Is Linux a threat to Microsoft? (page 3 of 3)

Across the region, enterprises of all sizes and in all market sectors are adopting Linux. The Al Ghurair Group in the UAE is running Oracle applications, as is the Habib AG Zurich Bank, Dubai, which is running core-banking applications with Linux.

Other regional Linux users are the Bahraini government, Saudi Aramco and Emirates Industrial Gases, to name just a few big players making the switch from Microsoft. According to Samer Karawi, HP Middle East's marketing manager, Enterprise Systems Group, Linux will take Unix's market share. Adds Hatem Al-Sibai, group IT manager for the Al Ghurair Group, Our decision to migrate from Windows to Linux was driven by the need to achieve higher uptime for our business while improving information security and reducing cost of ownership.

Not so, says Salloum. Microsoft fixes its vulnerabilities faster than Linux. It's not easy to go in and fix these problems. And you don't want someone to go in and fix one problem, then break something else in the process.

'So why should you care about Linux?' asks Ayman Abouseif, Oracle MEA's senior marketing director. 'First, cost savings are an obvious draw for enterprises, as Linux is a far less expensive alternative to other operating systems.

'Second, Linux runs on lower-cost, non- proprietary hardware computer systems, so organizations can deploy it on low-cost commodity hardware. Third, Linux is open source, so dependence on a single vendor is replaced with greater innovation. As with any new, low-cost, non-proprietary technology, Linux gets cheaper over time.'

Hidden costs

Microsoft's Salloum argues that this is the farthest thing from reality. Everybody now knows that Linux is not free, he says. You get the license for free, but if you want any support or patches, you have to buy a license. The Linux distributors have seen that they cannot support it for free. It's just not free.

You see all this stuff in the news that says that Linux is free, so they think, why should I pay for it? But it is not just a question of the initial cost, but the total cost of ownership. Nevertheless, to more and more people across the region, there are compelling reasons to switch to Linux.

They certainly have the support of Torvalds, who says, I personally find it much more encouraging when there are local centers of knowledge that do their own thing and really take advantage of the fact that with open source you can really customize the system and the applications for the local needs.

Torvalds also think that Linux adds value to the long-term self-determinism of the region: Part of that long-term future should definitely be the question about whether the area can itself steer its own IT infrastructure, or be left dependent on outside sources of proprietary software.