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Wall Street Embraces Linux
Brian Stretch was among several
who sent in this story about Merrill Lynch
switching to Linux, this is interesting because it's actually companywide.
Talks about Red Hat, Linux threatening Unix and so on.
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"Would I put an air traffic control system on Linux right now? No," says Carey. "But can it get there within five years? Absolutely."
Actually, I work in the aviation sector, and we've been using Linux for years for computing flight plans and relaying AFTN messages.
I hate that fucking quotation. If I never heard it again, it would be too soon. It's not like I boot into Windows, say "Computer, write the year-end fiscal report," and go golfing for the afternoon.
"If he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he's sorely mistaken." Bush on bin Laden
First, Merrill Lynch praised the portability of Linux applications and their ability to scale across the enterprise, with a swipe at proprietary applications. Maybe they'll wake up for a moment, and realize what their most locked-in platform is.
Second, this seems to be largely a matter of Linux moving into Unix turf. I expect to see some minor disasters happen with this type of migration, and that's a Good Thing. Why, because part of the savings is moving onto dirt cheap PCs from expensive hardware. Part of the expense of that old hardware is the label, but part is genuine quality, too. After someone starts to get a handle on money lost because PCs are too cheap, causing down-time and even some erroneous data, there will be a move to put some quality back in. We will all have a better quality spectrum to buy from, and it will be better labeled and reviewed.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
1) How do you work around the complete lack of server-side productivity software on Linux servers? By deploying Exchange, you can make scheduling a meeting as easy as sending an email with a time and having everyone click to confirm the meeting, which is then added to everyone's calendar. There is no solution like this without using Exchange (and I've looked.)
You have to understand this doesn't have much of anything to do with Linux, at least what they are using it for; you're talking about extending functionality of an email client/server. I'd suspect to see stuff coming from Ximian in this area as they target the desktop. However, with no users to support the development of such a project it's currently not worth it. Also this article isn't about desktop usage, it's about server usage. If you want the answer to that question
you simply just have to look at who currently uses linux and for what. You also have to look at the numbers of users on desktop.
2) How do you work around the lack of group policy controls in SAMBA? By this I mean forcing a computer to have the most up-to-date anti-virus software when it logs on to the domain; mapping network drives automatically; downloading OS patches automatically through a local server. AFAIK, Samba can't do any of this as well as a Windows 2000 Server can. And what about Active Directory? LDAP isn't as cohesive a solution if you are running Windows clients.
Blah this can be done if you know what you're doing, with some scripts. Not only that but I believe RedHat provides some type of functionality for this. Samba can't do the almighty everything without proper documentation and records/structures. Obviously Microsoft doesn't provide this so you take what you get for free. Last I checked you didn't pay for Samba, also last
I checked Microsoft hasn't released any specs recently enabling such operation, for any of the above you mention. However again you get this stuff for free, so you save costs and get minimal functionality if you have to support Windows users. If you're a windows based shop you have to pay thats what it boils down to.
From this article, I have to think that Merrill Lynch and others are changing their external server infrastructure, not their internal IT infrastructure.
This has nothing to do with external/internal infrastructure; they are replacing their sun boxen with linux boxen because it's cheaper and they get more bang for their buck. Wall St has used Unix for most of their vital financial etc etc transactions, they use os/2 as well. You won't find NT in operation anywhere the word "vital" is important on Wall St. For the most part this sounds totally alien of any internal/external server infrastructure I'd have to believe, that is how Wall st works.
The other conclusion I must draw is that the companies that are migrating to Linux as a workgroup server (i.e. replacing Windows NT/2000 Server with Linux) did not have a cohesive Windows network in the first place. Unfortunately, Linux is nowhere near a solution to Exchange, and it's perhaps 25% of the way to replacing a Windows 2000 primary domain controller's capabilities.
Blah, Exchange is an server application it has nothing to do with the rest of the network, and thats why Ximian just released it's Ximian Connector or whatever for Evolution. If Linux does make it on the desktop then their is a migratrion path and I'd figure if Ximian saw something like this coming down the pipe they'd look into replacing Exchange. There just isn't demand for something like that right now.. Just see #1 reply. You can't be serious about the pdc comment; thats all I have to say about that, I mean that is mostly laughable.
So what servers is Merrill Lynch migrating? Linux does have its core competencies -- web servers; application servers; network storage to some degree -- but they didn't mention what part of the infrastructure they were replacing. I would thus take the words "companywide" with a grain of salt in this case.
The article does say they are migrating their sun boxen, so thats what I tend to believe. Whatever functionality their sun boxen had is what they
would reproduce on Linux. Since you say all the above is not possible you should be able to deduce that it's most likely none of the above, once you
deduced that you'd either have the idea to ask Merril Lynch themselves or just leave the question unanswered. "Network storage on Linux" to some degree; stop throwing mud, that is totally unfounded and I and alot of other people would disagree with you. I seem to remember something about Veritas supporting Redhat in those list of companies. Not only that but there are many companies already using linux for their Sans. This comment again is extremely laughable.
"Companywide" I tend to take that meaning anything that was on a sun box that can be reproduce on a linux box and retain the same functionality and
uptime will be replaced with said linux boxen. It's also cheaper; would you like water with that tremendously big grain of salt or will some other
beverage accomdate you simply because it is taken place already or soon will be.
you forgot the last step:
time = money
knowledge = power
work = power * time
work = knowledge * money
money = work / knowledge
QED: as knowledge --> 0, money --> infinity
cpeterso
I work for one of the largest banks in the world (Top 5) and we almost ditched our entire Windows Server infrastructure in favor of Linux. Why? Not because it wasn't working.
Unlike a lot of MS haters, we know how to use Windows. Strangely enough, when used the way MS intended it works pretty well.
Instead we considered Linux for similar reasons as Merril Lynch. When we asked MS for a deal on licencing our 300+ Windows 2000 Servers the way they did for Windows NT4.0, not only did they say "No" they auditted our current licences and told use we owe them money! They were the ones who sold us the licences in the first place!
So on top of each Windows 2000 Server licence, they want client access licences for EVERY computer (6000+) and a yearly subscription fee for god knows what!
I mean, what's the point of a server if no one can access it? Per-seat licencing for 6000+ workstations?
It wasn't until we weighed it against the cost of redeveloping 120 applications for Linux that we decided to cave. MS knows this. They waited for companies to become dependant on their OS before jacking up the price. What Merril Lynch is doing is not whoop-de-doo! another company went to Linux!, it's truly amazing. For such an enormous organization to revamp on such a huge scale takes cahones.
"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake."...Tyler Durden
Financial firms were the primary customer of NeXT Computer (absorbed into Apple, or the other way around). Having been the first commercial object-oriented GUI, it allowed quick development of interfaces for financial software. NeXT would have failed long before, even with Steve's millions.