SAN JOSE, California -- The man who birthed what he calls "the best operating system in the world" sat through the panel discussion at the Internet Service Provider Convention Tuesday with a mischievous grin nearly glued to his face.
His smirk hinted at what the rosy-cheeked programmer from Finland, Linux-creator Linus Torvalds, later put into words: "I saw this coming."
What he was referring to was the stamp of mainstream corporate approval for Linux, Torvalds' operating system alternative to Microsoft's Windows NT. Linux is a variation of the Unix operating system that runs on PC hardware.
The OS has enjoyed a cult-like following, but the software gained further recognition Tuesday when Intel (INTC) and Netscape (NSCP) announced investments in flagship Linux vendor Red Hat. The panel was held to discuss the outcome of the partnership.
"Lately, everybody has been getting this feeling that Linux is an overnight phenomenon over the last seven months," said Torvalds. "In fact, I've been seeing this coming for the last seven years."
Torvalds wrote the first version of Linux when he was a college student in 1991. It was grown from Torvalds' seed via the collaboration of hundreds of programmers working together through the Internet, where it is distributed under a free license. As its source code is made openly available, Linux can be modified and adapted to each programmer's needs.
"The principal benefit is this phenomenon called control," said Red Hat founder and president Robert Young. "When the PC came along, you could build [and modify] your own machine. This control over your OS environment is a primary benefit of the Linux OS."
Red Hat sells a popular commercial version of Linux. Its manual-cum-software package sells for US$50, and brings Linux the benefits of stability, efficient performance, and tight security -- in a shrink-wrapped package. The new financial backing of his company, said Young, will go toward turning the Red Hat Linux package into a corporate-grade, fully supported product. But most of all the backing has symbolic power, he said.
"It's nice that we collected a few dollars from it... but now we'll be able to convince MIS directors that [Red Hat Linux] is a safe bet."
As a result of the new alliance backing the operating system, Linux people are coming out of the closet at corporations, said Netscape Senior Vice President John Paul. "I'm no longer nervous talking to enterprise customers about Linux," he said.
Torvalds sees the next stage of development for Linux moving toward applications that use it. "In three, four, five years, when all the office suites and the games, and all the applications are lined up -- that's when total world domination is complete."
Intel Corporate Vice President Sean Maloney downplayed perceptions of the announcement that it represented a deepening rift between the chip company and its longtime OS ally, Microsoft.
"The Intel-Microsoft angle is interesting spin and makes a good headline. But the reality is a little more boring than that. Ever since we introduced the microprocessor, we've sought to get software running on the platform in as efficient and fast a manner as possible," said Maloney.
Particularly in the ISP community, investment in Linux is very important, he said. But this "doesn't affect support and emphasis we put behind [Windows] NT."
But Torvalds painted a more challenging view of the news for Microsoft. The company, he said, would not be able to take on the potent, grassroots developer momentum behind Linux.
"What can Microsoft do? They certainly can't program around us. And the only other thing they can do is marketing, and sure -- let them try. But, we'll see," said Torvalds, his Chesire Cat grin still in place.
