There are currently two companies selling Online Backup software that supports Linux (I am not one of them), and they both rely on your ignorance of the Online Backup market so they can tout their “multi-platform” support and try to make you buy their software on that basis.

The reason these companies support Linux is because all of the core functionality of their software came out of the Open Source community, which by default is anti-Microsoft and anti-Apple, and seeks to promote the free distribution of software (including Linux) like some anti-capitalistic utopian pipe-dream from the sixties. These companies (based in China and India) downloaded the most important functions of their software from the Open Source community at no cost to them, written by members of the community and released for use either copyright-free or under a very generous license that allows them to pay no royalties to the developers.

The free software they downloaded, which is the core of their applications, was never intended for use in Online Backup software. In order to save a lot of money in development, they cobbled it together with scripts and bailing wire into something that resembles an Online Backup system.

By contrast, my companies have written, and own, every line of our code. Our applications were written from the ground up, designed and intended for use in Online Backup, and Online Backup ONLY; upgraded and modified since 1987, using the experience of thousands of successful Service Providers and millions of customers as our guide. No other company can make that claim.

I’m not saying that Open Source is evil. Here’s what I AM saying – Open Source software is fundamentally designed to run on the free operating system, Linux. Much of it can be “ported” to (converted to run on) Windows and Mac. But, even then there’s always that underlying requirement that it run on Linux.

Linux, while definitely cool for nerds, is the least user-friendly of all the common operating systems, especially Windows and Mac. Natively, it doesn’t even have a graphical user interface. You talk to Linux by typing commands on a black and white screen in plain text.

Software written for Linux and ported to Windows or Mac (like the competitors I mentioned) MUST be written to the least common denominator – Linux. So, to add something as simple as a button you can click on screen requires the use of an additional multi-platform programming layer of HTML or Java or JavaScript, and the associated support utilities that they need, like a web server. That’s a TON of problematic and difficult-to-maintain overhead, completely unnecessary in any of RBS’ products.

Here’s an example. Two of my competitors who use Open Source software have no choice (because of their choice of Open Source platforms) but to install the Apache Web Server on each Client computer, just so they can have a way for users to interact with the software. The Apache Web Server is a SERVER. This means that it can answer incoming requests, not only from the computer it is installed on, but from the Internet as well.

Further, Apache is the most common web server on the planet (because it is free) and so it is also the most commonly ATTACKED (by hackers) web server on the planet. In my opinion, and that of other experts, this is a serious security concern.

Believe me, as an Online Backup Provider, the last thing you need is a security breach – or even the remote prospect of one. Software on your customers’ computers should NEVER be able to answer an inbound request from the Internet.

The Service Providers who unfortunately use my competitors’ software know this is a problem. They have been openly begging for a way to change the name of their Apache distribution so they can try to hide from their customers the fact that they are installing it! That’s very dishonest and dangerous, and some could argue that it is grounds for legal action against any Service Provider who does it.

The percentage of Linux and other operating systems in the personal computing market is too low to consider in your business plan. Software that runs on Linux is often proprietary. Linux users are usually far more computer savvy than their Mac or PC counterparts and they are used to getting their software for free, so they are not a good target market for Online Backup Services.

Note: 21 June, 2013: One of offending companies has replaced the Apache web server with another web server of dubious origin. Apache was out of date and unsupported, but at least it had a respected pedigree. Nobody knows what’s in there now, but we know it is less well supported than Apache, and it still has all the pitfalls of any web server. It will answer inbound connections – a huge problem for security.

Regarding the above chapter, my PR guy wishes me to inform you that I LOVE Linux users, and that this chapter is in no way meant to defame them, rather, I mean to say that they don’t need to buy Online Backup services because they are all so smart that they could easily write or download free software to back up their computers online using Gmail or the newsgroups, so why pay for it? And also I LOVE our competitors COLLEAGUES in our industry and wish them all well.

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.

Would you like a FREE download of the complete Online Backup Guide for Service Providers as an E-Book? Only 200 available through May 15. [PICK THIS LINK]