Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> Novell's Changing of the Guard Better Late Than Never?
>
> ,----[ Context: investors ]
> | Their beef: He (Messman) was too slow to slash costs, cater to
> | customers, and battle more aggressively with Red Hat for Linux, an
> | operating system distributed over the Internet that's becoming an
> | increasingly popular alternative to Microsoft's Windows.
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | Hovsepian pledges a new, hungry, aggressive Novell will defend its
> | position as the second-largest Linux distributor and give Red Hat
> | something to worry about, finally. We're here to win and Novell is going
> | to win, he told his sales staff on the morning of June 22 after the
> | announcement. It's now time to unleash Novell, he said in an interview
> | with BusinessWeek.com.
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | Meanwhile, Oracle Latest News about Oracle Chief Executive Larry
> | Ellison has openly hinted the company may release its own Linux
> | distribution. Currently, about 80 percent of companies that run Linux do
> | so on Oracle databases; a move by Oracle into Linux would create some
> | big waves.
> `----
>
> http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/51483.html
We in Linux have a problem that eminates from the stock market. Because they
need a battle between the distros. They need winners and losers. The
potential is a growth as large as MS has had, but that will only come from
aggression from a big player. I can't see that that will be Novell myself,
particularly now. Because they have just lost a man who was more interested
in developing one or more aspects of Linux, for one who is only out to
please the gamblers in the market place.
The reason Redhat is at the top of the tree is because there is no better to
choose for server, it is rock solid, isn't resource hungry no faff to waste
cpu time, it is just a workhorse that will sit there ploughing away
effortlessly, stick it on server class hardware and the IT department might
as well learn to knit because they will have little else to do.
Suse is a very good client, and reasonable server. The server side is solid
etc, but just some daft ideas in the out of the box system that you have to
clear up. But it is very easy to setup so wins on that score by IT people
who like to get the setup out of the way because they have a new knitting
pattern they want to try out. Or for those wanting a server/client at home.
There isn't need for fighting Linux V Linux, people will choose either the
one that has served them well, or the one that at the time is being
reported from other users to be top of the pile.
Take Ubuntu, with a name like that how many would have even looked at it
when it was in the lower end of the top 100 on distrowatch. You don't see
masses of advertising. It is gaining ground on the backs of those who have
tried it and are passing the word around. It will no doubt go through a
popular phase as many others have done, then settle back to an average user
base.
Suse is the same, it has been in the top ten for years, simply because it
makes a very good client and a good small office or home server. It has a
user base which is high enough to keep it up in that top ten. But that is
only because they kept developing, adding ideas that made it easier on each
version for home and (the hoped for) office users. It was going in the
right dorection. Version 10.1 is still on that path, but I wonder if it is
the last. Because 10.1 is the product of 10.0, the momentum kept it going
even though the key men had gone. Will that carry through to the next
version, I am not so sure that it can.
Anyone who has had dealings with Novell before I suspect like me are feeling
a touch of dajavoo. The difference this time being that Novell have nothing
soft to break their fall.
They Have to plough money into development or they will fall behind, and the
fall from grace in the linux world can be extreemly fast, though it can be
forgiving. They are distros in the top 20 that had a poor version, put it
right and started back up the ladder again.
But then we have to ask ourselves, do we really want our Linux controlled by
the gamblers den (i.e. the stock market)? I don't think we do. MS ended up
spending more time and effort trying to please the marketeers than their
users, I'm sure we would not want that in Linux.
I would carry on supporting Redhat, simply because they give me a trouble
free life, but as for clients, they is enough good choice without choosing
those who's primary concern is the gamblers den. Let the gamblers go back
to rolling dice in the back yard. I know we live in a market ecconomy so
need that stuff, but they are some things best kept out of it and Linux
could well be one of those things.
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