The Threat of a Linux Generation.(increased usage of the Linux operating system)(Brief Article)

Even computer programmers can sometimes let their emotions get the better of them. "If I made a great product, and Microsoft offered me a lot of money, I would spit in their faces," says Brett Slatkin, a student at Columbia University in New York. His colleagues roll their eyes and accuse him of being stuck at the "hippy stage." But when talk turns to the serious business of programming, they are of one pragmatic mind.

One of the burning issues in computer circles is whether servers--the fastest-growing segment of the computer business--are going to run Microsoft software or an alternative, Linux, in the future. Microsoft's selling point has been its universe of tightly designed software that fits together like a puzzle, from the basic operating systems that make each computer run to software that controls networks to programs designed for specific tasks. But lately Microsoft has been placing more and more restrictions on how its software can be used. That bothers programmers, who crave the freedom to use the tools of their trade as they see fit.

Nobody, by contrast, owns Linux--it is "open source," as distinct from Microsoft's "closed source" software. This means programmers have more leeway in how they handle any problems that might come up, particularly those that pertain to security. For this reason, Linux is winning favor among young computer programmers about to enter the job market, whose preferences may prove decisive in the coming years.

Linux has recently been making headway in the marketplace. A few years ago, computer firms IBM, Dell, Compaq and others threw their support behind Linux, offering to accommodate it in their product lineups and support it for their customers. Companies were initially slow to make the leap, but in the past year some big firms, attracted in part by the prospect of saving money on license fees to Microsoft, have switched. Last October Amazon.com said it saved $17 million in one quarter, thanks in part to Linux. In February online broker E*Trade took the plunge and computer-maker Sun Microsystems bowed to marketplace pressure and said it would offer Linux on some of its computers. "I think everyone is going to use it," says Doctor Robinson, a programmer at Salomon Smith Barney, which adopted Linux a year and a half ago. Linux now accounts for 27 percent of server software worldwide, compared to Microsoft's 42 percent share, says research firm IDC.

In Germany, Linux is already becoming something of a movement. Whereas American corporations moved from mainframes to networks of personal- computer servers back in the 1980s, Europe lagged by a decade. By then, Linux had been developed into a robust competitor to Windows. European firms embraced Linux, and the Internet boom provided further impetus. Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen have been using Linux for years--and by last year, says IDC, 40 percent of German corporations were doing so as well. Last week the Bundestag, Germany's Parliament, decided to switch its servers to Linux from Windows. "My wish would be to declare the entire Bundestag a Microsoft-free zone," said Jorg Tauss, a deputy for the Social Democrats. It would be irresponsible, he ...