# EDITORIAL PAGE

OS/2: TRAPPED BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

I've been watching the hoopla surrounding Linux with great interest, particularly the recent Linux World Expo in San Jose hosted by IDG. More and more vendors are converting their products to work on this open-source operating system including such heavyweights as Corel, HP, Oracle, and even IBM. Its not that Linux is technically superior to OS/2, it is not, but it is rapidly growing and capturing the mindshare of the market, something that seriously concerns the bigwigs at Microsoft. The Linux phenomenon is indicative of the escalating dislike of the Windows world and a yearning for something better.

OS/2 had the opportunity to pull a Linux-like coup last year. If you will recall, in June of 1998 Ralph Nader urged IBM CEO Lou Gerstner to make OS/2 an open-source product ("Ralph Nader's Wake-Up Call to IBM," OS/2 CONNECT Editorial, July 1998). Had IBM done so, OS/2 would be enjoying the same type of publicity as Linux does now. For whatever reason, IBM turned a cold shoulder to the idea, probably due to the widespread popularity of Windows at the time and IBM PC Company's need to preload the operating system.

All of this leaves OS/2 trapped between Windows, who dominates the proprietary operating system market, and Linux who is beginning to dominate the open-source side of the house. For the last two years IBM has been telling us that Java was the route to take ("Write once, run everywhere"). But now it is becoming apparent that the Java initiative has stalled ("Right once, run nowhere") causing vendors, including IBM, to scramble to make their products compatible for Windows and Linux.

Regardless, it is still not too late for OS/2. If IBM was smart, they would make the basic OS/2 Warp "fat client" an open-source product and keep OS/2 Warp Server proprietary, thereby reaching the main consumer market but protecting their vital server interests. That's a big "if". IBM's indifference to OS/2 has caused it to drop from the public's eye. So much so, that I was recently interviewed by a PC magazine for a "Where are they now?" type of article on the product. The interviewer knew little about the product but was impressed by my description of basic OS/2 features.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

On another subject, the curtain is about to go up on September 18th for Warp Expo West, a new OS/2 exhibition sponsored by the Southern California OS/2 Users Group (SCOUG). Although Warp Expo is a spur of the moment exhibition, the organizers have put together a rather imaginative and innovative program featuring presentations on:

- Warpicity: An Overview and Update
- Warp Server for e-Business and WorkSpace On-Demand
- Quick Start for Netscape Composer
- Getting the Best Results from Your Inkjet Printer
- Scientific Computing with Octave
- Java Introduction
- Services Offerings for the OS/2 Platforms
- Managing Your Website
- How To Write a Workplace Shell Class
- MultiMedia Madness with OS/2
- Java In the Real World
- Thinking Relationally

This is a pretty ambitious program put on by one of the best OS/2 user groups around. If you're an OS/2 user group on the west coast, this is one show you shouldn't miss.

In October, the 3rd Annual Warpstock conference will be held in Atlanta (October 16-17), and the first annual Warpstock Europe will be held in Germany (October 1-4). If these shows are half as well planned and organized as Warp Expo West, they should be well attended.

Keep the Faith!

- Tim Bryce
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT

Copyright © M&JB 1999