Chicago gets a first-hand look Monday at what has become almost a moral crusade: an anti-Microsoft movement called Linux now sweeping the computer industry.
The battle between St. George of Linux and the digital dragon known as Microsoft will be joined before a crowd of 80,000 of computing’s best and brightest as the huge Spring Comdex trade show opens at McCormick Place.
Microsoft Corp.’s chief executive, the enormously wealthy Bill Gates, will be on hand for the defense as the Comdex keynote speaker. Audience members can anticipate receiving an early glimpse of Windows 2000, the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s flagship operating system.
Ninety minutes later, Linus Torvalds, the free spirit who created Linux eight years ago while still a student at the University of Helsinki and gave it away free on the Internet, will give the keynote at the Linux Global Summit, a two-day conference running concurrently with Comdex. Neither show is open to the public.
Already Linux poses the worst threat that Microsoft has faced in years by making substantial inroads in sales to operators of business computer networks who often adopt Linux over the competing Windows NT product that soon will be renamed Windows 2000.
Comdex general manager Bob Bierman touts the opposing speeches as a teraflop tag match.
“You have the two kings of both sides, you’ve got Gates speaking the same day, same place: Gates and Torvalds. So if people want to make a comparison, there’s no better place and time,” he said.
While too old to still be called a Wunderkind, Torvalds remains an anti-Microsoft crusader as well as a cult figure in many high-tech circles.
He recently told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution that replacing Microsoft’s Windows NT or Windows 2000 with Linux is a “moral issue” rather than just a business one.
Although not exactly user-friendly to the non-technical masses, Linux does have a strong appeal to many computer users. It can be acquired for free. It runs well on older, lower-powered computers. Its source code is available to the public, allowing for quick bug fixes. It’s fairly stable and crash-resistant. And like Unix, Linux is directly wired for the Internet.
More than just a piece of software, however, Linux is part of a movement among a growing segment of computer professionals who advocate opening up the source code for computer operating systems.
The open-source adherents view the freer exchange of ideas and code as not only a technical and economic advantage but a moral imperative. Torvalds, whose popularity on the Internet rivals that of Gates, has been tagged as the movement’s messiah.
According to open-source chapter and verse, buyers of software should be allowed the same sort of latitude as are buyers of other business tools such as trucks, which they can re-fit, paint and otherwise change to meet their needs.
The other side of the argument is that a computer operating system is many times more complex than other tools and that letting customers alter it willy-nilly will create havoc and harm the reputation of Microsoft.
Besides, Microsoft has argued in the past, publishing the actual code in its software for all to see would amount to giving away valuable trade secrets.
In a move that may be more self-serving than genuine, Microsoft is making a show of being concerned about Linux, expressing fear about the Windows alternative during court testimony and in leaked memos.
William Neukom, Microsoft’s chief lawyer, has argued during the company’s antitrust trial in Washington that the sudden threat from Linux proves that Microsoft is far from an impervious monopoly, but rather a company fighting always for survival in an enormously competitive industry.
Last week, Microsoft’s Windows 2000 engineer Brian Valentine told a Los Angeles gathering of hardware executives that the company is “seriously considering” publishing much of the Windows NT source code known as the NT kernel.
Whether Microsoft really considers Linux a mortal danger or not, Torvalds’ operating system has given Microsoft its most significant competition in years as thousands of business computer executives begin using Linux for some jobs Windows used to do, and many of the world’s leading computer-makers announce plans to add machines running Linux to product lines once exclusively Microsoft.
Among recent Linux converts: International Business Machines Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., all of which have started selling Linux-based machines alongside their Windows machines.
Running on an estimated 7 million computers worldwide, still a small fraction of Microsoft’s reach, Linux is proving itself a serious contender in the operating systems marketplace.
In addition to the Linux vs. Microsoft shootout, Spring Comdex promises to give technical professionals a chance to see the hottest new technologies on the market. While the even bigger Fall Comdex in Las Vegas typically focuses on gadgetry that may be far down the road, Bierman explained, Spring Comdex is more about the here and now.
Besides showcasing Windows 2000 and Linux, Comdex will spotlight several other computer platforms such as Java, NetWare and Windows CE. Software and hardware for electronic commerce and computer networking will be another hot area in the show.
Also, expect to see the heart of corporate information technology departments (called IT in the trade) roaming the streets of the show’s host city. With the local concentration of Fortune 500 companies, software development firms and Web production houses, Chicago provides an attractive location for professionals looking to buy and sell high-tech products.
Comdex remains one of the city’s most important conventions, with the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau estimating that this year’s show will bring in $108.4 million
“This is one of the hearts of the Fortune 500 community,” Bierman said. “One thing that is very appealing to us this year is the fact that Mayor Daley seems to be getting very serious about creating some IT initiatives to draw more technology companies to the area.”
Beyond ogling gadgetry, the IT professionals’ first priority at Comdex is conducting business, with most participants trying to expand their customer base and impress corporate buyers. This is the place to see and be seen for those in the high-tech industry, a chance to network and hawk their wares on a grand scale.
“It’s important to get `street credit’ by appearing at the show, especially for someone like me with little money to spend on marketing and advertising,” said Alan Zeichick, president of Camden Associates, a San Bruno, Calif.-based technology analyst group formed in August 1998. Zeichick will be giving one talk on new and faster Internet connection solutions and another on hand-held computing devices.
“It’s the whole package, walking around the show with a speaker ribbon, being in the brochure, being on the Comdex Web site, being quoted in stories,” Zeichick said. “It’s part of my stealth marketing plan.”
The debut of the Linux World Summit assured the presence of Orem, Utah-based Caldera Systems Inc., said Nancy Pomeroy, Caldera’s media relations director. Caldera distributes Linux source code and provides software support. The company will be displaying its new OpenLinux operating system for network servers.
“There are a lot of software professionals there, a lot of buyers, a nice cross section of people,” Pomeroy said. “Many CEOs and other corporate heads are there looking at products, going to the booths. The IT people will be there telling them that the Linux OS is stable, doesn’t crash.
“We expect a lot of Linux coverage with the summit being there,” Pomeroy said. “We want to be part of that.”
CyberOffice Technologies, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based software development firm, will be set up to show off its accounting and business operations programs.
“We were so successful at Fall Comdex in Las Vegas that we had to come to Chicago,” said Daryl Bibens, CyberOffices’s vice president of sales. “We generated a ton of leads for our distribution channels, especially overseas. We could see how our exposure increased, especially in the international market, right after the Fall show.”
And can longtime Comdex-goers expect anything new at this year’s show?
“EDS (Electronic Data Systems Corp.of Plano, Texas) for the first time is coming to the show, and they’re talking about e-business,” Bierman said.
The presence at the show of the data processing giant started by H. Ross Perot dramatizes the huge changes sweeping over the computer industry as it becomes ever more apparent that people are on the verge of buying massive amounts of merchandise after shopping on Web sites equipped with the sort of security and power that EDS can bring to the table, Bierman noted.
Asked what else might be interesting, Bierman said, “And whenever you get the Linux community in town, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Chances are, of course, that whatever the Linux crowd does, cola and pizza will be involved.
