Madge makes a Token gesture towards Linux

Networking specialist, Madge Networks, is to offer Linux support in its Token Ring adapter software.

Graham Carter, product line manager, enterprise network product division at Madge, said: "It's important for Madge to make sure it supports all our Token Ring customer demands. It's important that they have a choice, obviously, and what we see out there is that Linux is starting to emerge as an important operating system for server environments."

Peter Crowcombe, sector director at Spikes Cavell, claimed vendors now have little choice but to support Linux. "End users can ignore Linux if they want, but vendors cannot," he said.

And Crowcombe approved of Madge's decision to support Token Ring while other vendors seem to be abandoning it. "Token Ring will be around for a while. Organisations will want to use new systems on legacy technology, and it needs to be supported - nobody can ignore it," he said.

Madge's Linux-enabled Token Ring adapter software can be downloaded from http://www.madge.com