ty; PC client support; distributed enterprise services, Internet capabilities, and degree of support provided by major hardware vendors. The results are summarized in the following graph:Ratings of 2 commercial Linux distributions vs. 6 commercial enterprise server OSsAs the chart shows, Linux rated only at or beyond the "OK" mark, but not a single operating system rated as excellent. Note also that this comparison is a year old and did not test the Linux versions that have recently been developed as true enterprise solutions.Server OS pricingThe range of pricing for Linux and other enterprise computing solutions is very broad. If you are a technical do-it-yourself type, Linux is free for the downloading. At the other end of the price spectrum, Penguin Computing System's Linux 8000 is an eye-popping $80,000 for a base system (hardware included). Linux 8000 is a fully scalable product meant for multi-processor platforms and for large institutions. Most Linux server OS prices run from about $65 to $200. These are low to mid end products meant to provide home and small business solutions. In the mid-level, small business range are products such as Caldera OpenLinux(TM) eServer 2.3 from Caldera. This is a thin component-based server operating system priced at about $200. Another example is Cybernet Systems Corp NetMax Professional for $499. Red Hat has just released an enterprise version of Linux. At the enterprise OS level Red Hat Linux Enterprise Edition is a specialized Linux distribution offered as a complete enterprise database platform. It is touted by Red Hat as the perfect platform for customers interested in deploying Oracle 8i(TM) on Linux. An international survey firm, International Data Corporation, conducted a survey, and as of February 2000, has Linux second only to NT in server market unit sales.Linux accounted for 25% of all shipments in 1999, up from 16% in 1998. It now exceeds Unix and NetWare sales. The Network OS market ...
