Leader: Linux comes a long way – but let's be realistic

With all the commotion surrounding the annual LinuxWorld conference in New York this week the issue of Linux on the desktop as a 'Windows-killer' has once again reared its head.

Sun's UK MD cheekily offered to help IBM following Big Blue's leaked memo last week that is is planning to move its desktop environment completely over to Linux. An important meeting was also due to take place in London today with Bill Gates meeting the NHS director general of IT Richard Granger about just how much 500,000 Windows licences should cost – Granger of course has started trials of Sun's Java Desktop System just in case Gates needs a little prodding on the discount level.

In reality though we're as far away from Linux as desktop 'Windows-killer' as we were five years ago when Linux users took to stripping Windows off new laptops, installing Linux and then claiming a refund for the operating system they removed.

What has happened with the emergence of more robust enterprise Linux desktop offerings is that it gives businesses more of a genuine bargaining tool when entering licensing negotiations with Microsoft. Earlier this month Newham Borough Council dropped plans for a move to a Linux desktop after finding it wasn't that cheap after all and with Microsoft offering to be a bit more flexible in thrashing out a new deal.

Where the Linux operating system has gained real traction, however, is in the server environment, running high-end systems. But again this isn't a 'Microsoft-killer' – most of that market share has been gained at the expense of Unix, with Windows also making steady inroads into the data centre environment.

Linux has come a long way in the past five years and there is still vast potential for the open source technology in business computing but let's be realistic with our expectations.