The Dozen 2003Open Source/LinuxAnywhere, Planet EarthThe future was supposed to be Coke vs. Pepsi, Unix vs. Windows, Sun Microsystems vs. Microsoft. Java, the wired Robin Hood of software, would turn back the imperial legions from Redmond. It looked like the beginning of a twilight struggle, with ISVs, systems integrators, and customers forced to choose a side — and if they could afford it, both sides — as the battle raged for dominance in a bipolar world. But a funny thing happened on the way to this scenario: Linux. In 1991, Linus Torvalds planted a seed that untold numbers of programmers carried across the Internet. The collaborative development of the Linux operating system created a "third way," which is attracting growing interest at the enterprise level. No CIO today can consider the future of strategic business applications without a long look at Linux and open source. The open source movement is older than Linux, at least as old as Unix — and really as old as software itself. In many ways, Linux and open source are picking up where Unix and Java left off — amid proprietary interests, dense standards requirements, and economic pressure squeezing primary sponsors busy trying to maintain enterprise-style margins. Sun was the first to feel the Linux heat. Sun spent much of 2002 defending the relevancy of its crown jewel, Solaris, and enduring criticism about the pace with which it was moving Java into community development. By late summer, CEO Scott McNealy donned the penguin suit: a harbinger of things to come. Heading into 2003, it looks like Microsoft will be the one to sweat. Well, maybe: the company obviously has enormous resources, including legal, upon which to draw. However, Microsoft has yet to find a strong rebuttal to counter the TCO arguments favoring Linux and open source. Concern may be spreading in Redmond that the architectures of the future — grid computing, clusters, and specialized operating environments, such as embedded and mobile — are heading in the direction of Linux. A malleable, commodity operating system seems to fit the development of such innovations well. The New InfrastructurePerhaps by definition, it's difficult to spotlight dominant vendors. However, two bear close attention. The first is Red Hat, which successfully brought reliability to Linux and is thus a key partner of enterprise players such as IBM and Oracle. The second is database software provider MySQL, headed by the outspoken Marten Mickos. Adding support in 2002 for transactions, MySQL is trying to do with databases what Dell Computer did with PCs. "Open source is disruptive technology," Red Hat declares. Closing out this year's Dozen, look for open source players to shake up next year's list. MAJOR MOVES IN 2002· Red Hat released 8.0 version of its Linux distribution · MySQL delivered 4.0 version, which includes InnoDB transaction engine · PostgreSQL 7.2 final release delivered in February, followed by several updates during 2002 · Sun Microsystems delivered its Linux distribution to run on new LX50 family of Linux servers · Caldera International changed its name to SCO Group, uniting Linux with the SCO-branded Unix and OpenServer solutions · Kylix 3, Borland Software's rapid application development solution running on Linux, won "Best of Show" at LinuxWorld
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