Linux: Industry Adoption Seen in Next Few Years
Open source code is being evaluated by a small but growing number of printing-related firms.
Section edited by: Earl W. Wilken -- Graphic Arts Online, 11/1/2000
Linux is a free, Unix-type computer operating system originally created by University of Helsinki graduate student Linus Torvalds. When the Linux kernel was released in 1994 (2.2 is the current version), it was developed under General Public License, which means that the source code was (and still is) available to everyone.
Today, software developers and companies may charge money for their developments as long as the Linux source code remains available to all.
Since its introduction, Linux has received both praise as well as criticism from a variety of industries. Within the graphic arts industry, unfortunately, there are relatively few who know enough about its potential to usher it into widespread acceptance in short order.
Two- to three-year timeframe
Estimates indicate that between 500 and 1,000 Linux programs currently are under evaluation by firms in the graphic arts--a relatively modest figure, given the overall size of the industry, but one that is growing. The Linux timetable for implementation in the graphic arts industry is said to be within the next two to three years.
In his November/December 1999 article in the International Prepress Association's Prepress Bulletin, Jeff Wall, production manager for Jackson, Miss.-based Mahaffey's Quality Printing, says, "I began wondering why Linux wasn't being used as a graphic arts server OS, and set out to find other users. There weren't very many at the time, and the main reason was lack of awareness of Linux in our industry. Another large obstacle was lack of an OPI server native to Linux."
Says Wall of his company's Linux integration, "We opted for the NT machine after outgrowing an Appleshare 4.x server and being unable to cost-justify the huge expense of the proprietary Unix solutions of the time. Our first install was Red Hat 4.1 for an Alpha system."
Installation success
Wall explains that after a rather painful installation process, it was decided that an inexpensive Intel machine would be a better starting point. "We purchased a $600 bare-bones PC with a Pentium 166 [processor] and a 1.7-gigabyte drive," he states. "The new system gracefully accepted Linux and started off by running as an FTP [file transfer protocol] server.
"Later, we added Web and proxy server duty between our LAN and Internet T1. We then loaded Appleshare services with the Netatalk package, and SMB services via Samba. This little box was serving every protocol in the house and never complained or needed a restart, normally running non-stop for months at a time."
Wall says that large printers and prepress shops with 25 or more client stations are most likely to require larger-scale Unix-based systems, regardless of cost. In mid-size shops and at the low end, Wall believes that Linux is a great solution for those who are willing to adopt a relatively new platform and learn to administer it.
