Bynari beats Lotus to Linux

US Linux consultancy, Bynari Systems, has claimed to be the first company to find a way to port the Lotus Notes email client to Linux.

Bynari chief information officer, Tom Adelstein, said messaging software holds the key to the future of Linux, presenting the last major obstacle to getting the open source operating system (OS) onto the corporate desktop.

Lotus has yet to release a Linux version of Notes, but claimed such a move would not be technically difficult. Lotus marketing manager, Jim Moffatt, said open source technology would allow users to create variations of Notes for which Lotus would not be able to provide proper customer support.

Moffatt added: "With multiple versions of Notes, it becomes difficult to support the customer. You have to ask: 'how much does this benefit the market?'" He maintained that Lotus will keep an eye on developments and would be "pragmatically responsive" if a Linux version stabilised.

Lotus has already announced that it will develop a version of its Domino Server for Linux by the end of the year.

Rob Hailstone, senior analyst at Bloor Research, said that while the Notes client for Linux is a welcome development, it is not going to be the trigger for a widespread acceptance of Linux on the desktop.

NetProject director, Eddie Bleasdale, was also suspicious of the breakthrough, saying a piecemeal development of Linux, application by application, is not the way forward for open source. He said a wholesale approach is needed so companies can maintain their current front-end while operating off a Linux thin client system.