bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

The Linux operating system (OS) is winning an increasingly strong position in the Asia-Pacific server market, according to the Gartner Group.

In a survey of 850 regional firms in 12 major fields, including communications, transport, manufacturing, financial services and education, researchers found 15 per cent of regional enterprises said they employed servers running Linux.

Nearly 81 per cent of the companies said they had deployed Windows NT/2000, 21 per cent indicated they ran Sun's Solaris, and 50 per cent said they used Unix collectively.

The results showed the changing perception and increasing adoption of Linux as a server operating system.

Matthew Boon, principal analyst for Gartner's hardware platforms in Asia-Pacific, said: 'While Linux is not the primary operating environment within most organisations, the fact that 15 per cent of all organisations surveyed are using Linux in production environments signals a widening acceptance.

'This trend must be a real concern to some of the other server OS vendors.'

The report found there was strong potential for Linux usage in China and South Korea.

'China in particular is emerging as a real proponent of Linux, largely driven by Government initiatives and efforts to build up a strong and viable Chinese software industry,' Mr Boon said.

Linux, which can be freely copied or downloaded from the Internet and lacks the high licensing fees of other systems, has received strong backing by the mainland Government, which has encouraged the development of a domestic Linux, while expressing concerns over security vulnerabilities and the closed nature of Windows.

About 57 per cent of those surveyed said cost was the major reason for installing Linux.

Phil Sargeant, Gartner's Asia-Pacific research director for servers and storage, said: 'Linux is viewed as being more cost effective than other operating system offerings. There is also often a backlash against Microsoft software licensing practices and Linux is sometimes seen as a way of 'escaping' Microsoft's clutches.'

The alternative operating system has proved highly attractive to major vendors, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Sun Microsystems, which have invested in the technology, while Media and Internet giant AOL Time Warner is reported to be in negotiations to acquire Linux distributor Red Hat.

Kelvin Chow, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Linux User Group, said Linux was becoming popular because of its low cost and widespread support on the mainland.

'From a technical point of view, the OS is more secure, stable, less buggy and maintenance is free,' he said. 'The software that works on this OS is also on the increase. For example, OpenOffice, Gnumeric, KDE and Gnome.'

Bridget Yau, Microsoft Hong Kong's group marketing manager for corporate communications, said it was difficult to compare the two operating systems.

'We understand that more people are using Linux and it is apparently a competitor of Microsoft. But the features of Linux and Windows are very different, especially to enterprise users, in terms of training, support and the total cost of ownership,' she said.

Despite the perception of Linux as a viable operating system, attitudes towards it remain mixed. About 50 per cent of respondents believed Linux was not up to the tasks of its Windows and Unix variant counterparts.



Asia-Pacific leans towards Linux OS