Microsoft: Linux's Merits Are A Myth
Alexander Gusak
(10/06/99, 1:41 p.m. ET)
By Guy Middleton, TechWeb
An article, posted on the Windows NT section of Microsoft's website, takes
Linux apart piece by piece, stating open source advocates are wrong to claim
Linux is more reliable and offers higher performance.
The document begins by criticizing Linux's aged roots: "Linux fundamentally
relies on 30-year-old OS technology and architecture." It also went on to
label the following statements as myths, "Linux performs better than Windows
NT ... Linux is more reliable than Windows NT ... Linux is Free ... Linux is
more secure than Windows NT" and "Linux can replace Windows on the desktop."
The software behemoth concluded, "The Linux operating system is not suitable
for mainstream usage by business or home users."
Linux users were quick to rebut the criticisms.
"These claims are not real world," said John Winters, proprietor of the
Linux Emporium, a U.K.-based webstore. "I deal with big banks and they have
a procedure of rebooting their NT servers twice a week, so the system is
down when they decide instead of when it feels like it. I last rebooted my
Linux server in April-and then it was only because I was running some new
cabling."
Winters, speaking from the floor of the Linux Expo '99 in London said,
"Microsoft is a marketing company that happens to sell software. They don't
try to cure the problems with NT, they just try and change people's
perception of them."
The Microsoft document said: "The Linux community likes to talk about Linux
as a stable and reliable operating system, yet there is no real world data
or metrics and very limited customer evidence to back up these claims."
An analyst was skeptical about the performance claims from both camps.
"Performance-wise the bench tests I've seen all give different results -- it
really depends on the configuration of the individual machine, but in terms
of stability Linux will take market share from NT," said Anoop Ubhey
software research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "The big obstacle with Linux
was getting support, but now a lot of people are offering professional
support."
He also said both OS were seeking to compete with the entrenched versions of
Unix and that he did not see "either NT or Linux making a major impact on
the existing Unix enterprise market in the next year, after that both will,
although it may take longer for NT."