Linux Is The Future

Asim Raina

There is no doubt about it. The future belongs to Linux. The way it has
captured the imagination of users, it is only a matter of time before it starts
dominating the computing space.

However, this does not mean that we would see the end of Microsoft. Far from
it, Microsoft will continue to not only do well, but actually flourish. What is
going to happen is that its dominance is going to be a thing of past.

All these years, Microsoft has been the numero uno as far as computing is
concerned. It has done exceedingly well to make computing an enriching
experience for the users by its constant innovation and taking computing to
totally uncharted areas.

At the same time, it must be said that Microsoft has undone a lot of its
goodwill by antagonising the very people on whom it depends for business.
Primarily, the company has been acting in a rather high-handed and haughty
manner which users have begun to resent. Instead of encouraging and welcoming
others, it has done all it can to drown out any kind of competition.

Remember players like Lotus, Word Perfect, Netscape etc who once upon a time
had started to provide stiff competition to Microsoft. With the help of some
rather questionable methods, the company managed to vanquish each one of them.

The fact of the matter remains that nobody likes a dominant player especially
when that player starts dictating terms. This is exactly what happened in the
case of Microsoft. If the company had kept its haughty attitude in check and
always kept the interests of users uppermost in mind, history would have been
different.

However, it was not to be. So, the time was ripe for someone to challenge its
domination, which had increased manifold all these years. Someone who could
challenge by way of its innovation and not money. Because, we have to remember
that Microsoft has enormous cash in hand. Much more than anybody else with which
it can buy out anybody and everybody. So, technology and innovation it had to
be.

In this scenario entered Linux. The best part of Linux is that nobody owns
it. It is owned by everybody. Developed by Linus Torvalds, this technology was
put in the public domain so that the entire developer community could constantly
improve upon it. And this resulted in a robust and scalable system which is
capable of doing delivering a lot to users.

Not surprisingly, Linux has already gained a lot of ground and is gaining a
lot more with every passing day. And Microsoft can ignore this hard reality only
at its peril.

Asim Raina