Linux vendors get a Showdown all their own

Two weeks ago, I told you about the Operating System Showdown - a presidential-style debate among the top network operating system vendors that Network World will be staging on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at ComNet in Washington, D.C. I'm waiting to hear back from Microsoft, Sun, Novell, Red Hat and the Santa Cruz Operation on which speakers they'll be sending to this special featured session.

Well, I hope the folks at Red Hat are looking to rack up some frequent flyer miles because I'm also challenging the company - along with SuSE, Inc., TurboLinux and Caldera - to take part in a special Linux Showdown to be held at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in New York.

This Showdown will give you the opportunity to see these leading commercial suppliers of the Linux operating system in action, fielding questions from a panel of industry experts, each other and the audience. Network World's Linux Showdown will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 2 from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

We're challenging the four top Linux server suppliers - based on market research from International Data Corp. - to send a top technical executive to take part in this no-holds-barred debate. The vendors will have until 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8 to accept or decline our challenge and to let us know who they'll be sending. If any vendor declines or fails to respond on time, we'll pick a competitor to fill the open slot on the dais.

The Showdown format helps strip away the marketing hype surrounding an important technology and forces vendors to answer direct, difficult questions from the experts and one another. The Showdown is a great way to highlight differences in strategy and product lines. Our expert panel includes Nick Petreley, editorial director of the LinuxWorld online publication (www.linuxworld.com) and Bob Brown, news editor at Network World.

As we wait to hear from these purveyors of Linux, I'd love to hear from you about the questions you want answered. What concerns you about running Linux in your enterprise? Also, I'm open to adding a fifth Linux vendor if you can provide me with a compelling reason to do so. Drop me a note at the address below.

But for now, Red Hat, Caldera, SuSE and TurboLinux, are you up to the challenge?

- John Gallant

jgallant@nww.com