>From my perspecive I fully support Ed's view. It is ultimately aimed at
potential supporters of Linux. It will cost money (not a bad thing in todays
if-you-don't-have-money-you're-a-criminal society). The more attention Linux
receives the more it will be developed. In the end we all win.
I love being able to download Linux for free. (But I buy copies every now and
then to support it, plus I get a new reference book.) After all it would be
bad if it disappeared due to monetary reasons. This is of course not likely
as Linux Distributions are providing a needed and wanted function. I do
expect the number of players to drop to a few big ones, and the normal small
here today and gone tomorrow distro's.
On Saturday 01 June 2002 09:34, you wrote:
> A concise answer would be:
>
> It's about making it easier for the makers of proprietary server
> software to create an easy-to-install product. To them, United Linux is
> a single platform for them to support and promote.
>
> Why(not so concise):
> 1. The new United Linux is aimed at servers NOT desktops (where it's
> actually needed but not likely to make money).
>
> 2. Servers using Open Source software won't benefit much from a LSB
> compliant distro. Most Linux servers in business (i.e. money paying)
> organizations have an administrator who knows how to a) install from
> source, or b) choose the correct distribution rpm or deb.
>
> 3. That leaves businesses with servers using proprietary software
> (think Oracle, etc). The managers there would just love to see a single
> supported Linux distro that all the makers of expensive, proprietary,
> and formally supported software say is compatible with their product.
> The makers of such proprietary will love having a single platform to
> support instead of the mixed bag they have to contend with now.
>
> However, I believe that if the makers of proprietary server software are
> successful targeting United Linux, then we may see United Linux become a
> standard that makers of proprietary DESKTOP Linux software (whenever
> that becomes real) will rally behind.
>
> Good or Bad? For those who use open source software it's irrelevant.
> For those who buy or sell software to run on Linux, it's a good thing.
>
> Ed.
>
> Anita Pesola wrote:
> > I just read this. Here's the article....I would like opinions as to
> > whether this is good or bad. If you can't read it, let me know because I
> > cut and pasted the article. :-)
> >
> > Linux Vendors Announce Plans to Unite
> >
> > By MATTHEW FORDAHL
> > AP Technology Writer
> >
> > SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Four Linux companies announced plans Thursday
> > to create a common business version of the open source operating system.
> > Industry leader Red Hat, however, was not among them.
> >
> > Caldera International, Turbolinux, SuSE and Conectiva will jointly
> > develop the distribution called UnitedLinux and sell it, by the end of
> > the year, under their own brand names.
> >
> > Previously, each company released its own flavor of the operating system
> > and, for the most part, software designed for Linux usually ran on all
> > distributions with minor tweaking.
> >
> > The group -- also called UnitedLinux -- hopes to speed further business
> > adoption of Linux by releasing a single version that will be supported
> > by all. The companies will fund joint research and development.
> >
> > North Carolina-based Red Hat, which now sells about 50 percent of Linux
> > software, has launched its own alliance with various other software and
> > hardware companies.
> >
> > Ransom Love, chief executive of Caldera, said Red Hat and other major
> > distributors have been invited to join. Mark de Visser, Red Hat's vice
> > president of marketing, said his company has made no decision.
> >
> > ``We are not sure what to make of it, because they called us yesterday
> > and have been working on it for four months,'' he said. ``We cannot join
> > anything we don't understand.''
> >
> > In a survey of 800 companies in North America and Western Europe, about
> > 40 percent said they were either using or testing Linux in their
> > organizations, according to the research firm IDC.
> >
> > Linux, a derivative of Unix created by Finnish college student Linus
> > Torvalds, is developed by a community of programmers around the world.
> > Its source code is shared and freely available.
> >
> > Though individual companies charge for the operating system, tech
> > support and services, versions can be downloaded legally for free on the
> > Internet. Many companies and governments have turned to Linux as a
> > low-cost alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating systems.
> >
> > ``You can't help but compete against Microsoft,'' Love said. ``When
> > someone is trying to be all things to all people, you can't help but
> > bump into them. ... I think this does provide a feasible business
> > alternative.''
> >
> > ------
--Steve ________________________________________________________ HTML in e-mail creates out-security, and more spam. By using it you teach others, less knowledgeable, that it's safe to use.
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