The Linux Training Trend
Many Linux observers point to Cygnus, founded two years before the initial Linux kernel release, as an example of how to build a defensible market niche. Originally focused on tools and support for the Free GNU Unix, Cygnus now performs contract software design for embedded systems.
This gives it exposure to a wide range of engineering knowledge and implementation scenarios without requiring it to compete with other companies for customers. When you look at the (number) of changes we're monitoring on a weekly basis, it's like having a hundred programmers on staff that we don't have to pay for. Collecting all that knowledge has given Cygnus deep proficiency.
Cygnus' track record in Linux Certification Training and open source development for embedded systems makes it hard for other, more broadly focused Linux companies to enter that market. So far, the specialization strategy has worked: Cygnus' revenue grew from $ 750,000 in 1900 to $ 7.1 million in 1995.
While some compare Linux's opportunities to recent Internet opportunities such as portals, business services and auctions, Steve Kleynhans, vice president of workgroup computing at Meta Group Inc., Stamford, Conn., sees striking similarities with the PC market of the late 1970s. Like the original PC vendors, Linux Certification Training based companies have a long way to go before breaking into the enterprise. Even if Linux eventually succeeds, he sees dim prospects for the first wave of Linux-related companies. It wasn't until the late 1980s, when LANs arrived, that the PC finally became indispensable. Unfortunately, by that point, most of the original PC vendors were long gone. Open source proponents might dismiss Kleynhans' 10-year timetable for widespread adoption, pointing to the various versions of Linux, FreeBSD and other open source tools such as Apache and Sendmail already chugging away within the enterprise. Still, the grassroots parallels between the early hardware hackers-not to mention early Unix hackers-should give a historically minded business observer a reason to pause. Linux Certification Training has progressed further than any open source effort before it. It has found a niche in e-mail and Web servers, technologies that continue to grow in importance in an increasingly Internet-oriented business world. IT decision makers from the school of "nobody got fired buying Microsoft" have become comfortable with the open source model, as evidenced by Apache, Sendmail and Linux. Judging by current Linux Certification Training growth statistics, corporations are slowly waking up to Linux as a serious opportunity. Few would question the value Linux provides to the IT marketplace, but without solid business models, a cohesion that goes beyond the "anything but Microsoft" rallying cry, and-most important-solid leadership, the Linux Certification Training community could yet face a one-way ticket to OS/2-ville.
| 