Re: Intel vs Sparc

Billy Verreynne <vslabs_at_onwe.co.za> wrote in message news:<b1vs23$jpc$1_at_ctb-nnrp2.saix.net>...
> Rauf Sarwar wrote:
>
> > I agree to some extent. Just by being an open source and "free" is not
> > going to cut it for Linux. M$ will just drown it with money.
>
> Pardon me being very blunt, but that is really an extremely ignorant
> statement.

Well... Pardon me for being very blunt, If you think M$ is on more then 80% of desktops in the world by "only" being a "good" OS... then I think you just landed from Mars. It proves the point that with enough Money ,Marketing and some "arm twisting"... you can shove any product down consumers throats.

> Marketing a product is not about having me-too features, but
> me-different-and-better features.
> Linux attempting to imitate MS Windows, is _exactly_ what Microsoft would
> like. Only an idiot goes and play on the field owned by the market leader.
>
> The fact that Linux is Open Source and that there are so many Open Source
> software for it, is the *PRIMARY* reason behind the decision of those
> companies and governments to go Linux.
>
> > If Linux
> > has any chance of becoming a viable platform
>
> You are thus implying Linux is not? Again, that statement is ignorant. Linux
> is used in many corporate and government environments as a viable platform.

I think you are one of those few "die hard Linux" fans that I mentioned in my post. I too support Linux whole hartedly but the reality is that Linux is still going thru it's teenage years. Yea there are companies out there who use Linux servers but compared to the worldwide server market share held by M$, Sun, HP, IBM (and let's not forget these *nix players... they too have a dog in this race), Linux's share is still very small.

Example: I work for an ERP company and we sell our solution to mid to large size companies around the world. We have numerous customers in the NA market. When the time comes to buy the hardware to run our applications, we generally tell their IT managers to buy any Oracle compliant platform that suits their environment. We only make recommendations on server size (i.e. RAM, storage, RAID level etc). So far I have come across two customers who purchased Linux. Most go with either Sun, HP or M$. This does not mean that Linux is not good. It's just that it's too new for companies to invest money into to run their business critical applications on.

>
> > that companies can invest money into,
>
> Companies are _not_ interested in investing money into operating systems or
> software. The fact that the "free purchasing" aspect of Open Source appeals
> to companies and government, proves that.

What I meant by that is software development companies to develop for Linux. You still have to search the internet to look for software/drivers compatable with Linux. List is growing but it will take some time.

>
> Companies want to invest in *solutions*. They can no longer afford to spend
> money on peripheral things that are not part of the business core and
> focus. Why do you think there are so many job cuts and restructuring these
> last years? Because IT departments in companies have become bigger than the
> sales and marketing departments.

Companies want to invest in solutions... Yes... But CEO/CFO's also look for a market pattern when time comes to buy expensive hardware/software. Try selling a new brand name to IT managers specially when it comes to hardware/software that business applications run on. To them.. Linux is still young... "Let the other guy around the block buy it and I'll see how it performs" is a common attitude. I guess to them it still comes across as some sort of "freeware" or a "shareware" that you can download from tucows.com.

>
> Companies want to focus on their core business using IT solutions. They have
> no interest in investing in the development of operating systems and
> hardware. They want to invest in *solutions*.

And what do you think is a "solution". In this day and age it's the total package. Why do you think Oracle goes out of it's way to promote Sun as it's premier platform?

>
> > If Gnome is the best that Linux can offer to attract Windoze users...
> > then it is a sorry attempt.
>
> You are confusing market segments. Linux is not a threat or a big player in
> the PC desktop market. Linux's strenghts are in the server market.

For that Linux would have to compete with the heavy weights like Sun, HP and IBM. Linux can run on your ordinary desktop PC and that I think makes it a player in the PC market. Companies like RedHat etc would be more then happy to see M$ users jump ship and start using Linux as their primary platform.

>
> Sure, there are some Linux purists that will argue and say that Linux can
> compete in the desktop market and point to "superior technology". But the
> desktop market is not about technology per se. It is about end-users. How
> to services _them_.
>
> IMO, Microsoft has little to fear from Linux when it comes WindowsXP Home
> edition (or whatever they call their desktop offering). Microsoft however
> has a lot to fear about competition from Linux when it comes to the
> WindowsXP server market.
>
> > Still... Linux is an excellent platform and with Larry's money and
> > marketing behind it.... who knows... it may produce a winner in few
> > years.
>
> I fail to see a competition here that is like a 100m or 1500km race, where
> the race is over after a specific distance and a winner declare at the end.

Comon now.... Don't shoot down the free enterprise/market system. It's all about competition. Competition to be the dominant player in the market for as long as time permits, which in turn means $$$. Whether it's between Larry's Network PC's vs M$ desktop PC's or Linux vs M$ or Netscape vs IE.

Linux is a good platform and I for one would really like it to succeed. Thought of having a same platform on my home PC and work server whose name does not start with "M$" is just too good to pass. You have made some valid points but you fail to look at the reality on the ground. Linux so far is what it is.. an open source platform which is pretty good but has not really cut thru the server market to make a solid name for itself. It can do it on it's own merit but that may be a longer route. Some marketing and backing from companies like Oracle can really bring it to the forefront. Even though it seems like Oracle is warming up to Linux... They still have not made a serious commitment yet. Even with the established one's like RedHat, Oracle only officially certifies upto RedHat 7.2 and RedHat is already upto 8.0.

Regards
/Rauf Sarwar Received on Fri Feb 07 2003 - 19:42:51 CST