[ale] Linux grabs its single biggest win

[JD]

On 06/24/2012 12:32 AM, Wolf Halton wrote:
> Internet magazine writers appear to be confused on this issue.
> When I had a govt contract in 93, they were using solaris on the servers,
> and (I think) irix.

>From '93-96 I worked on a government contract primarily running DEC OSF/1 (first
64-bit) and pretty much every other UNIX plus Windows and MacOS. The only thing
holding back Linux for our use was the lack of 3rd party library support in
commercial development tools.

We deployed OSF/1 systems around the world and over 600 workstations where I
worked. Today, this OS is called "Tru64 UNIX." It appears that support for this
OS ends 12/2012. Sniff, sniff.  An Alpha was the first color UNIX workstation I
had on my own desk though I haven't touched on since '96.

At a different job in '96-99, our internet facing servers were Linux, though
internally we weren't able to use it for our product line due to lacking 3rd
party library support again. Commercial development tools simply weren't
available for Linux.

Fortunately, that has all changed and with 5 yr desktop support being
advertised, more and more companies can take a hard look at Linux desktop
deployments.  In a corporate environment, stable platforms trump "new."  WinXP
was the corporate desktop for a decade. THAT is the sort of commitment that
governments and large business needs to adopt Linux on the desktop.

With Linux gaining more government desktops, MS-Office will lose a little hold
and either web or standards-based document formats will get a little larger
uptake.  LibreOffice is really amazing and doesn't have that damn ribbon, though
PPTX files are barely compatible within Microsoft's own programs.