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Re: Google Box

__/ [John Bailo] on Sunday 16 October 2005 20:08 \__

> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> 
>> So, Linux sucks, right? It makes people redundant as it simply has the
>> ability to cope on its own without outside intervention. I know many
>> organisations that need to demonstrate 'competence' by proving that they
>> throw some money (budget) at something, as well as provide their
>> employees with chores, or else they would become redundant and bitter.
> 
> Here's where you fail to understand.
> 
> What Windows does is provide everyone with a generic IS system.  That
> system fails to provide any competitive advantage. So, all the talk about
> IS providing ROI and competitive advantage can never be obtained if you,
> and your competitors are using the same "artillery".
> 
> With Linux, it's completely up to you to transform it into a true
> advantage -- something that can never be done with Windows.
> 
> The strage irony is: Windows is actually more "Open" than Linux.  Why?
> Because with Windows, all the cards are on the table -- not the code, but
> the functionality.  If I use Windows, and my competitor uses Windows --
> then we both know exactly what each other is using.
> 
> However, once inside an organization, there is nothing to stop say, a GM,
> from creating very customized improvements for itself, that it never has
> to
> share unless it wants to present the code back for sale.  So, Boeing can
> create very optimized features for itself that provide advantages above
> the
> base level: and that holds for Office products, database and so on.   For
> example, they could take Open Office and make a really tight integration
> with CATIA, with lots of very specific plugins that let them manipulate
> and integrate CAD with documents.
> 
> That would give them a big leg up on Airbus.

Point taken. Are you also familiar with what has become a common term
recently...?

The GBox.

If not, then you have just explored and expressed a key idea that was over
the years realised by Google. They are still disguising their machines in
the dark, not allowing much access to their customised Linux boxes. It was
only months ago that DiBona, Google's Code Manager (with whom I exchanged
E-mails), told the media some interesting things:

http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=2BF1A6B8-C974-42DD-8903-758193AE36BF

<snip>

    While showing a slide show of Google?s hardware evolution, which began
    humbly  with an odds-and-ends collection of ?spare computers that were
    lying around Stanford? (hobbled together,  literally, with  pieces  of
    Lego  and  duct tape)  and  ended with a present-day photo of Google?s
    current server room (darkened to the point of being indistinguishable,
    for competitive reasons), DiBona said Google has used Linux all the way.

</snip>

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz      |    "Error, no keyboard - press F1 to continue"
http://Schestowitz.com  |    SuSE Linux    |     PGP-Key: 74572E8E
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