Linux is NOT "Freeware" or "public domain" software. There is a BIG difference. Linux is perfect for business use. Author: Mark Bolzern

Many corporations are wary of Linux because they associate it with "Freeware" or "Shareware". This is very wrong, and in this article I attempt to clearly demonstrate why.

Freeware is often buggy and produced by individual authors who cannot afford sufficient development, QA or product promotion. This often applies to Shareware as well. Public domain software is from authors that have generously granted their work to be made freely available, but they do NOT have incentive to continue maintaining it. Both types of software lack the essential element present in the General Public License (GPL) that Linux uses. the GPL requires that source code to be available to all for any use, and yet allows the original author of each component to retain copyright.

GPL software remains open AND people ARE allowed and even encouraged to make money with it. The sole restriction is that they MUST provide source code free (small handling fee ok) upon request. It would be impossible for any company to buy out ALL copyright holders for ALL the various components of Linux. This insures Linux will stay OPEN to all. One of the best comparisons is the PC architecture that became so popular precisely because IBM made it open. Therefore, anyone could develop for it, and many did. Paradoxically, this very openness is also one of the main reasons that Bill Gates could make his fortune by tying Microsoft's operating system, MS-DOS, to the PC architecture. It was also the reason IBM lost its bet with the PS/2 series of computers. They tried to hold the bird too tight by requiring licensing of the architecture, and killed it.

One common misunderstanding about Linux is that in order to make available software that runs on Linux, one must release it under the GPL license. This is patently false. It would only be true in the special case where someone else's software that was already GPL was used within your software, AND you modify IT. You can use any Linux tool *without* putting yourself in the position of GPLing your own software, with only a minor amount of care.

Each copyright holder is free to determine how its software can be used. As a result commercial companies such as Lotus & Corel, and yes, even Microsoft (Who says they are porting both ActiveX and Explorer to Linux) can indeed make their commercial software available under the same terms as they would in the DOS & Windows worlds... with one very significant difference: Because of the GPL None of them can have preferential access to the OS. This is the advantage that Microsoft has in the MS OS world. Linux provides a level playing field, just as the openness of the PC did, and as Java, which runs best on Linux, may.

Anyone can use Linux software, sell it, make CDs or give it away, if they can afford to, as long as they do not violate the very easy terms of the GPL. Yet the commercial programs created for use on Linux can have license agreements as restrictive as desired that remain enforcable.

Computing is very much a new form of literacy. The inability to read and write has long been an extreme disadvantage. Now those who are not computer literate are quickly becoming similarly disadvantaged. Unlike most commercial software, Linux and the GPL by their very nature ALLOW and even ENCOURAGE literacy (not just application knowledge). Linux, like your native language, can be used by anyone who cares to learn.

Although Linux is freely available, it is nonetheless highly sophisticated because much of it has been more than a generation in the making. Throughout its years of development, the free availability of the source code has allowed years of code scrutinizing, testing and repair by many of the world's best software engineers. Linux's parallel to the use of language itself is phenomenal.

Thousands of the best programmers in the world have wanted to have a freely available operating system NOT owned by any single person or corporation. They have put in hundreds of thousands of hours of labor to make Linux the highest quality operating system possible. And today, IT IS!

Not only has code development been amazingly fast, but bug fixes have been made much more rapidly than in traditional corporate development programs. Like the international development process, the international QA process for Linux has been facilitated by the Internet. Using email, the Internet has made it possible for users to rapidly report bugs to Linux module developers. Such user involvement and rapid development of a world-class operating system like Linux would **never have been possible** in earlier times when the communication capabilities of an Internet did not exist. As each less technical level of people get involved, Linux gets easier and easier. People and companies use and contribute to Linux because of what they get in return, namely tools and a level of self determination that are not otherwise available at ANY price! These small contributions from thousands of users pay off handsomely for all. With GPL software, everyone gets many times the benefit from the effort they give. This magnification is possible because software, unlike hard goods, can be reproduced at virtually no cost.

The core or kernel of Linux is only a bit over 5 years old, starting from the work of Linus Torvalds who created the original kernel. But many of the other important pieces of the complete Operating System distributions also conventionally (although erroneously) known as Linux, are much older. This includes the many scripting languages and utilities which make up the bulk of any operating system. The greater design (architecture) is also much older, developed over a generation, and very well proven.

Linux has inherited the architecture developed for over a generation under the name Unix, and in fact continues Unix's original openness, while Unix itself has been proprietized by various companies (AIX, Solaris, etc) with source code no longer available to the rank and file.

Unix pioneered object oriented concepts: small components that each know how to do their jobs, needing only input, output, error output and parameters telling them what to do. Anyone with sufficient computer literacy can assemble these components like building blocks to do anything imaginable. These "Legos" make Linux the most flexible OS in existence. Because users have source code to each individual building block in case it should be needed, they (developers & IS departments) are empowered in a way never seen before (except by university users of Unix). Should changes be needed to one block, they do not affect another. Advanced Object concepts such as Inheritance and Polymorphism are concepts added later to enhance the object concept, and can be built into language layers on top of the base OS (such as C++, Eiffel, Smalltalk, FlagShip) as needed.

In the world of GPL software, development and QA versions of software are tracked by their similar version numbers. When a module has been thoroughly tested by the *worldwide* user community, and the bugs repaired, its version number is changed to one that is consistent with finished software versions. This method of maintaining separate but similar version numbers enables the latest technical innovations to go into Linux software development without compromising the quality of the "release" versions. Those who want to experiment can do so, and those who want the ultimate in stability can both have what they want.

This outstanding worldwide development process has many benefits for corporate IS departments. Since all source code is available, companies can, if they wish, develop custom versions of utilities and even hardware drivers to meet their specific needs. Similarly, companies can hire one or more engineers to develop products and/or maintain existing Linux systems at a much lower cost than paying the sometimes exorbitant support service fees for commercial operating systems. The return on investment (ROI) of intelligently using Linux is incredibly good.

In addition, due to the GPL and the design of Linux, having source code in house actually improves, not impairs, security. Not only that, but all users of Linux, including corporate engineers, have access to most of the original *authors* of the software via Internet email. Now, *that's* support!

Linux benefits many types of users in addition to members of corporate IS departments. Since source code is and *must* be freely available with *every* copy of Linux, operating system researchers have the best possible foundation with which to do advanced research.

Likewise, since the source code must be available, Linux is an ideal educational tool for computer science instructors and students around the world.

As a server, Linux boasts one of the most powerful collections of server software, used on an incredible number of Internet servers around the world. Linux can integrate well with any other software or hardware you may already have have in both server and workstation roles.

Even Microsoft with its vast resources cannot match the team that has put Linux together. This work was done freely and openly. The work was enabled by Internet, and these are largely the same people that created much of the Internet itself as they worked. Because of this, Linux when properly configured is both hacker AND cracker tested to be as secure as any existing commercial operating system. And, as we speak, tens-of- thousands of users are testing it and, if necessary, reporting any problems directly to the development teams.

Make no mistake, Linux is very *COST EFFECTIVE* not just inexpensive.

Thanks to Linux's building-block structure and gradual development curve, there are no paradigm shifts in the world of Linux, just a smooth and ongoing upgrade path, with incremental innovation. Linux scales reliably from 386 to supercomputer, and runs on more types of systems and processors than any other major OS with full code portability between the various systems. YOu not some vendor determines when and how to upgrade parts of your organization.

Linux is FAST and reliable. You can run a complete corporation with Linux, and we prove it by doing it ourselves, as many of our customers do every day.

In other words, Linux achieves the goal of the "open systems" movement by putting you, the user (YOU), IN CONTROL.

You may see an article with more information on this topic at http://www.LinuxMall.com/announce/lxsig.txt.

This article was extracted from LinuxMall newsletter number 7.

Linux® is a Registered Trademark of Linus Torvalds.