September 8th, 2004
Forbes: Linux, now an asset for Microsoft
Has Linux been helping Microsoft close deals? Microsoft, nearing its 30th anniversary next year, is often coming out on top in its battle to show that it is a more logical choice when compared to Linux. An article from Forbes says that it’s not just Microsoft’s price cuts, but rather issues like staff training, rewriting apps, and missing applications and features which make would-be switchers think twice about the open source operating system. In his final analysis the story’s author, Daniel Lyons, says that as a commercially packaged solution, Linux’s threat is starting to wane:
Microsofties say they were more worried about Linux a few years ago, when it was a truly free program, spreading on its own, from user to user, like a virus. Now that Linux costs real money, and is sold by buttoned-down blue suits from IBM and Novell, Microsoft feels more confident. Microsoft has beaten these guys, badly, in operating system wars before.
Linux is nevertheless making significant inroads into the enterprise as indicative by analyst reports such as yesterday’s from Butler Group, which proclaims that Linux is now a viable alternative for the core of the datacenter, and will be for the PC desktop within two years.
