Former Red Hat boss switches mobile provider's servers to Ubuntu

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 07 August 2007 14:37

Opinion and Analysis

Locatrix chooses Ubuntu Linux for application hosting read the headline on the mobile social networking solutions provider's website . That wouldn't seem unusual in itself except the CEO of Locatrix, which switched from Red Hat enterprise Linux to Ubuntu, was the founding managing director of Red Hat Asia Pacific.

According to a report from Australia which ran on the PC World site , Locatrix CEO and former Red Hat boss Mark White said the mobile service provider switched from Red Hat to Ubuntu because of Ubuntu's stability and ease of installing new software.

White also acknowledged in the PC World report that Red Hat's paid Linux support business model was good. But he indicated that it was largely unnecessary at Locatrix because as a high tech company it is well qualified to provide self support.

Locatrix Communications provides mobile social networking solutions for deployment by network operators and location-based services to corporate customers and application solution providers.

The Locatrix website claims the move to Ubuntu has been a huge success.

"Locatrix Communications is a big user of open-source software, and our production servers are no exception. After some evaluation we chose Ubuntu Linux for its maintainability and ease of server installation.  We have been rewarded with a very cost-effective solution and 100% uptime," the Locatrix site states.

The rise of Ubuntu as a challenger in the enterprise server space may be starting to ring some alarm bells at the headquarters of number one Linux vendor Red Hat, as well as at second placed Novell. Freely available Ubuntu, with its almost cult-like following, has been the most talked about Linux distribution for the past couple of years and the distribution tipped to be the most likely to make the breakthrough in the consumer desktop space.

Despite gaining a reputation for stability and ease of installation, for some a big drawback with Ubuntu is the lack of support other than through forums.

Meanwhile, Red Hat is pushing ahead with its own desktop release for small businesses on Intel white box computers and delivered through system builders called Linux Global Desktop.

We hope to bring you some further comment from Locatrix tomorrow.