************************************************************** * * * CYBERSPACE * * A biweekly column on net culture appearing * * in the Toronto Sunday Sun * * * * Copyright 1999 Karl Mamer * * Free for online distribution * * All Rights Reserved * * Direct comments and questions to: * * * * * ************************************************************** A revolution in the computer world is usually a quiet one, begun by a very bored, very smart individual seeking an elegant way to solve a small problem. Bill Gates started a revolution or two and made a hundred billion or two by trying to prove he could write an interpreter for a wholly useless computer language for a wholly useless computer. The World Wide Web was invented by a Tim Bernes-Lee. Bernes-Lee worked at a laboratory in Switzerland. Bernes-Lee's solution for locating and sharing files over his network led to the web. Unlike Gates, Bernes-Lee didn't get vastly super rich. He still punches a clock every day, although I suppose he could pocket large wads of cash by appearing in some AOL ads with his arms folded, wearing Gap khakis, a denim shirt, and smug look. Linus Torvald, the leader of the next quiet revolution, isn't getting rich either, despite that his small-solution-turned- revolution is backed by thousands of brilliant computer minds and some major players in the computer industry like Dell Computers and Intel. Torvald's small solution has evolved into a free Unix-clone called Linux. Unix was invented by AT&T. AT&T, because of its monopoly over the phone business, had to keep its nose out of the computer business. AT&T could write software but it couldn't profit from it. Unix, which itself began as another programmer's small solution, was almost, sort of, given away for free. When AT&T was broken up into the Baby Bells, it was allowed to compete in the computer industry. Unix proved to be a highly useful multi-user operating system for universities and defense contractors with lots of users and lots of cash provided by a Reagan government hell bent on building nuclear aircraft carriers and other weapons of masterful destruction. Naturally AT&T wanted a piece of the pie and wanted to turn Unix in a money maker. Most hackers (by which I mean people who live for writing good computer code and not criminals who break into NASA computers) in the '80s had cut their teeth on Unix and weren't ready to pay thousands of dollars for an operating system that used to be freely available on a network. Most of these same hackers weren't also willing to pay $15,000 for a Sun workstation. They reluctantly bought Windows/Intel systems for home use. In 1991, Torvald, for fun, wrote the basics of his Linux Unix clone for Intel systems and gave the source code away for free over the net. Since then, hackers have been sharing their improvements with each other using the net. The first few initial releases of Linux were suited for hobbyists but with thousands of hackers fixing bugs and seeking elegant solutions to all the small problems Linux presented, Torvald's clone evolved into a free operating system that rivaled commercial versions of Unix. By the mid-90s, Linux was ready for prime time but few prime players in the industry were ready to risk critical networks on a free operating system. Those that were confident in Linux's stability were prevented from installing it by their internal legal departments. If it failed, there was no one to sue. While big corporations were afraid to use Linux, preferring a commercial version of Unix or Windows NT, it started to become fashionable among computer types, when upgrading from, say, a 486 to a Pentium, to keep the old system and see if one could install and run Linux. To many's surprise, Linux not only installed on the old hardware but it ran quicker and better than Windows. Big companies are beginning to take a second look at Linux, however. There are a legion of anecdotal stories about Linux networks requiring less hours to administer and a free technical support network that encompasses the shared resources of the Internet. In a move that some point to as an indication that Linux has reached that most cherished of things in the computer industry, "critical mass", Dell Computers has started offering network servers running Linux instead of Windows NT. Dell's move was done with little fanfare however (at least until the computer press picked up on it) since Microsoft has made considerable gains in the network server market and since no one likes to piss off Microsoft. You can learn more about Linux at www.linux.org.