Stormix Technologies Shut Down

avidwriter@excite.com writes: "Linux Today is reporting that the phone lines to Stormix have been disconnected, and the Web site isn't accepting orders. Looks like another Linux vendor is down for the count." So, I think we'll officially pronounce Stormix dead. Some of the FTP sites are still carrying Stormix ISO's, so if you're looking for an easy way to install Debian on a machine, better get them while you can.

Comments

Marketing error...

[Coplan]

As much as people don't like to admit it, marketing really does push products. I never used Stormix, so I don't know what kind of product it was. I do know that I didn't know enough about it.

I blame that on the marketing department.

Even today, i'm not sure what exactly they have to offer (though I do know about their firewall stuff). More important is the fact that I don't know of any reason why I would choose Stormix over another product.

It's sad to admit it, but the marketing department really needs to get into faces and get stuff out there. I don't remember reading any product reviews or anything like that. Did they send out free copies to anyone for reviewing purposes? If not, maybe they should've.

Anyhow, one company going down doesn't make that much of a dent in the scene. You still got the heavy hitters like Ximian and Redhat out there, and so long as interest remains, that's all that matters.

Cheers,

Coplan

some cash infusion needed

[NMerriam]

I wonder if $3000 from IBM would help the company? We've found a new profit model!

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LinuxToday.com vs Stormix.com

[Brento]

Here's the really funny part: LinuxToday is already Slashdotted, but Stormix is doing fine. I'm not sure what that says about each company's web servers, or their business model, but I find it hilarious that the dead company has better web staying power.

Re-read the story

[MarcoAtWork]

Before everybody starts repeating this (it's already 2 people)

The story said that the site is not accepting orders not that the site is down. If you go to the site, go to the shopping area and try to order stuff, it says that the order section is down 'for maintenance'

The rest of the site is up, and the story never implied otherwise.

Re:Good old GPL....

[Dwonis]

Yeah, and that's what we expect from RMS. That's why a lot of us say "either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version": we trust RMS to have the same rigid standards as he has always had.
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Try Progeny Debian

[aat]

If you're looking for another easy to install and use Debian based distro, try Progeny, mentioned here less than two weeks ago.
You can download ISO's and also read the instructions for upgrading from Potato (Debian r2.2) here.
Disclaimer: I haven't tried it yet (due to a lack of time).

Re:Vs. Debian?

[Wolfstar]

I've tried Stormix, as well as Debian Slink and Potato at various times (I do some light to moderate work on the Linux Router Project over at leaf.sourceforge.net, which is based on Debian Slink, so I need a copy of it around.) None of the above are my full-time distro - I use SuSE - but I try and install and tinker with every distro I come across.

Stormix crashed and burned on my system the three times I tried installing it, and I didn't have anything too obscure in there either. Potato and Slink are both fairly awkward to install, but you can usually get to a shell prompt easily enough.

However, I personally take a wee bit of umbrage at the "easy way to install Debian" bit in the main article, because it is most definitely NOT the only way to do it. And Slashdot is what put me onto the alternative in the first place.

In my opinion, the Holy Grail of Linux Distros, the one that does what even Mandrake (7.2, I haven't been able to get 8.0 yet) can't do for ease of install, is Progeny Debian GNU/Linux.

Note that I don't use this on a day-to-day basis, mostly because of the blood-sweat-and-tears I've put into my SuSE boxen, but this is THE single easiest-to-install distribution out there that I've come across. It pegged ALL of my hardware - even my Logitech Cordless trackball, which SuSE's quite excellent SaX and SaX2 programs could not - first go around, and was easier to install than Windows.

Yes. Easier to install than Windows. Not for us, the average geek, but for them, the average Windows user.

Now, there are a few problems/bugs with the Progeny that I played with - namely, minor bugs in the installs package selection program that causes things to go wonky if you unselect a package in Expert Install - but overall, it's smooth as hell. One of my friends at work tried it after I suggested it to him; he installed in in about half an hour, got it up and running, and grabbed Ximian Gnome, and he's happier than hell. It's based off of a snapshot of Woody, so whether the installer is Woody's or Progeny's I don't know. What I do know is, if I ever need to do a system reinstall, SuSE will only remain on my server, and Progeny will be my desktop. SuSE's been good to me, but Progeny is unbelievable.

Before you wonder, no, I don't work for Progeny. But there's quite a few Debian notables that do.

Re:dim futures ahead

[Pinball Wizard]

The biggest difference(for me) between Red Hat and Debian is the way software gets installed. Red Hat is entirely based on using rpm to install binary images of software, whereas with Debian or Slackware you use your own compiler and compile the source to install things. Its a big difference to me, and I greatly prefer the latter.

Having the source, browsing it, and compiling it to me seems to be the way to go for hardcore UNIX hackers. They would miss compiling things and wouldn't trust the software as much on a Red Hat or Mandrake system.

I have to agree about crappy marketing...

[2nd Post!]

If you can't convince the market or the consumers you exist and are worth buying, why bother producing?

On the other hand, there are a whole bunch of reasons I prefer Debian to Redhat;

Debian has a better debug and design cycle (read longer and more thorough) such that it works on more systems and works more reliably.

Of course this is all word of mouth; I run only one Debian system, but I failed to get Red Hat, Mandrake, and Caldera to install on it. I tried Debian because it was touted as more reliable and better debugged, though almost an entire release cycle behind, and found that it worked.

Debian also has a nice update/package manager, apt, though a bit cryptic in UI, is very useful. Network aware and dependency aware! It's cool.

So Debian has a place; if a company existed that managed to market it correctly (just those two above make TCO for corporations much smaller) I'm sure it could survive, but you're right, it does boil down to marketing.

Geek dating!

There can be only three

[spike_gran]

I predict that in the near future, all but three Linux distribution companies will be out of business, and they will rename their distros FreeLinux, OpenLinux, and NetLinux.

Re:Company dead, sign of healthy market

[mcspock]

I would be interested in seeing a company that makes a profit from a linux distro. The biggest company behind any distro is RedHat, and they make almost no money off sales. They try and offer support contracts and make their money there, but even that is slim. If you look at the numbers, they made a bunch of cash in their IPO and used it to pick up Cygnus, which actually _does_ make money off consulting and support contracts.
Small scale distros will have trouble surviving in the end though, because there is no profit model. That is the only way they relate to dotcoms.

Company dead, sign of healthy market

[Zeinfeld]

In a capitalist society companies go bust all the time. The current shakeout of the dotcoms has made venture capital much harder to get. Companies that make a loss have to convince their backers they will make a profit soon.

This is a good thing. The job market for geeks at the moment is still pretty tight. Better to lay off staff while there are jobs to be had at profitable concerns than to wait for a real recession to hand out pink slips.