Re: Oracle chief architect says there ought to be one Linux distribution: Red Hat

In comp.os.linux.advocacy, joel garry
<joel-garry_at_home.com>
 wrote
on Thu, 8 May 2008 13:34:30 -0700 (PDT)
<93714048-dfc9-4b1d-b2d3-c82974a31f58_at_j33g2000pri.googlegroups.com>:
> On May 8, 10:07 am, chrisv <chr..._at_nospam.invalid> wrote:
>> joel garry wrote:
>> >I've come to the opinion that linux as sold/supported is a toy OS
>> >running on toy hardware,
>>
>> Yeah, that's why countless corporations and research organizations use
>> and depend on it.  Tell google that Linux is a "toy OS".
>>
>> Idiot.
>
> Well, I may be an idiot, but what does it say that even more
> corporations use Windows? (Too avoid confusion: I'm biased against
> Windows and for unix. A decade ago I was very pro-linux in cola.).
> It says that countless corporations are wrong, to me.

Define "wrong". Both solutions work, with a cost. That cost has multiple units:

[1] initial licensing/monetary outlay for OS and apps relevant to

    the initial problem

[2] reliability/downtime
[3] IT support staff effort (man-days per machine per year, perhaps)
[4] IT training costs (including procedure development)
[5] staff training costs
[6] additional hardware and software not related to [1] in order

    to keep the entire system running/responsive/virus-free/sane [7] palatability to upper management; for example, they might not

    even look at [non-]Microsoft or [non-]Oracle solutions, terminating     any proposals outside of their worldview with not quite extreme     prejudice.

> Success in the
> marketplace does not mean technical superiority, and often means the
> converse.
>
> We all ought to know the history - some smart guy wanted to know how
> 386's worked. Getting from there to a professional OS? I say it is
> arguable. Any time someone can point out something major where
> Windows works better, first of all...

[1] Generating profit for Microsoft.
[2] Threads, maybe.
[3] Might be easier to sell to large corporations; Dell

> (I have hardware detection and
> support in mind as I write this, certainly the main reason I'm no
> longer using linux, specifically redhat, I have 3 dozen versions of
> different linux in shelfware, at least.).
>
> Now as far as linux/Oracle, you need to address concerns like these:
> http://groups.google.com/group/comp.databases.oracle.server/browse_thread/thread/62e0ef3830b24ce4/a6ce2fc3536fe0b4?lnk=st&q=#a6ce2fc3536fe0b4
>
> You see, I'm a _sophisticated_ idiot.
>
> I think the Oracle stand (referenced by the OP) of a single linux is
> just plain wrong, even limiting to the db sphere there's wildly
> different needs and usages.
>
> jg
> --
> @home.com is bogus.
> So, do people die if your software doesn't work right?
> http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Platt_Michael/2008/05/02/5448331-sun.php

-- 
#191, ewill3_at_earthlink.net
Linux.  An OS which actually, unlike certain other offerings, works.
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