windows-like interface, I don't think they're going to have mass consumer
appeal," said Steve Durst, an engineer with Minuteman Information Security
Technology Corp., in Arlington, Mass. "But for geeks who need things like
routers, firewalls, etc., Linux is going to be a godsend."

  Another indication of Linux's growing viability as an enterprise platform
is coming from Informix Software Inc., which will ship this week its Dynamic
4GL development tool kit for Linux.

  The tool kit will enable developers to build GUI applications on and for
Linux. Informix also will port its enterprise database, Dynamic Server
Version 7.3, to Linux in the first quarter of 1999 or possibly the fourth
quarter of this year, according to sources close to the company.


--
To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@silug.org with
"unsubscribe silug-discuss" in the body.