At the last-ever reseller conference of Accpac International-which was about to disappear into Sage-an IBM executive handed out checks to resellers who had sold installations of Accpac on Linux that utilized IBM's DB2 database. Nobody has handed out checks for Accpac Linux installations since IBM's Scott Handy did it at the reseller get-together in Quebec City in August 2003, and Accpac has been quiet about Linux.

But there are some fans, including David Beck, president of SystemLink North America, an Accpac reseller that also has a European arm.

"I'd like to continue to support the Linux platform," says Beck. "Clients like choices. Some of our clients want Linux. There is a small group of anti-Microsoft bigots that when they come looking, there is not a lot in the application space."

Beck says most Linux installations involve running IBM DB2 database on a Linux server while running the accounting application on a Microsoft system. "But in the users' minds, they have Linux," he notes.

Linux has been more successful with SystemLink's international operations. "Overseas, we have some installs that are using the full Linux system, front and back," he says.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Sage Accpac, which supports both Windows and Linux, estimates this year that as much as 20 percent of its installations were on Linux, up from 12 percent a year earlier. And Craig Downing, vice president and general manager of Sage Accpac, predicts open-source adoption rates will accelerate as technologically savvy workers begin occupying the executive suites at large corporations.

"When we look five to ten years down the road," says Downing, "as more of those who grew up on the Web move up into the C-ranks [CEO, CFO and CIO] they will be more comfortable trying other platforms."

MySQL Makes a Dent in the Market Although discussions about open source often focus on the Linux operating system, there is a lot more to this world than just Linux. MySQL AB, which markets MySQL, an open-source database, claims 6 million installations. The latest version, MySQL 5.0, supports Linux, Windows, Solaris, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IBM AIX 5L, and other operating systems. The company's Web site provides the following ten benefits of using MySQL: 1. Scalability and flexibility. The MySQL database can handle applications of 1MB to massive data warehouses with terabytes of information. It supports all flavors of Linux, Unix, and Windows. 2. High performance. The database server can be configured for particular applications, which results in strong performance. 3. High availability. MySQL offers a variety of high-availability options from high-speed master/slave replication configurations, to specialized Cluster servers offering instant failover, to third-party vendors offering unique high-availability solutions for the MySQL database server. 4. Robust transactional support. Features include complete ACID (atomic, consistent, isolated, durable) transaction support, unlimited row-level locking, distributed transaction capability, and multi-version transaction support where readers never block writers and vice-versa. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | next 0 Comments Be the first to comment on this post using the section below. Add Your Comments... Already Registered? If you have already registered to Accounting Today, please use the form below to login. When completed you will immeditely be directed to post a comment. Username: Password: Forgot My Password Not Registered? 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