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Several roadblocks have kept Linux from entering the enterprise. Let's see which of them still exist. In this year's reader poll on Linux, we asked several of the same questions we asked last year, just to see how perceptions have changed. Most of the feedback remained the same: A lack of qualified personnel, lack of support, lack of polish and poor management perceptions still rank among the top reasons cited as preventing Linux from becoming mainstream.

Support for Linux was one of the main concerns for enterprises in 2000, and this trend persists this year. Fortunately, commercial support options continue to expand and improve. Not only do the major distributions maintain their own professional support departments, but third-party and OEM support is also available. Hardware vendors such as Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp. and IBM have fully adopted Linux by integrating it into their 24x7 software support-service offerings.

Companies such as Linuxcare, Mission Critical Linux and Multi-User Solutions offer non-distribution-specific 24x7 critical support services for companies wishing to select a non-distribution-specific entity for their support needs. Perceptions of Linux support may not have changed much over the past year and a half, but the availability of support has definitely risen.

A lack of qualified personnel to support Linux within the enterprise was a secondary concern in 2000. It is much further down on the list now because a whole new generation of administrators and programmers is emerging. Over the past year and a half, 1,900 professionals have passed the RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) exam. That number doesn't seem huge -- until you compare it with figures from Novell, which seems to have gained only about 6,200 CNEs (Certified NetWare Engineers) in the same time period. As would be expected, Microsoft's MSCE (Microsoft Systems Certified Engineer) numbers top both considerably; but we think most experts will agree that the expensive, and difficult-to-earn, RHCE is a bit more of a differentiator than the other OS certifications discussed here (for more on certifications, see "Certification Equation.")

While the perception of Linux from the point of view of upper management apparently hasn't changed over the past year, most executives have been forced to consider the OS as a viable alternative. We expect these perceptions to shift even further in Linux's favor within the next couple of years as exposure to the OS increases.

A more legitimate concern for corporate network administrators is weaknesses in the administrative toolsets for Linux. Novell and Microsoft paved the way to simplified network administration with tools such as NWAdmin for NetWare and User Manager/Computer Manager for Windows NT.

Linux began with a traditional CLI (command-line interface) and has struggled to adopt a graphical set of tools for both system and network administration. Efforts on behalf of commercial distributions, including all those we tested, as well as extensive work from the KDE (K Desktop Environment) and GNOME projects, have produced ever-improving toolsets for everything from administering the look and feel of the desktop to configuring Sendmail rule sets.

Webmin, a popular cross-platform tool, can help address the lack of robust administration utilities for Linux. Webmin is a Web-based Unix administration interface used for system settings, network configuration, user and group administration, and application installations. The list of plug-ins is amazingly comprehensive. Among the applications commonly supported are Sendmail, Apache, Samba, firewalls and databases. As seen in the screenshot on page 44, the Webmin interface is well-designed and easy to navigate, making it an effective tool. Webmin uses a self-contained Web server, so a separate HTTPD (HTTP daemon), such as Apache, is not required. In the latest versions, Webmin operates over an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connection, making it difficult for prying eyes to see these sensitive Web sessions. Although the plug-ins for Webmin don't always provide as much functionality as the CLI, their abilities outstrip those of many of the native GUI tools.

Scalability and reliability were among the final concerns cited by survey respondents in 2000 and again this year. With much-improved SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) support in the 2.4 kernel, Linux can now scale to 16 processors on Intel hardware. Of course, commercial Unix offerings and Windows 2000 Datacenter can drive more CPUs, but Linux is closing in fast.

As for reliability, all we can say is that we've had to power down our production Linux servers for only two reasons over the past three years. The first is to upgrade or replace failed hardware, and the second is to upgrade the kernel. Experience has shown that once Linux is configured properly, it rarely goes down, even when upgrading or patching software.

Security Matters

For anyone in the information-security arena, Linux has proved to be a formidable tool. It has become the premier penetration-testing platform; of course, for those with criminal intent, it is the premier hacking platform as well. The list of features that endears it to the hearts of white hats and black hats alike includes:

• Full source code available for the operating system.

• Compilers for almost any language.

• Raw sockets support.

• Packet-crafting libraries.

• Stability and speed.

• Infinite number of security tools available.

Final Assessment

Amazing improvements have been made in Linux over the past 17 months in terms of installation quality, usability, desktop environments, office suites, administration tools and security. However, it's still a very complex working environment, often requiring tremendous expertise to configure properly. Some tasks, such as recompiling a kernel or upgrading to the latest PCMCIA package by hand, are not for the faint of heart. And support for certain mobile technologies, such as 802.11b, still trails that in Windows.

Then there is the question of Linux on the desktop. With the availability of several office suite -- including KDE KOffice, Sun StarOffice and Ximian, for example -- it's tempting to save on hardware and operating-system licensing costs by migrating to Linux. However, the quality of the software compared with that of the king of the hill, Microsoft Office, is lacking. And the splintering Web browser "market" on Linux (Konquerer, Mozilla, Netscape, Opera) leaves users with a multitude of mediocre options. Sun's StarOffice 6 is already starting to raise eyebrows as a serious competitor to Microsoft Office's suite, even though it was still in beta when we went to press.

In our opinion, Linux will continue to make significant headway in the enterprise server realm. Traditional Linux applications -- Apache Web server, Sendmail/Postfix SMTP mail servers, POP3/IMAP mail servers, DNS and DHCP -- will continue to make up the bulk of Linux installations. We expect the increasingly eligible Linux platform to play host to an ever-growing number of high-end applications, namely commercial databases, load-balanced Web server farms (see "Clustering Defined, Linux Style") and enterprise messaging systems. As a workstation platform, it still needs some work, at least for less technical end users.

Kevin Novak and Patrick Mueller work for Chicago-based security consultancy Neohapsis. Send comments on this article to them at knovak@neohapsis.com and pmueller@neohapsis.com.