Word: linux
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...venture capitalist at Accel Partners puts it, "in the past six months, we have not seen a business plan for a conventional packaged software application." Sounds surprising, perhaps, but how else could a single student from Helsinki hobble together a few thousand lines of code that turned into Linux, an operating system with millions of users currently being shipped on IBM and Compaq PC's? The only real barriers to entry in the operating systems market are a mind, a modem and, arguably, a garage...
...Microsoft--which owns more than 90% of that market--isn't a monopoly, then nobody is. Microsoft tried to argue that its Windows operating system was under constant threat and could be made obsolete at any moment. But the competitors it listed hardly seemed like giant killers. Upstart Linux, the open-source operating system that Microsoft speaks of so fearfully, currently runs less than 3% of all PCs. Even if you include Apple, which is undeniably on an upswing, Microsoft still has more than 80% of the PC market. Jackson wasn't buying...
...What can you really point to in terms of new competition?" Taylor says. "Their only rival in the PC operating-system market is Linux, and while it?s promising, it?s still beyond the reach of the common man. There?s been no fundamental shift that would make the government reconsider its case." So what do we have to look forward to after Tuesday? Another long hiatus ? in which Microsoft and the government are meant to think about settling but probably won?t ? after which the two sides will present their visions of the company?s penance (could another billion...
...Linux and the open-source movement that spawned it are among the most exciting and important things going on in the software world today. But the setup is just too complex for the average person. A few weeks after my column ran, I had to swap the PC I was using for another one that didn't have Linux, and I still couldn't install the version from Red Hat without tech support...
...tried another flavor of the operating system, Open Linux 2.2, sold by Caldera Systems ($69). It comes with an application called Partition Magic, which is supposed to make it easier to run both Linux and Windows on the same hard drive. I was up and running in half an hour--but when I rebooted my system, I was unable to launch Linux, apparently because my hard drive is too big. (Don't ask. I consulted a long-time Linux user for help, and even he couldn't figure it out.) Since Caldera doesn't offer free phone support, I sent...