The following may help you understand what the new software will do for Free-Net subscribers. You will need to use a new protocol (tcp/IP) and a browser, i.e. Netscape, MSexplorer, etc. How to configure your system and the correct settings will be provided late this summer. Linux, The revolution continues If you do not know about Linux you need to read this. If you do know about Linux, this will fill in some of the gaps for you, and I hope that you will read it. What The industry Press is saying: * Unix Review, Dec 1994; Award: "Outstanding Product of 1994". * Unix Review, Mar 1995; Linux Roars on! "Join the trend of commercial support for Linux" * Byte, Sept 1994; "A truly robust Unix clone" with "All the features of commercial versions". * InfoWorld, Sept 5, 1994; "Reportedly the best Unix around for Intel Processors. Just ask any of the several hundred thousand Linux users", "We are amazed to find how many features and components are included." * Dr. Dobbs Journal, May 1994; "Linux, a widely popular 32 bit protected mode, preemptive multitasking operating system that runs on 386 PCs" and "Linux supports an unlimited number of concurrent users, each application runs in it's own protected address space, greatly reducing the chance of system crashes brought on by ill-behaved applications" * PC-Week, April 11, 1994; "Linux is a complete Posix-compatible operating system with the X-Window System, good development tools, and complete TCP/IP networking. We've been pounding on it for almost a year, and it is invaluable as the platform for our internal World-Wide Web, FTP, and X-Window host server" April 18, 1994; "Linux is a useful beast", May 9, 1994; "Poised to make a commercial splash", Dec 26, 1994; said Linux has "Freely available source code, high stability, and growing commercial support." * Data Based Advisor Magazine, Nov 1994; said "A fabulous way for you to further educate yourself on Unix", and "Very well supported on the Internet" * Bill Gates of Microsoft, says that "Windows NT will be" (note future tense) "a better Unix than Unix." This is what Linux already is! * Ray Noorda of Novell, says "Most major organizations plan on rightsizing their mission-critical applications to UNIX within the next three to four years". He is also funding a major Linux project. * DataBased Advisor, June 1994; "FlagShip stands out as the only system able to port database applications written in a high level database language to different operating environments without major sacrifices" Article written for, and committed to by several various Magazines including the "X Advisor", SOFTWARE Magazine and others. Also bears simularity to a Guest editorial recently done for the "Linux Journal" So where did Linux come from, and what is Linux good for? Unfortunately space does not allow me to do the subject justice, but this article should still be very beneficial to any computer professional who reads it. First a little history: Unix offers what NT and OS/2 have been promising for years, but may not deliver in a truly usable form for some time yet. There are almost twice as many Unix systems installed as Netware and NT put together (Source: IDC) and growing faster. Unix has not been popular on PCs because only recently have PCs truly been powerful enough to support an Operating System with the power of Unix. NT actually requires more horsepower than Unix does, while doing less. The year of Unix has finally come. The year of the LAN came and went. But which year was it? The future is not DOS .vs. Unix, or Windows vs. Unix, but rather Dos+Windows+Unix. Unix makes a great server for MS-Windows machines. At the official introduction of NT, Bill Gates said that "NT WILL be a better Unix than Unix"... To do this, NT must conform to the same international standards as Unix does, and in the process... become just another proprietary version of Unix. Don't wait for Microsoft... learn Unix now. Don't take my word for it, take a look in the help wanted section of your local newspaper. Employers are requiring familiarity with the following: Unix, AIX, HP/UX, OSF/1, SCO, Solaris, SunOS, DG/UX, Novell UnixWare, C, C++, TCP/IP, NFS, and X-Windows, etc. In my local newspapers (Denver), most ads ask for one or more of these things. Unix's acceptance problem is mostly because every vendor of Unix has given it their own name and a few minor changes. Unix vendors proceeded to advertise their variant as different and better rather than promoting a unified front. Among the 100 or so versions of Unix, there are only three major versions. Even these major versions are so alike from a user perspective that moving from one to the other is rather trivial. About 6 major names sell over 95% of the Unix that is installed, and only a few commands and the hidden internals really differ. Unix runs admirably on machines that choke when presented with Windows NT or OS/2. Several PC Unix do fine on a 386 with 4MB of RAM, and 120MB of Hard disk, Graphical PC Unix requires a 486 and 340MB Hard Disk. There is a fabulous way for you to try Unix. Linux is a complete Unix clone, created entirely on the Internet. It is freely distributable, and copyable. Linux runs on any 386 or greater PC that MS-Windows will run on. Linux has all the advanced features you'd expect from Unix including what you need for an Internet connection, Development tools, and X-Windows. Linux will even co-exist with MS-Windows, DOS, OS/2, or NT on the same machine, or in the same network. You can get Linux inexpensively from many sources. Pricing varies from free for the downloading to as much as $100 for CD-ROM. I think Unix & Linux MAY yet blow away NT. Linux is definitely the choice of many thousands of technical people who have tried it, prefer democracy, and don't care to live in a Microsoft dictated world. It is estimated that Linux already sells as many copies every month, as all other Unix variants put together. I feel that Linux will prove over the next 5 years to be among operating systems, as the PC revolution was to hardware; the one common standard that everyone has access to. Major players such as DEC are already investing money in this notion with 2 separate porting projects to bring Linux to DEC Alpha. There are also projects underway for PowerPC, Motorola, SPARC, HP/Precision, MIPS and other chip architectures. So why another new operating system when there are already so many others? Is Linux just another Unix? Aren't there already too many? Of course there are, and that is why we need one with the power to replace the others. From many perspectives that is Linux. Linux is about 4 years old in name (When Linus Torvalds released his kernel under the GNU license onto the Internet), but is much older in fact and concept. Long before Linus Torvalds was involved, a generation ago, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) created the GNU License. It worked like this. Unix originally was delivered with source code to schools, and those that could afford a license. Unix is extremely modular, just like a child's lego toy, you can take out one color block and replace it with another. Over the years, as various vendors of Unix delivered buggy or feature poor Unix components, techies were caught between users that "just wanted it to work" and vendors who could not/would not repair/enhance various things. The result was that a techie would re-write that component (Lego Block) and then deliver under the GNU license with source code to the Free Software Foundation, who also had projects of their own going. These components would then be available to anyone else that needed them. Over a generation, virtually every part of Unix was reproduced in bug free, and feature enhanced components. All that was missing was a kernel and some administrative tools. Everyone had been sharing these components on the Internet, and millions of people used GNU software and utilities. When Linus Torvalds released his kernel to the net it was like setting a match to dry leaves, creating an entirely new and completely open operating system overnight. Administrative tools were added, and the result? LINUX. Linux carries forward the spirit of Unix better than UNIX itself. There are now millions of Linux users in all walks of life and all areas of computing. Linux can be considered "Unix: The Next Generation" for both this reason, and the fact that it was developed in the braintrust of the Internet, which itself was primarily created on Unix systems. Bill Gates at Microsoft says "NT will be a better Unix than Unix", and you can find out just how good that is NOW. Ray Noorda of Novell is funding a major Linux project. The news is full of it. You owe it to yourself to try Linux. Buy my distribution, buy someone else', or if you have easy and cheap Internet access pull it. But don't put it off, try it NOW. What it is good for? Here is a short list of typical commercial uses for Linux: Personal Internet access workstation, WorldWide Web Server, Usenet News Server, Email server or router, Network gateway, Network Bridge, PC LAN Server, Personal Unix or C or other language programming workstation, Commercial Development Platform. X-Windows Client or Server, Internet Firewall, Learning Unix, Set up a small Internet provider site, and more. Additionally Linux is an inexpensive multi-user system which a VAR can sell, and be able to support well because full source code is available. It is possible to get support for Linux from the authors themselves on the Linux Internet News groups. The many benefits and uses of Linux are truly mind boggling. So is Linux "Snake Oil"? No, much better, it's for REAL! Free Software? What about commercial support? Not to worry, a number of companies, including mine offer this very thing, and will take responsibility as if we were the authors. That is one reason why commercial users will want to buy it on CD! Author's Biography Mark Bolzern appears often as a guest editorialist in various magazines, and is a board member of the Linux International organization as well as President of WorkGroup Solutions, Inc. (WGS). WGS manufactures and distributes WGS Linux Pro, distributes FlagShip, an advanced application development system for most common Unix Systems, and other related products. Mark is also the President and Founder of WGS' owner, 13-year-old General Computer Services, Inc. (GCS) which is a Consulting, Systems Integrator, UNIX Development, and CA-Clipper Development house. GCS has been retained by many major corporations for Mark's advice, and industry predictions. GCS developed two modules of popular The Champion Accounting Software, and has published other recognized literary and software works. Mark is a qualified Systems Administrator on Novell, Lan Manager and on several versions of UNIX.