Don't Bother Waiting for the Linux Revolution: It's Already Here
If you're still waiting around for the Linux Revolution to happen, just go look out your window (or better yet -- at your own network).
If you're still waiting around for the Linux Revolution to happen, just go look out your window (or better yet -- at your own network). In a few short years, this ServerWatch article argues, the operating system has gone from a hobbyist's toy to a critical component in lots of data centers, replacing some mainstays and filling niches others have left open.
Do you remember a time when Linux was a niche OS? Beyond college kids and a few converted Unix nerds, Linux was something for hackers, Ham radio operators and ivory tower dwellers. No one would ever put a Linux-based computer into a data center. How times and attitudes have changed. Once known as the "little OS that could," today Linux could take over your data center. No bands will play. No tickertape will fall. And, no pomp or circumstance will surround the event. Linux will seep quietly into your data center through the "cracks" other OSes leave agape.
Whose fault is this paradigm shift toward Linux as an accepted data center-capable OS? The adopters, like you, are somewhat to blame. The media takes partial blame for providing "air time" to Linux and associated open source technologies. The big vendors like Citrix, IBM, Oracle and VMware carry much guilt, too. But, the biggest culprits of all, including Linus Torvalds, are the Linux developers. Their vision has put Linux into every large data center in the world.
Have you moved your DNS, file storage, mail or other services to Linux? If so, you're in good company. If you haven't, it's time to give Linux a second or third look. Unless your applications are extremely proprietary and OS-dependent, transferring them to the Linux platform is a simple process.
