New computer operating system (free) poised to invade papers

Free.

It has such a nice ring. Say it again: free.

The lure of free stuff is strong, so the notion of a free operating system -- say it again: free operating system -- such as Linux is compelling.

But free really isn't the main reason to run Linux, or any other operating system (OS). Deploying an operating system depends on its robustness, its reliability, and its ease of management. Turns out, Linux has all that as well.

Linux is one of the newcomers to the publishing systems arena. Then again, since it's only nine years old, it's a relative newcomer to any arena. But it's a bold, healthy and initiative-full newcomer. It might have to do with its modular-designed kernel; its relatively tiny space requirements or the fact that it's free. Say it again: free.

Linux (pronounced LINN-ucks) is a Unix-based operating system developed as a hobby by a college student named Linus Torvalds while he was studying at the University of Helsinki in 1991. He named it Linux after Linus' UNIX. It redefined operating systems in several ways, not to mention development. Linux is an open-source operating system with a very small footprint. What that means is all the code to develop Linux is freely available. Not just available, but free. Torvalds solicited the developers' community when he was finalizing Linux and was overwhelmed by the response. This vein of developers working together for the enhancement of Linux continues today.

It wasn't until Torvalds released version 1.0 in 1994 that Linux received widespread notice; it is now officially at release 2.2. It primarily takes the power and stability of UNIX and offers it in less space. Some documentation points to running it "on as little as 150 megabytes of space and 2 megabytes of random access memory." However, that's not realistic for today's computing needs.

Two years later, in 1996, a start-up company called Red Hat Linux Inc. of Durham, N.C., began seriously developing and distributing its version of the operating system. Red Hat is now at Version 7.0 and maintains an information-packed web site. Yes, you can get Version 7.0 for free.

The first noticeable difference between Linux and other operating systems is that it's free. But free doesn't always mean there isn't a cost associated with running Linux. The biggest up-front cost will be during the install, which requires exact information to go in correctly. Anyone who has performed a successful UNIX installation will understand, and probably avoid many of the typical pitfalls. But then, who hasn't had a hard install with Windows NT? And how many times does your NT system crash?

Since its debut, Linux has grown in popularity and use, as open-source software is supposed to do. While open-source fans dominate the Internet and web building, commercial businesses have been taking notice of its capabilities. Even Apple has moved toward open source with the development of OS X. The kernel for OS X, Darwin, is open to anyone who wants to develop with it.

Flexibility, economy
Running open-source systems allows for all kinds of tweaking and customization. Not many newspapers want to do this considering the trend to purchase turnkey products, but the capability is still there.

Freely redistributed, Linux offers flexibility and economical options for small businesses and newspapers, but also opportunities for large companies looking for a stable alternative. Since Linux runs on anything from an ordinary personal computer to a beefy Intel box, it affords a cost-effective solution to a business' computing needs.

UNIX appears to be the main competitor to Linux. UNIX can be found at just about every newspaper. At many newspapers, UNIX machines can be found running output servers, archive systems, business systems, layout systems, classified pagination and, in some cases, editorial systems. But with the ever-changing face of publishing, Linux offers appealing features to tackle publishing needs.

For the uninitiated, Linux offers full multi-tasking, virtual memory, graphical user interfaces such as the K desktop environment, inherent networking capability, integration flexibility, multiple-processor support and shared libraries. It is also virtually virus-proof (for now, anyway).

Michael Tucker, director of marketing for the Digital Collections archiving product at Cincinnati's Gannett Media Technologies International, says Linux-based systems are moving quickly into newspaper systems.

"Gannett has installed 19 Linux-based systems in newspapers," Tucker said. "From pre-press photo production to news archive and even some on-line, it's very popular."

For programmers and many support folks, the main attraction to Linux is the availability of the source code. With complete source code available, developers can take Linux and tweak it to specific needs. Most Linux packages come with C and C++ compilers.

The key to Linux -- as to any UNIX variant -- is the kernel. It has a modular design that keeps it very small in comparison to other operating systems. It also loads functions -- as programs need them -- thereby conserving memory and allowing faster execution times. OS stability also ranks high among users of Linux. Again, this is attributable to the kernel.

Outperforms Windows NT
Stability is what attracted many to UNIX years ago. For mainframes or mission critical applications, you had to have a robust operating system. UNIX was a good choice.

"If you wanted a UNIX platform, you had to buy a RISC [reduced instruction set chip] HP [Hewlett-Packard] box," said Gmti's Tucker. "Linux allowed us to put it on an Intel box. It outperforms NT on an Intel box by 50 percent. Now some of our NT systems are being ported to UNIX."

Richard Cichelli, president of Software Consulting Services (SCS) of Nazareth, Pa., says his company has done a number of Linux installations.

"Linux runs reliably, quickly and cheaply, which is what an [operating system] should do," Cichelli said. "It should be high on newspapers' lists."

Linux is indeed finding its way to newspapers. It can be found running domain name servers, communication servers and intranets.

David Ames, systems technician supervisor who handles network administration at California's San Luis Obispo Tribune News, runs Linux in an experimental mode.

"I'm running it on an Intel box for testing applications," he said. "I'm also working on putting up an Intranet with it."

Like UNIX, Linux can support just about any application and run it reliably. That's what is appealing to many developers and vendors.

IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Informix, Sybase and now Oracle all offer Linux support in one way or another. The large companies have been reluctant to fully embrace open-source computing, but with the popularity of Linux, this stance is changing. In fact, Hewlett-Packard now has a Linux support network.

Ames, who says the Tribune News runs UNIX on three boxes including applications from Digital Technology International and Publishing Business Systems, likes that he can run Linux for basically the cost of the hardware.

"It makes sense to run Linux. I can run a system for just the cost of the box without the high price of software."

Pablo Marques, network administrator for the Miami Herald, has been running Linux as a communications server for the last four years without a problem. One of the main reasons he chose Linux was cost. It serves as the dial-in server for remote users and connects to the Herald's System Integrators' System/55 editorial front-end.

"SII wasn't handling the processes very well," he said. "The only problems I have are with the file sizes, because it captures everything."

In addition to the communication server, Marques says Linux is running a domain name server, a print server and as a database for network information.

"I'm still testing the print server, but it is working fine," he said.

A big Linux fan
Cichelli says SCS -- known for the ad dummying application Layout 8000 -- is platform-independent, but Linux is an operating system worth promoting.

"Almost five years ago we switched all of our internal accounting services to Linux," he said. "That sent the message to the employees that the owner was a big fan of Linux."

Since that time, Cichelli says SCS has installed Linux mail servers at newspapers, including the Washington Times. Recently, the company has put Layout 8000, as well as classified pagination, on Linux.

"It's not just the cost of the product you're saving by running Linux," he said. "It's the overall cost of putting the paper together."

Cichelli says he sold a classified pagination system to The Times in Munster, Ind., and the paper likes it. He says it takes about four to five days to integrate Linux during an install at a newspaper.

Tucker of Gmti agrees with the cost-effectiveness of developing with and deploying Linux.

"Linux has become our preferred platform," he said. "We dumped [Windows] NT. Linux allows us to offer a much more economical package to customers."

In addition to cost, stability is an overriding concern, which Linux addresses. The No. One comment about running Linux is the stability.

Aubrey Houston, systems editor at Rhode Island's Princeton Packet, uses Gannett's Digital Collections archive. "The application from Gannett is derived from Red Hat and the stability is very attractive," he said.

Houston also says the Packet is exploring running Linux as a fax server to deal with the deluge of faxes the paper receives.

"Again, it's the stability that makes Linux attractive for unattended servers," he said.

Stability and no exorbitant software licensing fees should be enough to catch the eye of any budget-conscious information technology manager at a newspaper. Yet, Linux doesn't have the track record it needs in order to break into newspapers completely. Nonetheless, those who are using it are convinced it has good potential.

The downside to Linux seems to be the learning curve. Cichelli of SCS says some newspapers use the fact they have Linux systems to attract savvy Linux people. Yet, for newspapers without in-house talent, hedging bets on the stability are standard operating procedure. Other complaints sound like those from a pagination project team -- being moderately user-unfriendly, lack of documentation and lack of ownership (who really owns the project when a driver or library fails?).

"I don't think I'm leading the Linux charge, but I'd like to," Cichelli said.

-- Jason Zappe, jzappe@colepapers.net

"Has Linus ever been wrong about anything?"
"Yes, once. He was, by his own admission, 'not rational' about the binding of the Linux backspace key. This is also the only time he has ever pulled rank on anybody."
-- From The Rampantly Unofficial Linus Torvalds FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Gannett Media Technologies International,
(513) 665-3777,
e-mail: info@gmti.gannett.com;
Red Hat Linux Inc.,
(919) 547-0012,
e-mail: authorized@redhat.com;
Software Consulting Services,
(610) 837-8484,
e-mail: scs@nscs.fast.net;
System Integrators Inc.,
(916) 929-9481,
e-mail: sii@sii.com.

From THE COLE PAPERS, October 2000, Copyright © 2000, All Rights Reserved.