Whenever the underdogs gang up to fight the market leader, there is a sense of expectation in the air. That was the case when UnitedLinux was formed by four global Linux vendors—Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE and Turbolinux—to face the challenge posed by Linux market leader RedHat. Add to that the fact that almost every major system and SW vendor—including AMD, Borland, Computer Associates, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, and SAP—endorsed UnitedLinux, and it seemed to be on the right track.

Understanding UnitedLinux
The idea behind UnitedLinux is to provide uniformity and standardization. The very idea of standardizing Linux may be puzzling to many, considering that all Linux distributions come from a common source code, the kernel. Then, what are UnitedLinux partners standardizing? Linux development efforts result in two levels of code—core kernel software that interacts with hardware, and additional "packages" that correlate with the kernel to provide different types of functions like printing operations, and booting. What the UnitedLinux participants have done is standardize upon a subset of these "packages" to provide a single Linux distribution optimized for enterprises. At the end of the day, each partner will add his own products and services to the core and sell it individually.

On the wrong footing
Despite admirable intentions and a highprofile launch, questions are already being raised about the ability of UnitedLinux to make a difference in the Linux market. The presence of four almost equal partners has led many to question the workability of UnitedLinux. Says Atul Chitnis, Director of Exocore Consulting "The very name UnitedLinux is a misnomer. It’s nothing but four smaller Linux players who are ganging up to take on the market leader—RedHat." This might be true as the share of UnitedLinux partners in the global Linux market adds up to less than 20% while RedHat controls about 50 %.

Also, parallels are drawn with the ACE initiative of UNIX in the early 90s.In April 1991, 21 firms across Europe, Asia and the US dramatically joined hands in an attempt to fix the fragmented Unix market. But the lack of a leader and partners working in separate directions led to the death of the ACE initiative within a very short period of time. Less than a year after its formation, UnitedLinux has been too often caught on the wrong foot. Critics savaged UnitedLinux for not inviting RedHat till about a day before the announcement of their venture. And then came the announcement that UnitedLinux would conduct a closed beta release among its vendors. This miffed many open source supporters of UnitedLinux who consider a closed beta release as antithetical to their peer-review model. Barely three months after UnitedLinux’s formation, Turbolinux sold its Linux business to Japan’s Software Research Associates (SRA). Even though SRA has affirmed its support to UnitedLinux, the sale of Turbolinux has harmed the image of UnitedLinux as a whole.

Will it work?
Perhaps what might help UnitedLinux is the fact that it is endorsed by leading hardware and software vendors like IBM, HP, and SAP. But many of these like IBM and HP continue to work with RedHat too. Says Sandeep Menon, Linux Business Manager of IBM for the ASEAN/South Asia region, "We have always worked closely with all participants in the Linux arena. Along with IBM’s support for UnitedLinux, our commitment to working closely with RedHat remains unchanged,"

Will UnitedLinux make a difference?
As Chitnis says, "UnitedLinux may not have a great effect on the Indian Linux market. There is a great market out there for the picking if they manage to set up their distribution. And setting up a good distribution takes time. If they manage to get it right, they might manage to make a difference"

TV Mahalingam