New Zealand drops Linux ball

By RICHARD WOOD

New Zealand is way behind the bulk of Asia Pacific countries in its use of Linux as a server operating system.

A Gartner Dataquest survey of 850 enterprises in Asia Pacific in September has found that while 15 per cent of organisations regionally are using a Linux server, that figure is only 8 per cent in New Zealand.

Australia's use equals the average of 15 per cent, and in Thailand, Korea, India and Hong Kong over 20 per cent of respondents use Linux.

Regionally, and in New Zealand, Microsoft Windows is the most widely used operating system and Sun's Solaris is the only Unix system that is more widely used than Linux. The most common reason for installing Linux, both regionally and in New Zealand, is cost, according to the survey.

Gartner principal analyst hardware platforms in Asia/Pacific, Matthew Boon said New Zealand's low usage of Linux is because there is a lack of legacy equipment to run Linux on.

"Corporates aren't employing Linux on their core application platforms. Linux tends to be installed on redeployed equipment," he said.

Chris Hegan, general manager of Auckland-based Linux consultancy Asterisk acknowledged it is used on redeployed equipment, but said it is not a requirement.

"Linux has historically been promoted as being as good on an old box, as other software on a new box".

"Most of the businesses I go into have old machines. But our position is that it's not wise to run critical applications on old equipment. A modestly priced and speced machines is your best option."

As for it not being used for core applications, he said Linux's background in internet service providers has led to enterprises first adopting it to run internet applications such as email and firewalls. Other applications follow.

Mr Hegan said he was flabbergasted last year by the stampeed to Linux in Asia and said it calls into question New Zealand's early adopter reputation.

"We seem to be good customers of mainstream technologies and not as adventurous as others," he said.

According to Mr Hegan a bottleneck to Linux adoption in NZ is accounting software. He said enquiries about Linux have jumped since changes to Microsoft licencing last year but a couple of the popular accounting systems in New Zealand only run on NT. He's also unimpressed with government department attitudes to Linux.

"I'd like to see government IT managers having to explain why they can't use free open-source software," he said.

IBM has made a significant investment in Linux and offers it alongside its own and other company's operating system software.

IBM New Zealand spokesperson Jeremy Seed said there is a developing awareness amongst IT professionals and service providers of Linux.

"We have noticed increased interest and are being asked to work on development of Linux-based solutions."

He said there is a lot of experimentation with the software and it's gone beyond "toe-dipping".

"They've seen the value of it but they're not saying gut the existing gear and put Linux in. They're saying let's look seriously at Linux for a significant project within the bigger picture."

He said from what IBM has seen in the marketplace there is more interest than perhaps indicated by Gartner's 8 per cent.

The Gartner Dataquest report is entitiled Asia/Pacific: Server and Storage User Wants and Needs, 4Q01.