SCO chief testifies: 'Linux is a copy of Unix'

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Would open source Windows be Windows?

If I pulled together an open source version of NT core would the resulting software stack be a Windows software stack? No, under copyright law a software stack that works the same as another software stack but which is not copied from the other is a new and different product.

Linux uses Unix practices not Unix code. The GNU foundation created a Unix like system but does not use any of the code that came from any Unix vendor. This freed Linux from the Unix vendors and Linux is not Unix. The problem for the Unix vendors is that Linux works but how many of the old school Unix systems work on any kind of hardware? Most work on specific hardware and are compiled down to the metal on specific hardware, like Sun servers, for speed and efficiency gains.

Linux is much more like NT core from Microsoft because just like NT core it is totally hardware agnostic now but Microsoft can't sue them because Linux core is not Windows or a Windows work a like. The Unix world could not move to the desktop because of vendor hardware lock down and could not move to the desktop because even if they moved to generic hardware like NT core the development costs would have been prohibitive.

Microsoft took over the low end server world because Windows NT was a fraction of the cost the big Unix boys and IBM were charging for the same services. The fact that NT core was able to run on cheap commodity hardware was its biggest selling feature. Microsoft has had no competition in the hardware agnostic world until modern Linux came on the scene.

Today, Linux is taking the same path that NT core took and will become, over time here, the only alternative to Microsoft's products. The fact that modern Linux is free means it does cost less by far. But, the movement to the desktop for the majority of people is waiting on a desktop software stack that is common among all Unix variants. The same desktop for all would be a huge plus. If the effort put into the different desktops was streamlined and placed into just one desktop then Linux would take over the desktop.

The Linux world at this time is about choice but the one thing that most desktop users need is just a tiny set of choices that runs on all Linux machines. The Gnome and Xfce desktops are all pretty cool but KDE is what they should all be focusing on or something new and different but they have to move to one desktop and one set of choices for the end user sake.

In order to compete with Vista Linux has to move to a common desktop that is backed up by their own dot.net practices. Separate the model view and controller like Microsoft does in Vista and they will win in the long run. Linux is already a server based system and can easily move in the same direction of dot.net and replace the down to the metal coding with servers running in the background instead of monolithic applications. These two changes will propel Linux into the competitive zone with Microsoft. Until then, Linux is just an alternative to Unix on high and low end machines. To take over the desktop there has to be just one that is improved over time.

Posted by: progon   Posted on: 05/03/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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