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Xref: sserve comp.os.386bsd.misc:5146 comp.os.linux.misc:34293 comp.os.os2.advocacy:76820 Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mira.net.au!news.netspace.net.au!serval.net.wsu.edu!netnews.nwnet.net!oracle.pnl.gov!osi-east2.es.net!lll-winken.llnl.gov!uwm.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!epiwrl.entropic.com!usenet From: kenh@entropic.com (Ken Hornstein) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.os2.advocacy Subject: Re: Linux thoroughly insulted by Infoworld! Date: 29 Jan 1995 04:32:51 -0500 Organization: Entropic Research Lab, Washington, DC. Lines: 53 Message-ID: <3gfnc3$pge@epiwrl.entropic.com> References: <950116203411@lambada> <3fmi6c$ang@galaxy.ucr.edu> <3fvqbd$6v1@nkosi.well.com> <D31H4A.1BL@gumleaf.apana.org.au> NNTP-Posting-Host: epiwrl.entropic.com In article <D31H4A.1BL@gumleaf.apana.org.au>, Michael Talbot-Wilson <mike@gumleaf.apana.org.au> wrote: >>Besides, Linux is (*gasp!*) just an operating system. Until Sybase, Oracle, >>or Informix port their products to Linux, why use it? > >You have a narrow view on DBMSs. But these three had better >support it soon, because Unidata runs now and Advanced Pick >support is coming RSN. A free operating system has the >potential great advantage to application vendors that they can >supply it with the application and configured therefor, rather >than requiring the customer to go buy a Unix system. Err, how does this differ from the VAR programs offered by Sun, SGI, SCO, etc? Plenty of people are making tons of money supplying pre-configuring Unix workstations with their own software on it (that's the "value added" in Value Added Reseller). The company I work for does it (to an extremely limited extent), and the fact that we're using a commerical operating system in no way hinders us from doing so. I believe that using a commerical operating system in environments like this may be to your advantage, since the big vendors offer support goodies like integrated OS/hardware support, 1-800 numbers, and on-site field service engineers. Can you get this level of support for Linux? I would personally not be surprised if you could, but many people who just consider a computer a black box want to buy them from big companies that they know are financially sound. Sure, you can get field service engineers from "Bob's Computer Hut" that support Linux out the wazoo, but "big business" knows that SGI isn't going away anytime soon. Lest you think I am making this up, let me recount some personal experience. The company I work for has a number of software packages used by people doing research in speech technology and science. One of our users is the FBI - they use our software in their audio/visual lab to help them reconstruct audio tapes recorded by agents from crime scenes. The people that work there know a lot about the way sound works, the way magnegic fields collapse when tapes are altered; that sort of thing. However, they know absolutely _zero_ about Unix workstations. They don't _want_ to know. All they know is when they turn their machine on, they have to type in their last name at a certain point, then their windows come up and they have a bunch of menus that allow them to record audio, look at it, save it, do spectrograms, etc etc. The words "Linux", "NetBSD", "Free Unix", mean absolutely nothing to them. However, the words "Silicon Graphics" means a big vendor that sells lots of workstations to the government, who can sell equipment on a GSA schedule, who is familiar with government paperwork, and one who has extensive support contracts. What kind of workstation do you think they bought? Please don't misunderstand me - I'm not bashing Linux (or any free Unix out there). I'm just saying that this "potential great advantage" for application developers really isn't. Perhaps in a few years, this situation will change. --Ken