Say what you want about China, there's no denying they know
totalitarianism when they see it. In what may be one of the greatest ironies of the year, the country's Big Brotherly leaders recently expressed dismay at the reliance of their nation's computers on Windows. Chairman Gates, they fear, could put China in a stranglehold. What's more, they worry, Gates and his capitalist running-dog henchmen might equip Windows with secret features that would allow America to rummage through China's hard drives during a crisis. Their solution? Linux.
Perhaps you've heard of it. Named for its developer, 30-year-old Linus Torvalds, Linux is an operating system just as Windows is. It's what makes your computer compute: It processes input from your keyboard, sends the info to your monitor, runs software, keeps track of your collection of "Wassup?" parody commercials, and generally takes care of business where the wires hit the chips.
The number of Linux users more than doubled over one six-month span-from 3 million last January to almost 7 million in July. And not everyone who uses Linux (pronounced LINN-ux) waves a Red flag. All-American enterprises like Boeing and the U.S. Postal Service rely on it every day. AOL and Gateway recently announced plans to sell Linux-based wireless Web devices. It's also gained a toehold among tech-savvy home users. And one more thing: It's free.
But that's not even the best part. The main appeal of Linux is that it's what's called an open-source operating system-which means anyone can look at the underlying code and modify it any way they want. With other operating systems, users are explicitly forbidden from accessing or modifying the program's code. You want upgrades or changes? You'll get them when the developer is good and ready.
With Linux, however, you're master of your digital domain-adapt it anytime. Better still, an open-source system is like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with people all over the world sticking pieces in place. Johann in Stockholm might come up with a neat innovation. Or maybe Svetlana in Moscow has figured out a fix. Linux is, in effect, a worldwide collaborative effort. And with so many folks stomping out the bugs, the result is an operating system with exceptional stability-ideal for Web-based activities like e-commerce that require round-the-clock reliability.
Of course, to get the most out of Linux, you need to learn a variety of arcane commands-or at least be in a position to hire people who have. This is where the average home user tends to hop off the bus. Although the latest versions are more user-friendly (with Windows-style graphic interfaces), and companies like Dell are now shipping hardware with the tricky system preinstalled, pointing and clicking will only get you so far. Still, Linux may be just the ticket for business applications. Stable-check. Adaptable-check. Free-exclamation point. Since hardware manufacturers don't need to pay licensing fees for using Linux, you can expect to see it embedded in all sorts of gizmos that require computer code: from smart refrigerators to video games. And, of course, in just about anything that carries the label "Made in China."
