Will be heading back to the far north shortly, but wanted to leave you with a follow up on my Red = Linux post from a few weeks ago. So here are 5 potential reasons it might make sense for IBM to support Debian:
1. Undermine TCO argument of Solaris 10 (vs Red Hat)
2. Undermine TCO argument of Windows Server 2003 (vs Red Hat)
3. Give one of the higher profile, production-quality F/OSS platforms a boost
4. Reduce IBM’s dependency on Novell and/or Red Hat
5. Enhance IBM’s standing within the Linux community
I’ll concede up front that it’s not likely (and certainly no one would even hint at considering it here), but I think as Red Hat’s pricing continues to chafe enterprise clients, it’ll look more and more attractive.
Update: This could make the support somewhat less problematic and resource intensive.
Update 2:
Bonus link #1: Caught this one last night - Dell’s having some issues with Red Hat pricing.
Bonus link #2: Jonathan doesn’t think Dell offering Debian, or my own platform Gentoo, will make much difference. I agree. But IBM targeting it, that’s a different story.
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IBM also loaned Novell $50 million toward Novell’s $250 million purchase of SuSe. Thus, IBM has some (indirect) stake in SuSe, though it’s not clear yet where that investment is going.
yes indeed - good mention. as i recall the investment was intended finalize an agreement allowing IBM to ship SuSE Linux on their entire server line.
i’d have to think many of those customers - such as the folks running SuSE on zSeries - will be purchasing contracts from Novell/SuSE for support.
Novell’s clearly the strong second partner here. i think Debian could be the wild card third party in this equation, if IBM can minimize the costs associated with getting their apps to run on the platform.
I’ve been running at least IBM Lotus Domino on Debian (recently ugraded to Sarge aka. Testing) for about 2 years and I am quite happy how it works.
I have tried SuSe and Red Hat but both did not enable me to save real money compared to Microsoft (therefore indeed it is a Debian or Windows question). To my surprise I even thought about Solaris/Intel recently (there has been a port for Domino until V6).
very interesting example Heinz, not least b/c it supports my contention. can you give any specifics on the nature of the application and its deployment? its production, i’m assuming? how many people? any specifics you can give here (or privately at sogrady@redmonk.com) would be much appreciated.
Well, I am working in the Micro SMB market with no customer more than 500 seats so my installations are small (but they are all productive systems).
The systems, all standard PC hardware, run up to 100 concurrent users per server and various applications, from public web servers and e-commerce systems to internal Mail and Groupware, Intranet and Helpdesk installations (mostly using IBM Lotus Domino). While the software licenses are not the big deal, those customers really save on cost for system maintenance and support. Basically some of these systems behave like appliances that just do their work. Unfortunately the Non-support from IBM is a problem. That is why Windows still plays an important role for me (and it works in some way).
thanks for the additional info, Heinz. you’re a perfect example of what i’ve been trying to make a case for; namely that free systems can, and indeed should, be used in certain production scenarios, particularly at the S side of the SMB market. but to date, ISVs like IBM - and to be fair, most of the other big guys - haven’t taken that next step. Sourcelabs, SpikeSource and the like can support the OS, but they can’t force the ISVs to target it. only demand can do that, and i think you’re a leading edge indicator of that demand.
thanks again for the info. feel free to drop me a note or call me if you want to chat on anything further, or if you want me to get a message to any of the major vendors.
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