linux - - hit or miss ? network world fusion focus : phil hochmuth on linux today ' s focus : will linux be a hit or miss on the corporate desktop ? 03 / 15 / 00 dear wincenty kaminski , today ' s focus : will linux be a hit or miss on the corporate desktop ? by phil hochmuth so far this year , the buzz about linux in enterprise networks has focused on servers and embedded systems , with the growth of linux severs being most heralded . according to idc , a research firm based in framingham , mass . , linux was the fastest - growing server operating system last year , with a 93 % growth rate over the year before . linux was the second most - shipped operating system in 1999 after windows nt , capturing 24 % of new licenses shipped . as for the embedded market , linux has emerged as an ideal platform for network appliances , because the system can be modified to handle specialized , dedicated tasks very well . companies such as cobalt networks , picazo and progressive systems have announced linux - based appliances , ranging from web servers to pbxs to firewalls . but what of the open source hacker  , s dream of  & linux on every desktop ?  8 sure , linux on the desktop has become more accessible than ever , with colorful , shrink - wrapped boxes of caldera , red hat and corel linux now available at places like compusa . however , analysts have said that linux  , s growth in the enterprise will be limited to the macro and micro areas of network servers and embedded operating systems . according to idc , linux currently runs on only 4 % of u . s . desktops . the hold microsoft windows has on the desktop market will remain strong , analysts say , despite such factors as microsoft  , s antitrust problems and the surging popularity of linux . even some linux executives are skeptical of their product  , s desktop future . recently , suse ceo roland dyroff downplayed linux  , s future on desktops . dyroff said ,  & given the lack of applications available , we really can ' t claim it as being competitive on the desktop yet .  8 a recent survey by survey . com gives more hope for linux desktops . according to the survey of 1 , 640 enterprise network managers , open source operating systems are used on 10 % of desktops , with the number jumping to a surprising 23 % of enterprise desktops by 2002 . despite the mix of numbers being thrown around , two important factors that will determine the success of linux as an enterprise client desktop are : a standardized , easy - to - use graphical user interface ( gui ) and available applications . one company that is working to make linux more user friendly is palo alto - based eazel , which is designing a next - generation file management system and user interface to run on top of the linux kernel . according to eazel  , s web site , the company  , s goal is to bring linux to the masses and  & do it in a way that appeals to today ' s linux users and to mere mortals .  8 the company was founded by a group of former apple executives , and is allied with the gnome project , which has been doing extensive linux desktop environment development for several years . eazel is due to have a product out by the middle of this year . with an intuitive , icon - based file management environment , eazel is hoping its user interface will be an improvement over the two current linux guis , gnome and kde , and will help standardized the look and feel of linux for  & regular  8 users . for enterprise mangers who have already embraced linux on the server side , this development will be worth keeping an eye on . on the applications side , several office productivity suites have been available for some time , such as sun  , s staroffice suite and koffice for the kde desktop . corel has also ported its office products , such as wordperfect , over to linux to complement its own distribution of the operating system . while there have been recent rumors ( started by linux care vice president arthur tyde ) that microsoft is working on a port of ms office to linux , microsoft officials deny this . while linux may never supplant windows as the industry - standard desktop , there should be plenty of opportunity for linux pcs in enterprise nets in the future . to contact phil hochmuth : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - phil hochmuth is a writer and researcher for network world , and a former systems integrator . you can reach him at mailto : phochmut @ nww . com . for related links - - click here for network world ' s home page : http : / / www . nwfusion . com staroffice software from sun http : / / www . sun . com / staroffice corel linux os http : / / www . corel . com / freedom / freedom . htm eazel http : / / www . eazel . com gnome - - the gnu network object model environment http : / / www . gnome . org koffice - - the integrated office suite for kde , the k desktop environment http : / / koffice . kde . org / cobalt networks , inc . http : / / www . cobaltnetworks . com progressive systems http : / / www . progressive - systems . com picazo http : / / www . picazo . com other linux - related articles from network world : active directory upgrade requires strong game plan , network world , 03 / 13 / 00 subscription services to subscribe or unsubscribe to any network world e - mail newsletters , go to : to change your email address , go to : subscription questions ? 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