Rationale for fud-counter

Introduction

Ever since the computer appeared in our lives there has been competition on both the software and the hardware markets in that field. Initially, only few people in the world had the knowledge and opportunities to work with computers, write software for them, improve them. After several years the market expanded and spread into many aspects of our life. The software business became reasonably profitable for many people, and as such evolved into yet another racing track of our times.

As we all know, often the methods used in business are quite different from the rules of fair play. Many people would deny it, but it's the reality - people compete, and they don't always play fair. The struggle gets more and more heated as the financial stakes become higher. This site is a place where we will, among others, counter one of the marketing techniques used in the industry called FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt). Read more about the purpose of this site below.

How does FUD relate to Linux?

Linux started as a home-made project of a student who wanted to run a Unix-like Operating System (OS) on his PC. After a few years a group of developers from all around the world created an OS kernel that turned out to be a very powerful, robust, reliable and modern software. As the project progressed, more and more people learned about Linux, gave it a try and started to use it on a daily basis.

Being based on Unix systems, Linux at first shared their traditional text mode, command-line interface with none of the bells and whistles of the Windows^® GUI (Graphical User Interface). Unix systems were traditionally targeted at a more experienced, professional user audience. However, as Linux started to make it onto home PC systems, users and developers started to make it more friendly and better suited to desktop applications, whilst at the same time not sacrificing Linux's power as either a server or a multi-user system. As a system that may be used on both desktop and as an networked server, Linux had to be reliable, secure, comfortable and easily approachable by both newcomers and professionals used to the traditional Unix systems. It took a couple of years, but currently Linux fulfills all of these requirements while still adding features in each and every of the abovementioned fields. It has to be noted that what we call Linux is not an operating system - it's a part thereof called the kernel. Only an added set of utilities and applications converts the whole set into an Operating System. Various aspects of an OS are the user interface (either textual or graphical), development components, office and desktop applications, multimedia software and, yes, games. All these kinds of software started to appear on our Linux machines, every day getting better, more sophisticated and feature rich. The software on the Linux platform comes, in major part, from the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation.

The very nature of the Linux model of development (Open Source) requires that many people work on its new features while at the same time testing the system and allowing many people around the world to test it as well. The only drawback of such testing model is its "unofficial" nature. In the business world the opinion of the man in the street doesn't really matter. What matters is the official lab tests and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) calculations. This is something the Linux (and Open Source in general) community didn't provide for since we felt there's no need to confirm something we are all sure of.

With the growth of Linux popularity came various comments and points of view from companies, officials, and authorities all over the world. Unfortunately not all of them were accurate in describing the actual state of Linux. Moreover, much of the information about the weaknesses (and/or bugs) of the Linux kernel or operating systems based on Linux were either outdated, misleading or just plain wrong from the ground up - not substantiated by facts and proofs. Although they would easily be countered by the Linux community, there was no "official" proof that these problems don't exist, while the opposite side presented figures emphasising their point, taken from official sources widely accepted as the authorities in this field. Sadly, many of the figures were misinterpreted or taken out of context.

Why this site?

As commercial software vendors feel the impact of open source software's encroachment onto their traditional market segments, they are forced onto the defensive. The open-source model however provides few avenues for attack; there is no single entity behind it, prices cannot be undercut, and virtually none of the usual business tactics are useful. The only reasonable option then is to undermine credibilty and sway the mindshare of the market.

We plan, and hope, to make this site a source of valuable information for professionals, journalists, developers, users and people who don't know what Linux is about. You won't find any FUD here - only firm proofs and empirical evidence countering the myths and half-truths, explanations of features, case-studies, testimonials and interviews with individuals that have real-life experience with Linux and that trust their money and welfare in this excellent product of the GNU Generation.