* Yankee Group blames outages on lack of Linux, open source documentation
Never shy about stirring up the Linux vs. Windows hornets nest, IT research firm the Yankee Group last week issued yet another report putting the value of Linux against Windows. The study’s findings showed that Windows Server 2003 was a more reliable server platform than Red Hat Enterprise Linux, with Windows seeing around 20% less downtime, on average, than Linux over a one-year period. Unix bested both operating systems, according to the research firm.
The Yankee Group 2006 Global Server Reliability Survey, which surveyed 400 businesses using Linux, Unix and Windows worldwide, showed that servers on average have around three to five failures per year. The result can be anywhere between 10 to 20 hours of downtime total for each server platform.
One of the findings in the report stuck me as, well, just downright odd. According to a statement by the research firm: “Yankee Group determined a significant portion of this outage time is attributed to the scarcity of Linux and open source documentation compared to the more mature, established operating systems.”
This statement seems odd to me because if you lined up all the Linux and open source books that are just laying around my office – courtesy copies from publishers who think I’m some kind of speed-reader – I’m pretty sure this stack could top a 45-caliber bullet. Furthermore, if you type “Linux” into the books section of Amazon.com you will get 2,115 results. No lack of words have been written on how to set up, maintain, optimize, tweak and crash-proof a Linux-based server or network.
