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Attention Linux Terrorists, here's Webmaster Dave's
email address: webmaster@jocgeek.com.
Now that that's settled, let's take a closer look
as to why these com-panies are making the move.
1) It's less expensive to provide an open-source
operating system such as Linux than to install Windows
2000 or one of the various flavors of Unix.
2) Since it's an open source operating system,
you can write your own code to solve any problems
you may have or most likely find solutions to your
problems in any of several hundred Linux newsgroups
or bulletin boards.
3) Linux takes up much less space on the server
than other operating systems and requires less overhead
(processing power and memory) to run.
4) There are now hundreds of bus-iness applications
that can run on Linux, including "office"
products from Sun and Corel. And, because it's an
open source operating system, dozens of new apps
are being developed every day.
In addition, a recent study of com-panies employing
100 people or more conducted by IDC and Red Hat
Software discovered "associated costs with
Linux are not only dramatically lower for the hardware
and software, as you might expect, but also comparable
or lower for staffing--which you might not expect."
Also, companies such as Red Hat now have technical
support available for anyone having problems with
with memory leaks or any other Linux bug.
The list goes on, and on, and on ad infinitum.
Now, we can all bury our heads in the sand and
say we'd rather sink than switch, but the fact is
that Linux will soon become the standard operating
system for a majority of servers being manufacturered
by the computer giants.
And, as this trend continues, software companies,
such as Oracle, will have to climb on board or watch
their bottom lines go South.
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What do Oracle, Sun and IBM have in common?
They're all running Linux in one form or another.
Who would've thought this day would ever come?
Here's a quote directly from IBM's website at http://www.ibm.com/linux:
"Linux is a revolutionary Open Source platform
that is stable, secure, scalable and powerful; offering
today's busi-nesses the flexibility to innovate
for success. IBM is proud to work within this community,
to nurture Linux and help it thrive"
Who the? What the? Wow!!!!
Even Looney Larry at good ole Oracle Corporation
is looking to move from Sun to Linux by the end
of the summer.
In fact, three of the biggest players in the computer
industry are using Linux.
Now, before all of you Linux-ers start dancing a
jig and fling Microsoft Windows XP CDs out the window,
there's one final question to be asked here.
Is it the right choice?
No, and here's why:
There isn't a brand of Linux out there that's ready
for primetime. How in the he-double hockey sticks
can an OpenSource OS be considered by these three
major players? Is it all about the bottom line and
saving money?
What about the poor systems admin-istrators that
have to spend countless waking hours trying to figure
out why the system just crashed when the new kernel
was applied? Is support now going to be done via
newsgroups instead of calling professional services?
Will I be able to get a direct line to Linus Torvalds
himself? Or will I simply need to track down the
bugger that is responislble for the memory leak
in kernel 2.4.7?
I'd be much happier sticking with Sun Solaris and
dealing with cluster patches once a year rather
than dealing with kernel changes, tweaks and constant
updates to a set of Linux servers.
The only thing Linux should be used for in a major
corporation is running a web server. That and maybe
a footrest if it's sitting on level ground.
Signing off again,
Frustrated Systems Administrator #25431
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