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.
