[svlug] Proposed series of Linux articles in DDJ

[Tom Harincar]

On Thursday, November 26, 1998 7:21 PM Reginald B. Charney wrote:

> Subject: [svlug] Proposed series of Linux articles in DDJ
> 
> >I have proposed writing a series of articles on Linux for Dr. Dobb's
> >Journal and they are interested. DDJ is the world's largest subscription
> >publication for programmer's. My slant is to discuss Linux's
> >infrastructure and how the Linux programming community handles its
> >constant technical evolution. For example, I have proposed articles on
> >the following:
> >
> >* the quality issues that they face
> >* the size and dispersion of the developers issues
> >* the different distributions
> >* dealing with rapid change and stability
> >
> >Here is my question:
> >
> >What other issues do you believe should be covered in such a series?
> >

Hi:

I believe your subject area is very timely and very important.  My
little operation  develops and markets applications software for the
traditional UNIX market and (hopefully) for the Linux community. 
However, I am not a programmer.  My interest is in Linux is as a
business opportunity.  

Unfortunately, it seems that we are beginning to see signs that
Linux, as a technology, is diverging into multiple flavors much the
same as is the case with UNIX.  By this I mean that third party
software compiled on a Redhat release, for example, may not run
without modification on Debian or SuSe - or even worse, that it
won't run on different releases from the same distributor.  Over the
years, my company maintained separate releases for many versions of
UNIX, but we were hoping that would not be the case with Linux. 
Maybe we're being naive. 
 
Even though we statically link, we still run into stupid little
issues like when a support file is moved to a different directory
and a sym link is overlooked which cause an inability to install or
run our programs.  Unfortunately, we lack the resources to maintain
a test system for every available distribution of Linux.  Note that
these are not kernel incompatibilities - they just seem to be little
differences among releases.

I have a special interest in seeing Linux gain acceptance as the
platform of choice for small to medium size businesses needing a
better solution for such things as accounting, order processing and
database applications.  I believe Linux has a chance to overtake SCO
in this area because Linux is far superior to Open Server in just
about every respect.  However, the vertical software vendors need to
be motivated to offer their software on Linux.  Ongoing maintenance
costs will be a primary conern because their decision will be based
on whether they can make money with a Linux product offering.

With regard to Microsoft, my view is that many of their problems
stemmed from the fact that they needed to maintain compatibility
with the entire spectrum of legacy applications software for many
years.  We can all criticize Microsoft for a wide range of bonehead
moves (dll hell for example) but I have to concede that they did a
pretty good job of maintaining this compatibility.  Moreover, their
beta programs seem to be a good faith effort to build decent
software for the masses.  

I believe the Linux O/S distributors need to do a better job of
insuring that ongoing releases maintain compatibility with existing
applications or run the risk of slowing the growth in commercial
acceptance of Linux.  They should view the issue as being in their
own self interest in terms of building the market for their
products.  

Some will accuse me of ignoring the fact that Linux is robust and
stable because it is constantly evolving and becoming even better. 
I know this to be true but I also know that an operating system, in
and of itself, has value only if can be used effectively to
accompish useful work.  In my mind, this means the availability of
stable applications software.  

I will be interested in other views on this subject and your article
when it is published. 

Tom Harincar
Quadratron Systems
<tomh at quad.com>


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