Will the next generation of CIOs be ready for a new set of challenges? Steve Nice, CTO of Reconnix, shares his thoughts on what can only be described as digital dithering in today’s boardrooms and highlights what barriers need to be broken down to ensure that companies remain innovative, flexible and agile.
Working with Linux systems is a core part of what we do here at Reconnix, and I’ve personally been working with Linux in some capacity or another for almost 20 years. It has been fascinating to watch the kernel evolve over time and also to see the effect Linux has had on the growth of the Internet. This is also perhaps where the success of Linux is most evident. It is undoubtedly the leading system server side, and it is what the majority of the internet’s leading websites and services are built on.
But a recent article from Dan Kusnetzky on ZD Net asks the question, if Linux has been so successful in server and embedded implementations, why did it not succeed on the desktop?
It’s hard to argue with the reasons offered by Kusnetzky. Dependency on specific applications not available on Linux and the extreme fragmentation of the Linux ecosystem mean that it is next to impossible for a business to turn around and say: “we’re migrating to Linux.” This is simply because the answer is never that easy – it will always be precluded with “how are we going to run that application we use every day?” or even “what type of Linux? There are so many.”
Essentially, one of Linux’s perceived strengths – the freedom to innovate and develop – was essentially its downfall. In a race to constantly improve, a stable, well supported, uniform Linux system never really existed. The lack of a ‘killer app’ to rival Microsoft’s Office suite can also not be ignored.
But the future is not yet written for Linux on the desktop – and some trends in show that Linux may be finally able to shake off these old problems. Firstly, very recently, Red Hat and CentOS, two different Linux distributions, announced plans to bring both platforms under the same umbrella, signalling a departure from the fragmentation that we know.
We are also beginning to witness mass adoption of Linux by public sector organisations. The most high profile example of this is the City of Munich, abandoning Microsoft and moving 30,000 desktop users over to its custom Linux distro, LiMux.
Finally and arguably most importantly, perhaps, is the changing way in which applications are being delivered. Whether over the web or via a virtualised platform, the native OS is being rendered irrelevant, and soon it won’t matter what operating system you’re using if you want to run a particular app.
The success of Linux in the past still glows radiantly, but the future appears to be even brighter. Perhaps now is the time to finally make that move.
Steve Nice, CTO Reconnix
Turning 30 is a milestone for us all; often seen as a defining line between youth and adulthood. Today auspiciously heralds the thirtieth birthday of the first ever Mac, and as such, for many an Apple devotee, the era defining line in the sand for modern computing.
The Macintosh 128K launched thirty years ago today with a heady marketing campaign behind it, most notable was the Orwellian Super Bowl advert. Directed by Ridley Scott, an experienced Dystopian future-gazer whose films Blade Runner and Alien predicted a bleak future for humanity. The campaign assured us that 1984, thanks to the launch of the Macintosh, won’t be like ‘1984’. In truth, Jobs (then a fresh faced 28 year-old) couldn’t have been more right… Apple humanised computing. Apple has created a brand, image and personality more focussed and encouraging more fierce loyalty than any other manufacturer. Apple don’t produce machines, they produce lifestyles.
But behind all the marketing, beyond the fan-boys who queue outside stores for nights on end, let’s take a look at the brilliant commercialisation of Jobs and these early Macs. The 128k cost $2,495 when it was launched (that’s the equivalent of $5,600 today), a high price point but one deemed deserving of the innovative new technology it introduced. However, it’s worth considering that Apple’s user focussed computing interface wasn’t actually an Apple first. It had actually been invented by Xerox for their failed Xerox Star computer, but Jobs, having the pioneering eye he was renowned for, correctly spotted this is a game changer. Xerox may have invented the graphical user interface, but it was Apple who defined it.
This ability to spot the next defining technology pursued Apple for the next 30 years, from 1991’s Powerbook series which were the first true Mac laptops, the 1998 launch of the iMac with its striking translucent design right up to the aluminium Macbooks and the recent ‘trashcan’ Mac Pro. Apple, the restless innovators, has an incredible skill for spotting winning trends and technologies and marrying it with mass market appeal. Here’s to the next thirty years.