[Reader-list] Caldera CEO mulls unified Unix/Linux

[Steef Heus]

FYI.

Steef

By CNET News.com Staff
August 17, 2001, 2:00 p.m. PT
Q&A As chief executive of Caldera International, Ransom Love is on the
forefront of developing open-source software for business computing.

In a question-and-answer session, he describes his vision of Linux's future,
the possibility of unifying Unix and Linux, and the effects of his Orem,
Utah-based company's recent merger with Santa Cruz Operation's operating
system and services arms.

Q: What is your biggest concern right now?
A: Our biggest concern has always been compatibility problems. We face a
world where all companies use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and other
Microsoft applications, so we have to have compatibility and keep up with
what Microsoft does. The idea of companies moving away from Microsoft is
something that may not happen in the near future, if ever, so we have to
explore other areas.

But you sell a desktop version of Linux?
We believe we can save 20 to 30 percent with Linux on the desktop, but
there's a difference between running Microsoft on the desktop and how we see
customers running Linux. We (see) people running Linux desktops managed by
Volution (Caldera's management and computer monitoring software), or running
Windows on the desktop and accessing Linux through Tarantella.

But as the Internet becomes a more pervasive business model, Linux will
become a thin client, or a customized client. We are moving away from
monolithic clients to a desktop operating system that will be more
customized to fit the business need.

The challenge of the desktop is evolving. The traditional monolithic desktop
is not for Linux but the evolving thin client desktop is ideal for it.
Something like 80 to 90 percent of personal time is now spent in the
browser. And as the Internet becomes the predominant use of the desktop,
applications will follow. As the desktop becomes the browser, you will see
Linux become the predominant platform on devices that connect to the
Internet.

You have been heavily criticized in the past for your comments on open
source. What is your position now?
Caldera is absolutely committed to open source, but you have to remember
that GNU is just one of many open-source licenses, so not everything we do
will be GNU--but a lot will. For ubiquitous open-source environments we will
continue to use GNU. But Volution's underlying license, for instance, is
Open SLP.

We are going to continue publishing under open source. But many of our big
customers do not want to contribute their work back to the community--GNU
forces them to give it back--so in some cases we publish under other
licenses such as BSD so customers don't have to give their proprietary work
back to their competitors. Linus (Torvalds) says it doesn't matter which
license you use. We are just extending that philosophy to business
computing.

What does the future hold for your unified Linux/Unix platform?
Linux is most widely deployed in embedded systems and low-end servers.
Because of the current economy, there is no funding for general Linux, so we
will see tremendous specialization in these areas. With UnixWare we can now
take Linux to 32-way systems. And while we are not going into the embedded
space, we will concentrate on thin-client implementations as well as those
server implementations.

With the technology we have we want to move into the high end, and the Unix
kernel is two to three times more scalable than the current Linux kernel.
But there are always trade-offs in putting everything into a single kernel,
so what we want is a single-build environment, so we have to create a single
application layer.

On IA32 you can run smaller applications on Open Linux, or bigger
back-office applications on OpenUnix, while on IA64 you have OpenLinux and
IBM's AIX5L, which shares 70 percent common code with UnixWare. When we talk
about unifying Unix and Linux, the two have a huge amount in common. A lot
of people are running their businesses on Unix, while Linux has a tremendous
population on Web servers and other front-end servers. So we are taking both
and combining them into one platform.

The only area where Linux and Unix really compete right now is for the
developer mindshare, but in future Linux will provide whole new applications
to Unix. What it comes down to is that we have the only platform for
developers that spans from thin client to the data center.

What will happen to OpenServer?
We have more than 2 million installations of OpenServer. The operating
system is in maintenance mode now, so there will be no more major
enhancements. But what we plan to do is to take the OpenServer technology to
Linux, probably with some sort of open-source license but not GNU.

A vast number of your OpenServer customers are running point-of-sale
devices. What does this mean for them?
Our customers, including KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and a lot of these types
of companies--with widely distributed branches--are now looking closely at
Linux for their point-of-sale devices. For these companies the cost of a
Microsoft license is hugely prohibitive, so we are now developing hardware
drivers for our customers.

What does the recent acquisition of SCO really mean for Caldera?
The merger of Caldera Systems and SCO has resulted really in a new company.
Our big job now is to try to help people understand what it means. Our
mission is to enable development, deployment and management of a unified
Linux and Unix operating system. The goal is to make Linux on Intel the
alternative business platform because it is built on open standards.

We have 18 offices worldwide, sales support and marketing for 182 countries.
Most Linux firms are specializing and pulling back into their core markets.
We have been doing some downsizing of the company, but this has not been a
question of cash but of what is the right number of people needed to provide
support in a global market.

How heavily will you rely on resellers?
We have a large OEM (original equipment manufacturer) team directed toward
OEMs and resellers, and we see the channel as critical to business adoption
of Linux. The reseller is the one who takes our products, who understands
them and who turns them into solutions for business customers. We now need
(value-added resellers) more than ever, even though we make Linux as easy to
install and manage as we can.

For the business customer buying open-source software, I don't believe in
the direct market, I believe in the channel. Open-source software can be
overwhelming to these customers.

Along with the acquisition of SCO, you also acquired SCO Forum, which you
have renamed Caldera Forum. Do you think this will continue to be the
success it has been for the past couple of decades?
I think Caldera Forum could be even more popular than SCO Forum was. It is
unique in the industry because it is not a trade show, and people do not go
there to be sold something. They go to interact. There are far too few
events like that.

Staff writer Matt Loney reported from London.