Will Linux be the Bridge that Unites Us
Will
Linux be the Bridge that Unites Us?
By Doug Chick
For the most part, all computer people seem to be about the same. That is, we share a lot
of the same common interests. There are many of us that eat, breath and sleep computers.
(Or routers, bridges and other computer related devices.) What we read, whom we admire and
our views on politics are also very similar. It is not my intention to stereotype us as a
group, as that has already been done. I'm merely trying to point out that it must take a
comparable type of person to even want to do this for a living. We are unique but very
much the same. And yet, there is a great division between us. That which divides us is
"What is the best operating system?"
Is NetWare the better OS, or is it NT, Linux or Unix, and if it is Unix--what flavor? Myself, I don't know that I have ever known the answer to that, each one has had it's place in a server room, some better suited than others, while others were shaped by what the accounting department and other department software packages dictate.
From these articles that I write, I receive a substantial amount of e-mail from computer and network people alike from around the world, and many times I'm surprised when I discover that the e-mail I just read was from someone where English wasn't their first language. Regardless of their nationality, they all seem to speak about just how disappointed they are with the Software Company of the operating system that they've dedicated their career to.
NT Admins say that they don't like how Microsoft turned their backs on them by retiring their certification, so that they can cash in on the next version of certifications. Novell Admins are afraid that they are administering a dinosaur and are going to be left behind, and there are Unix Admins that feel like all of their loyal efforts have gone commercial. I don't know if these companies simply forgot who's been supporting them all of these years, don't care or if their hands are tied by board members and stock shares. Whatever their reasons, they better be careful because Linux is starting to look a whole hell of lot better. This ugly little duckling, (or penguin) just found a new market, a bunch of NT, NetWare and Unix administrators that are tired of being used to sell product and certifications like Amway salespeople / customers.
I think that there have been so many of us, that chose an operating system based on how much money could be made administering it, we never anticipated that it might hurt our long term careers. The short-term achievements that were gained, might well disappear at the whim of a marketing department's next meeting. To me, it seems like these days, the only questions that software companies are asking us, are not how can we make your job easier, but instead, how can we make a product that is so career dependant that you couldn't possibility stop using it without ending your own career. We need an operating system that we can shape to our needs, not an OS that shapes us, and I think that Linux could just very well be the answer.
Every MCSE that sent me a letter last month, angry about their certifications being retired, ended their e-mail with a comment about buying Linux. Many of the e-mails that I received from CNE's expressed concern about where their careers were going and wondered if they were wrong for sticking it out for so long, but still refuse to kneel to NT. And of course, they all ranted something about how Microsoft was the evil empire and how Microsoft executives will be first ones against the wall once the revolution begins. People, lighten up here. Everyone knows that it will be Steve Jobs for creating a entire sub-culture of really weird artistic types that want to talk about why Macs are so wonderful when they dont even know the first thing about computers! Sorry, just had a flash back from when I worked at a university Anyways, getting back to it; the remaining letters were from Unix people explaining that everything was stolen from Unix, and once the revolution begins everyone that uses a backslash instead of a forward slash will be assimilated. Computer people aren't uptight, are they? But still, those that administer Unix were upset about how commercial and expensive Unix has gotten. (That paragraph is gonna cost me some e-mail.)
So it seems to me at least, that Linux has found it's place among those of us that went for the gold and now regret dancing with the devil. Now it's up to all the penguin headed programmers to bring it up to speed so that we can sell it to our companies. In the meanwhile, I'll continue struggling with all these books I bought about Linux and make my fingers quit hitting that bloody backslash key.
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