[Info-vax] OT: Elephants Can't Dance

[Main, Kerry]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: info-vax-bounces at rbnsn.com [mailto:info-vax-bounces at rbnsn.com] On
> Behalf Of Christopher
> Sent: March 13, 2009 3:46 PM
> To: info-vax at rbnsn.com
> Subject: Re: [Info-vax] OT: Elephants Can't Dance
> 
> On Mar 13, 9:22 am, billg... at cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) wrote:
> > In article <548cd0e9-8eb2-48d7-82b1-
> 3be6d1605... at t7g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>,
> >         Christopher <nadiasver... at gmail.com> writes:
> >
> >
> >
> > > On Mar 11, 8:53 am, billg... at cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) wrote:
> > >> In article <49b71a37$0$90263$14726... at news.sunsite.dk>,
> > >>         Arne Vajhøj <a... at vajhoej.dk> writes:
> >
> > >> > Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> > >> >> In article <49b5d07b$0$90267$14726... at news.sunsite.dk>,
> > >> >>        Arne Vajhøj <a... at vajhoej.dk> writes:
> > >> >>>                                     - there are plenty
> > >> >>> of open source operating systems out there,
> >
> > >> >> Name one serious OS that is open source that is not just
> another flavor
> > >> >> of Unix.
> >
> > >> > I can not think of any.
> > > Define "serious" ?  I would call Syllable and ReactOS serious.
>  Haiku
> > > also.  Young, but all still serious.
> >
> > Equivalent in function and use to things like VMS, zOS, OS-2200.
>  Used
> > for real work and not just something three guys play with in their
> mom's
> > basement.  Mentioned in real IT trade rags (oops, that elimnates VMS
> :-).
> > I can honestly say that I have never heard of any of the one's you
> > mentioned.  A quick show of hands, how many people here had actually
> > heard of any of these before this mention?
> 
> Haiku is a re-creation of BeOS, an excellent desktop OS.  It is far,
> far more than something 3 people play with in their basement.
> Syllable is sort of a cousin to Haiku in that they share some of code,
> but have different goals.  Also, a significant effort.  Syllable also
> has a "server" version.
> 
> ReactOS is an open source re-implementation of Windows.  It shares
> significant code with the Linux windows emulator WINE.
> 
> AROS is probably the most complete, absolutely alternative open source
> OS.  It is a re-implementation of the Amiga OS.
> 
> They are mentioned from time to time in "trade" journals that talk
> about such things.  None of them (except perhaps AROS) are really
> production ready, but neither was Linux until some companies started
> building their business around it.
> 
> There is nothing wrong with Open Source, and, frankly, few enterprise
> operating systems really benefit from being closed source.  Windows
> and OS X being the notable examples, but that's because they *are* the
> product.  You don't usually sell support contracts for a consumer OS.
> I think it's silly that HP-UX, AIX, OS/400 and OpenVMS are closed
> source.  The vast majority of revenue from those kinds of products
> don't come from the initial sale.  It is support contracts that
> generate the real revenue.
> 
> You could argue that opening the source gives other businesses the
> opportunity to take revenue away from you by building their own
> support organization for the software.  However, Oracle being closed
> source hasn't stopped that very thing from happening there.
> 
> You could argue that opening the source allows the product to
> fragment.  This is true.  Linux is extremely fragmented.  On the other
> hand, it has a very healthy financial ecosystem, and generally an
> application is certified for some very specific deployment.  As
> someone mentioned before, customers don't really care about the OS.
> They care about the app.  If your app deploys on Red Hat Linux instead
> of Ubuntu, 9 times out of 10 your customer isn't even interested.
> 
> 

The fragmentation issue is what often really freaks out enterprise Customers
- especially in this day and edge when Companies want to reduce their risks.

A new trend I have seen is that enterprise Cust's can not afford to have their
IT staff playing around in the OS open source weeds. 

Senior IT Mgrs want their senior IT staff to be working with their BU's to 
help them understand how IT can add value to improving their bottom line.

They also want "one throat to choke" when something breaks in the OS. If a
clustering or memory mgmt or low level disk driver breaks, they  do not
want their IT staff to be spending time fixing these issues or trying to 
figure out what custom patch they applied may have broken something in the 
OS. They want to log a call and have someone fix it for them.

Its partly why Microsoft has done as well as it has. While one can certainly
argue about the overall quality of its code, from a Cust perspective, they
feel they can hold Microsoft's feet to the fire and it will get fixed (even if 
not as quick as they might like.. same for Oracle).

Open source certainly has a place, but the concerns about risk, and who is
responsible for custom patches and overall integration testing etc are all 
concerns that senior IT managers have today.



Regards

Kerry Main
Senior Consultant
HP Services Canada
Voice: 613-254-8911
Fax: 613-591-4477
kerryDOTmainAThpDOTcom
(remove the DOT's and AT)

OpenVMS - the secure, multi-site OS that just works.