linux invades redmond 25 march 2001 by johnmichael patrick monty monteith

A few weeks ago I received an email asking for a story about Linux. The request took me a bit by surprise since it never occurred to me that I have not written anything about the operating system of choice for Internet servers. Barely even given it a passing mention over all of the years. What makes this even more surprising is that I use Linux on a daily basis, with three Linux servers in my home and more than a half dozen at the office. Perhaps the reason I have not written much about it is because I did not need to.

Linux is like your favorite hat, or a sweater you have had and well used for a decade. It is always there for you, and pretty much always does the job it was intended to do. If you are in need of a stable server for doing any of the main networking tasks, Linux is the tool of choice. Need a DNS server? Linux. DHCP server? Linux. VPN? Linux. Samba server? Linux. Firewall? Linux. Proxy server? Linux. Web server? Is there any other choice?

Of course there is. There is Microsoft. Sitting on the corner watching as nearly everyone uses Linux to run the most important networking tasks in the office. As you might suspect, Microsoft has not been sitting there waiting for this rogue system to evaporate. Bill and company have been busy little bees, balancing the need to avoid a conflict with the Justice Department while needing to crush the open source operating system that has become the Internet server standard.

I think most people out there do not realize just how much Linux has taken over the market. There has been a quiet revolution that happened throughout the world, and nearly overnight the most important computers everywhere are slowly becoming Linux servers. The reason? Linux is one of the most stable operating systems out there that can accomplish most any server task asked of it. If you need a computer to run your web site, and you do not have much interest in seeing it crash on a monthly basis, you will be running it on a Linux server. Need to have a DHCP server in your new home network handing out IP addresses to any computer you put on your network? Linux can do it quickly and easily. In fact, there is little Linux cannot do, and do better than the competition. Did I mention that it is free? In many ways Linux is to Microsoft's Windows 2000 Server what Internet Explorer was to Netscape Navigator. A product that, arguably, is better, but more importantly, it is free.

How can Microsoft win this battle? Well, giving away Windows 2000 Server for free will not change much since Linux is already free. Making Windows 2000 Server more stable will help, but they have a long way to go before it reaches the stability of Linux. No, Microsoft needs to require the market to use Windows 2000 Server, and that means making the new features of Windows 2000 dependent on that relationship.

Bill has been sneaky about this. He did not want a blatant requirement or the Department of Justice might get wind of the issue. No, instead they made the link something that only an I.T. Manager would notice. Little things.. Like, Microsoft's Active Directory requiring the main DNS server in the network to be a Microsoft Windows 2000 DNS server. Sure, you could go to great effort to have your Linux server remain the head of the household, but most companies will just opt to letting Microsoft have control.

Windows 2000 also not so subtly uses DHCP services on Microsoft Windows 2000 DHCP server to get the full functionality of Windows 2000. Once again, you could continue to use Linux servers for this task, but then you would not have the added configuration capabilities available at the workstation level.

Microsoft has wisely decided that the way they will destroy Linux is by slowly removing how and where it can be used. If Microsoft servers do not work as nicely with non-Microsoft platforms, it sort of slowly eliminates the competition, right? Now, while I would certainly agree that Microsoft has every right to make their products work first and foremost with their own software, it would be tough to convince me that Microsoft does not have the brain-power in house to make Linux servers operate just as well with Microsoft products. And certainly I could not be considered off-base to question Microsoft's motives in their 2000 Server requirements.

This being said, I believe that Microsoft still will have a tough battle on their hands. I am a perfect example of that. I use Windows 2000, but give up my Linux DNS servers? My Linux DHCP servers? My Linux web servers? My Linux sendmail servers? My Linux proxy servers? Not bloody likely. After all, they are the only computers in the office that I can always count on. How many Microsoft products can you say that about?