Linux is the intranet operating system Microsoft loves to hate--and intranet administrators love to use. In just over a year, Linux use has exploded in business settings. By some estimates, as many as 7.5 million sites use Linux today.

What lit the fuse? Price and reliability. You can download Linux for free or purchase CDs and manuals for a nominal fee. Once installed, Linux is a solid and reliable operating system to build your intranet around.

But corporations--the kind where "buying IBM never got anyone fired" is a mantra--have been hesitant to embrace Linux. It wasn't backed by a big company or (overly) packaged like NT. But that's changing, in part because major vendors such as Intel, Oracle, IBM, Sybase, and Informix are putting out Linux products or investing in Linux distributors, such as Red Hat Software.

It helps that companies such as Red Hat also offer something resembling traditional support. There are a number of other traditional, yet affordable, support options for Linux. (See www.linux .org/ business/ support.html.)

Caldera and Red Hat

Caldera Systems and Red Hat Soft ware have upped the Linux ante by releasing OpenLinux 1.3 and Red Hat Linux 5.2, respectively. I set up intra nets with both and found that each has some useful improvements for intranet managers. Both products are similar, but Red Hat continues to focus on simplifying installation--a boon for new users. Caldera, though easy enough to set up, is really geared for Linux power users. Both Caldera and Red Hat have added updated versions of Apache Web Server, Netscape Communicator, NetWare tools (for using Linux in a mixed environment) and more.

During installation, OpenLinux 1.3 automatically probes your system and asks you to select which features and applications to install. You can save this information and use it when installing OpenLinux on another server. Red Hat, on the other hand, simply asks whether you want to install it on a workstation or a server. Then it automatically partitions the drive and sets up basic defaults for your network card, video, and so on. Red Hat has also added support for servers with multiple drives run off multiple SCSI adapters, as well as PC Cards and sound cards. Of course, you can customize installation with either system fairly easily without descending to a command prompt.

I especially liked OpenLinux's new graphical K Desktop Environment (KDE). This Windows-like interface is not only easy to navigate, but lets you do just about anything at the command prompt. You also get StarOffice 4.0, a Linux-based office suite complete with word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, and HTML editor. It can even read Word 95 and Excel 95 files. It's pretty impressive--but I won't pitch Microsoft Office. Yet.

OpenLinux also bundles Sybase's Adaptive Server Enterprise, formerly known as Sybase SQL Server. (You can download the Sybase program for Red Hat Linux from www.sybase.com/adaptiveserver/linux/.) This SQL relational database, on par with Oracle8, is powerful enough to run a pretty beefy intranet or e-commerce site. (We're talking databases of up to eight terabytes in size and the ability to open 16 databases per transaction, in addition to the muscle to handle distributed applications.) Just remember that this Sybase program is not for dilettantes, and no support is provided; you'll need an experienced SQL wrangler. But hey, the database is free and there are none of the usual per-user license restrictions.

Salute Kernel Linux

OpenLinux 1.3 and Red Hat Linux 5.2 offer lots of goodies for intranet administrators, but there's more to come. The underlying Linux kernel is always being worked on and a new release (2.2) should be out from Linus Torvalds, the man himself, later this month. Neither Caldera nor Red Hat Linux currently supports this new kernel, but you can expect updates sometime in 1999.

The new Linux 2.2 kernel is an important revision that should make your intranet faster and better able to integrate Linux, Windows, and Mac systems. The kernel will support a new caching system that speeds up disk access. There's another speed boost: Linux 2.2 more efficiently takes advantage of multiple processors in a server--up to 16 of them. The kernel also supports a wider array of file systems and partition types, reading (and maybe writing) Windows NT, Windows 98, and Mac drives. That means Linux servers will more easily share files with Windows PCs and Macs. With 2.2, you could even support Windows users on an NTFS volume on a Linux server. The ultimate bottom line is that the new kernel will make it easier to use Linux servers in a mixed networking environment. For more details, go to www .linuxtoday .org/ stories/296.html.

Which Linux and When?

As you can see, Linux is a robust, happenin' operating system. It may not be ready to replace Windows or the Mac OS for your desktop systems just yet, but as the engine running your intranet and/or Web site, it's a very solid, competitive, and affordable alternative.

Which of the Linuxes reviewed here is your best pick? For newcomers or those who mostly need to create an intranet and internal Web site, I'd pick Red Hat. The company offers 90 days of free installation support via e-mail or fax. Caldera OpenLinux is more sophisticated and delivers a bit more software goodies, but it requires someone who knows their way around Linux. And good thing, too, since Caldera only supplies 30 days of free e-mail installation support. After that, you pay $60 and up per incident. On a positive note, I tested the support of both companies and both provided what I needed, although Red Hat was faster.

Either way, both Red Hat and Caldera have produced winners--and the price is right.

© 1998 Maggie Biggs. All rights reserved.

Maggie Biggs is a senior analyst at the InfoWorld Test Center, where she evaluates emerging application and database technologies. You can reach her at maggie_biggs@infoworld.com or care of Computer Currents.

Where to Buy

Caldera OpenLinux 1.3
Caldera Systems Inc.
888/465-4689
www.caldera.com
List price: $59, or download for free at www.calderasystems.com/products/openlinux/tryout.html

Red Hat Linux 5.2
Red Hat Software Inc.
888/733-4281
www.redhat.com
List price: $49.95, or download for free at ftp.redhat.com/redhat/redhat-5.2

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