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Sunday, September 14, 2003
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In Case We Get Long-Winded
If the previous article fills up with comments, here is some more space.
9:08:20 PM 
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Here's a Little More Elbow Room for Comments
The conversation continues. . . so here's some more space.
8:23:57 PM
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Ford Chooses Linux, So Goes the World
Darl McBride says the Linux community is countercultural. I think he needs to put on his spectacles and take a look around at the modern Linux world. Who make up the open source/free software communities today? For one, Ford, according to this article in the Scotsman, has just decided to join our side by switching from Microsoft to Linux:
"Ford is joining the ranks of governments and local authorities across the world that have switched from Microsoft software to the free open-source alternative Linux.
"The car giant will run its sales operations, human resources, customer relations management and the rest of its infrastructure operations on the upstart technology.
The article doesn't make clear if this is there in Europe only, or worldwide, But either way, those now using Linux include IBM, HP, Merrill Lynch, Verisign, Dell, Amazon, Google, Dreamworks, Ford Motors, the US Air Force, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the US Department of Defense, and, by the way, the town of St. George, Utah-- what a bunch of countercultural radicals, according to Dear Darl. Time to update your FUD, Mr. McBride. Here's a partial list of major companies, governmental agencies, foreign nations, municipalities and law enforcement agencies currently using Linux.
Both Microsoft and UNIX are feeling the heat from Linux, according to this article from India:
"But Linux, free from the institutional greed that killed Unix's chances, has thrived. And it has found some strong backers, such as IBM. To a lesser extent, HP, Dell, and so forth, have also jumped on the Linux bandwagon. . . .The net result is that today one can buy a Linux-based PC for far less money than a Microsoft Windows-based PC. It will, it is pretty much guaranteed, work much better, and be less resource hungry: you don't have to throw away your computer every couple of years just because Microsoft's new OS is a resource hog.
"Linux, with its compelling advantages, has put the brakes on Microsoft's attempts to dominate the server market as much as it dominates the desktop market. . . .
"It is probably a fair assumption that the original Bell Labs code is by now relatively obsolete, and that a lot new innovation has been added by the free software people. Therefore, it is probable that if this comes to a court hearing, SCO will lose."
Institutional greed killed UNIX, the writer says, not open source or the GPL. So institutional greed = a failed business model. I hope you are taking notes, Mr. McBride, since you say you are looking for a successful business model. The one you're backing is killing off UNIX, so the bottom line is this: Linux doesn't need old-fashioned UNIX. You, on the other hand, do need Linux. You might want to put that in your pipe and smoke it a while.
12:00:10 AM
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