Early Linux at NTU: Open Source Becomes Real

Sep 17, 2001

The Linux Revolution Reaches NTU

By September 2001, Linux was transitioning from hobbyist project to legitimate alternative to proprietary Unix systems. NTU, as a forward-thinking institution, started deploying Linux in labs. After years of expensive proprietary systems, here was an free, open operating system that actually worked.

For students raised on Windows, encountering Linux was revelatory. The source code was available. You could modify it. You could understand how everything worked down to the kernel level.

Scaling Open Source Infrastructure

I spent weeks scaling solutions—not just running Linux on individual machines, but building infrastructure around it. We were learning how to manage groups of Linux systems, how to configure services, how to troubleshoot without vendor support documentation.

This was genuinely different from working with proprietary systems. When something broke, you didn’t have a vendor support line. You had to understand the system deeply enough to fix it yourself. This forced a level of learning and mastery that was transformative.

The Quantum Teasing

Around 2001, quantum computing papers were discussing error correction—theoretical work on systems decades away. Meanwhile, we were dealing with much more immediate complexity: managing operating systems, file systems, networking stacks. But there was a thread connecting them: complexity management, modularity, abstraction layers.

Compliance and Governance

One surprise was discovering how much compliance was involved. “Can we run this on Linux? Will it meet security requirements? Is it certified? What about support?” Challenges included compliance hurdles—regulatory requirements, institutional standards, vendor relationships.

Many organizations were locked into proprietary systems not for technical reasons, but for legal, contractual, and institutional ones. Breaking free required navigating these non-technical barriers.

Core Lessons

Prioritize security: Linux security was different—you had more control, but also more responsibility. No vendor to protect you; you owned the security architecture.
Embrace modularity: Linux’s design was elegantly modular. Core OS, shells, utilities, applications—all separable, all replaceable. This modularity was powerful.
Document everything: Open source meant anyone could read the code, but good documentation amplified its value. We learned the importance of clear explanations alongside the code itself.

The Turning Point

By September 2001, it was clear that Linux wasn’t going away. It would become the foundation of much of the internet infrastructure, server farms, and eventually mobile devices (via Android).

But in 2001, using Linux was still an act of faith. It was choosing a path less traveled, betting on a community-driven project rather than an established vendor.

For an NTU student, that choice was empowering.