INTERVIEW

Author Practices What He Preaches in Linux Bible

"If you have someone who can maintain the open source software, than your costs will be minimal compared to maintaining Windows applications."
Terry Collings, Linux Bible author

by Elizabeth Ferrarini

Terry Collings might not be as well known as Linus Torvalds, but Collings has chalked up a good track-record evangelizing Linux. He’s the co-author of The Linux Bible (IDG Books), the author of two editions of Red Hat Linux Networking and Systems Administration (John Wiley & Sons), and contributed to the Red Hat Weekend Crash Course and the Linux Weekend Crash Course. He also was the technical editor for the Red Hat Linux 10 for Dummies.

As an instructional technologist at a Muhlenberg College, a private liberal arts college, Collings helps faculty members use computers in their teaching curriculum. As a result, he became involved with Linux in 1996 when he started to set up servers running this OS. In 2000, Collings stopped teaching Windows part time at a local community college in the evenings and switched entirely to teaching Linux and using it for both home and office use. Collings currently teaches CompTIA (Computer Technology Industry Association) Linux+ certification courses.

Collings took a few minutes to field a variety of questions about Linux and open source software. If you have questions you would like Collings to answer, contact him at collings@hal.muhlenberg.edu.

Q. Tell me about the highlights of your Weekend Crash Course books?

Like the title suggests, the book enables the reader to follow a 30-lesson plan during a weekend. I worked on the Red Hat Weekend Crash Course and the generic Linux Weekend Crash, which covers Red Hat, Mandrake, and SuSe version of Linux. Each of the 30 lessons takes about 30 minutes to complete. You do five lessons on Friday evening, 15 on Saturday, and the rest of Sunday.

Q. What’s the real cost of converting to Linux from platforms such as Windows?

It depends on what you’re trying to convert to Linux. Since Linux is so close to Unix, your conversion cost would be less than if you convert from Unix than Windows. A lot of applications will run on Solaris and HP UX with no difficulty.

Converting desktops to Linux is easy. If employees just want to use applications such as Microsoft Office, Linux offers good equivalents, such as StarOffice and OpenOffice.org. The user interface resembles Windows applications.

The ease or difficulty of updating your servers to Linux depends on the application. If there’s a Unix or Linux version of the same software available, you’re in luck. For example, we bought a Unix version of a course content application called Blackboard. We had no trouble running it on a server with Red Hat Linux. However, the software doesn’t come in a Linux version. Unfortunately, the Linux or Unix world has few exact equivalents for Windows applications.

Q. Is there any value right now in becoming certified in Linux?

I teach two of the CompTIA (Computer Technology Industry Association) Linux+ certification courses. If you have the certification and no experience, then the employer at least knows you have a base of knowledge about the subject. The employer, however, has no way to gauge the extent of your hands-on expertise. I know someone who had no trouble getting certified in Novell, which I use to teach. Since the student did everything by the book, she had no training on how to install a server and couldn’t do it when assigned the task. There’s no substitute for experience.

Q. Is the General Public License good for the software industry?

There’s a lot of debate about it. It’s definitely good. The beauty of the open source movement includes lots of people worldwide constantly examining the same code and making changes. These folks can find security weaknesses and make software updates faster and at a lower cost than a company such as Microsoft can.

Q. What types of paybacks can organizations realistically obtain from Linux?

The cost of purchasing some open source software can be minimal compared to a comparable Windows-based product. You can also download open source software and legally use it for free. Since we are running some of our applications on servers with Red Hat Linux, we bought all of the official versions. If you have someone who can maintain the open source software, than your costs will be minimal compared to maintaining Windows applications.

Q. Is Linux prime for most business applications?

If there are applications available for those specific business uses, than Linux is a viable alternative to Windows.

Some IT professionals are afraid of moving to an unfamiliar OS. All of the versions of Windows, starting with Windows 95, have had a very similar GUI. If a systems administrator is familiar with one Windows version, he or she won’t have any difficult learning subsequent versions. Someone with Linux experience could easily move to Linux without a large learning curve.

Q. Why have you declared a moratorium on running Windows?

I got tired of Windows constantly crashing. Microsoft has improved that. Linux servers are more stable than the Windows servers. When you install a Windows server, all of the services on the Windows servers by default are enabled. You have to make a conscious effort to disable services you don’t want people to use. On the other hand, when you install a Unix or Linux server, you have to enable the services. This method minimizes security risks.

Q. How good is the support for open source software?

I search the Web for all types of open source programs I can test. If I come across a problem, I usually can communicate with the person or group who wrote the program. These individuals become personally involved with it. Resolving a problem with open source software is easier than trying to get through some vendor’s customer support department.

Q. I’ve read that’s it difficult to figure the total cost of ownership for Linux. Do you work with students to figure out that cost?

For one of my CompTIA Linux+ certification classes, I ask the students to build both a Windows and Linux system. They also have to determine the difference in TCO between the systems. They receive specifications on the software and hardware, along with some basic information about training and system administration tasks. Students don’t have difficulty comparing the TCO.