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Yankee Group Slams Linux 'Extremists'
AvatarofVirgo wrote in to mention an article running on ZDNet in which the consulting firm The Yankee Group goes after folks in the Linux community who have been questioning their objectivity. From the article: "Laura DiDio, an analyst at the Yankee Group who has been at the receiving end of much of the criticism from Linux advocates, claimed the radical elements of the community could damage the reputation of open source software."
Laura DiDio
Linux is stable, free, and can be more secure if you really try. In some respects it has better hardware support. And is easier to setup (for most distros) than windows from scratch. The two cases where I know an individual would have a very compelling reason to switch would be if 1: They are developing software in house(no costly SDKs) 2: They need to host something (Linux is much better as a server than windows XP home).
she's pissed off because they call her DiDiot and her last name is DiDio? A 3rd grade schoolyard taunt gets to her? She complaing because she gets phone calls at 11pm. She lives in the public eye (whether she likes it or not, that's where she is) and her phone number is listed?
Tell me about death threats or stalkers and I'd say you've got extremists. Tell me about name-callers and heavy-breathers and I'd say you've got the nuisance equivalent of script kiddies.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
The problem is that you can't have a discussion on "why is X better than Y" without mentioning that there's stuff Y cannot do. I don't understand how you can have a conversation with someone on why to switch from IE to Firefox, for example, without mentioning that there's things firefox does that IE does not.
If one person says "X is better than Y" and someone else says "Y is bad compared to X" they are both saying the exact same thing, but they seem different on a purely emotional (read: bullshit) level. I don't subscribe to the notion that sugar-coating what you say like that actually changes anything signifigant about your message.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
Which is the problem, since it's "not free enough", the zealots simply dismiss it, and lets face it, the zealots are the ones helping spread Linux usage. It's stupid and it needs to stop.
Maybe "zealots" don't want to help spread software that doesn't meet their criteria for good software (i.e. "isn't free enough").
Maybe if Yankee Group asked the people doing the work and not the PHB's (who usually admit to not understanding the technology anyway), they would have gotten different answers. Perhaps its the frustration of the professionals who see their work summarized by higher-ups who don't understand it that is leading to such harsh criticism? DiDiot's pretty funny, too.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
And for proof of that, check out her video here. Now, Laura, tell us again how objective you are again. (I could use a good laugh.)
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
The article is a little misleading. It seems to imply that Didio was first harrassed by zealous linux supporters with her TCO survey.
1 09 12770.html?oneclick=true
She doesn't mention her quick involvement in the SCO case, where she was one of the first and only Analysts to sign the SCO NDA and claim publically they had a solid case. She wasn't all to forthcoming to her 15 year friendship with everyone's fav marketing vp, Black Stowell either.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/09/10550
Quickly after that initial report she produced a report that critized Linux vendors for failing to indemnify customers, the exact same line Darl McBride was telling.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/31252.html
Then she produces a TCO report on Linux vrs Windows development that uses BEA and Oracle on the Linux side vrs IIS and SQL2000 on the MS side and reports MS is much cheaper then the linux solution. Which i belive is the one the article mentions.
So to say Didio was unfairly attacked because she objectively came out with reports that critize linux is quite wrong. She was questioned because of her seemingly permament bias against Linux.
If the source of this is not monetary, I'd hate to know what some Linux developer did to her to make it so Personal.
Well, no. Your statement "IDEs...exist on Linux which...are far better than Visual Studio" is a subjective statement, backed up with nothing. That is a biased statement, or a partisan one if you prefer, and you would need facts and figures to back it up.
Cheers,
Ian
Laura DiDio is the one who agreed with SCO if I recall that Linus stole millions of lines of Unixware code and warned CIO's to stay clear from it.
Just take what she says wiuth a grain of salt.
http://saveie6.com/
Ever tried installing windows on machine with only sata drives and no floppy drive?
You'd probably find out that the installer dies when it cannot find your hard drive, and you can't install extra drivers since you dont have a floppy drive.
Well you're right, you cannot set the timezone since the installer doesn't go that far so windows is no go on modern high-end machines without some slipstreaming to the cd.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
Uhhh. Ok. There is a large difference between posting a comment on an entertainment message board and publishing a professional opionion.
Professional integrity applies to ones profession. My profession is not to post on slashdot, her profession is to publish objective opinions on technology. First she participated in research funded by one of the vendors and second she publicly whined about her critics again via her professional identity.
Windows is easy to setup if everything goes right. If it doesn't, you need to have some skillz or know someone who does. One example that springs quickly to mind (because I've just spent a great deal of time wrestling with it) is to try and install Windows to a SATA (Serial ATA) hard drive. Windows generally doesn't recognize SATA controllers without loading a driver, and sometimes it will load and use the driver to start the install, then fail to reload the driver on boot-up and hang. When something like that happens, Windows isn't so easy to install anymore.
The mainstream Linux distros are pretty much the same as Windows. SuSE, Novell Desktop, Mandrake, Red Hat, etc are all as easy to install as Windows now. That wasn't true a couple of years ago. And like Windows, if things go wrong, you need to know what you're doing to get them working.
I too run Gentoo but it's a geeks distro and isn't as easy to setup as the more mainstream distros.
The package selection you pointed out is primarly because Linux tends to install a lot of apps along with the OS. Sure, Windows may not ask you about packages but when you're done, you don't have Office and a whole host of other software installed either. By the time you go through the install process for all of the additional software, I don't think Windows is much easier.
I'm not going to argue that Linux is easier, but it's hardly more difficult either in the mainstream distros.
"The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.
IDEs which I mentioned have extensibility with well-documented APIs, support numerous languages and platforms and are a lot cheaper.
Perhaps Eclipse is not as good as Visual Studio for Microsoft technologies, but overall, it is better.
Did you read the articles? The only people who got hit with fake blood were the shareholders and CEO's.
Even before the moratorium was up, a PETA activist poured fake blood over David Novak, the CEO of Yum! Brands (the parent company of KFC) while he was visiting Germany.
I'm not saying that was the right thing to do, but it's disingenous to make it sound like it was some average joe going to get a chicken sandwich on his lunch break.
It often degenerates into FUD. Like one of the most common ones I hear for why to switch to Linux is that Windows crashes all the time. Well, ok, maybe for that Linux user it did, I don't know, but for me it doesn't. It basically never crashes, even app crashes are pretty rare.
;).
I'd, for the most part, agree with that. Windows doesn't crash much, but I do see it crash quite a bit at my school. This isn't a jab at Windows, this is a jab at the network admins here. They have EVERYTHING stored on a set of network drives, and it generally doesn't work to well
I have a lot of reasons why I like Linux better than Windows. The main reason is the level of customizeability it has. I can map my keys to whatever I want (I have it fitting like a glove right now for me), control practically anything through settings of programs, etc.
The amount of competition for programs is a lot higher than Windows has. Granted, Windows has a lot of freeware and shareware programs, but there isn't as big of a range on Windows. For instance, are there very many different volume control apps for Windows (I can only think of one, the default, off the top of my head...)? Off the top of my head, I can name these for Linux: alsamixer, rexima, aumix, kmix, gmix? (whatever the gnome one is), irmix. For different desktop environments (or window managers), I can only think of these for Windows: Explorer (that's what the default is called, right?) and LiteStep. For Linux: KDE, Gnome, CDE, Fluxbox, Openbox, Blackbox, IceWM, Window Maker, XFCE, TWM, FVWM, Enlightenment, Afterstep. The list goes on (dare I go into Virtual Terminals, we'll be here all day!). All of these are completely different, and can be used interchangeably, without affecting your other programs. Almost every Linux user would have a COMPLETELY different setup than another, whereas with Windows, you might have SOME people have radical differences, but beyond that they are all the same.
It also allows me to get lower level with the OS, and get everything doing EXACTLY what I want it to (iptables for instance). Bash scripting is much much much much more versatile than Windows batch files, I don't know what I would do without bash now (I don't even use it as my shell, I use ZSH!).
Basically put, Linux allows me to have my computer do exactly what I want it to. Windows didn't really do that for me, once I tried Linux, I was surprised what I was missing. Using Windows now makes me feel restricted, but Linux makes me feel free (HAHA A WITTY PUN, LAUGH!).
I agree that Linux is not for everyone. I, infact, don't want people to switch to Linux if they don't want to spend the time learning it and customizing their computer to do what they want. If Windows does what you want already, and you want your computer to just "work", then you should be looking at Mac OS X for an alternative, not Linux. Although if you like the ideas behind Linux, then the steep learning curve might be worth it if you have the time.
With Windows you can have the drivers on HDD or CD or DVD or on a server in your network and it won't help you anything because it insists on getting them from a floppy. With Linux you can boot from almost every device and have a fully functional system to get the drivers to this system in a large variety of ways and load them into your running kernel.
Linux is not Windows
Certainly. I got it from an AC post that was first modded down as a troll. But commentary on it is "+4 interesting"? Mods...WTF?
HaHa! I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I had to forward your post to some co-workers
First of all, I support, use, and sell Linux in my daily work. I also do the same for Microsoft products, Novell products, and Apple products (whatever fits a client best). I don't really have an OS dog in this particular hunt.
That said, in my prior professional life I was a corporate-type IT manager. For two different companies over an 11-year period. During that time an old college friend of mine went to work for Computerworld as a reporter, and through her I met and occasionally worked with Laura DiDio back when she was covering the Novell beat for CW (old Google searches will probably turn up a quote or two from me in articles of hers). I can't directly speak of her attitudes now, because it's been a couple of years since I've spoken to her (I've talked to her about stuff since she joined Yankee, though). Here's my take on Laura, and where she's coming from:
Laura is not a tech geek like most of us are. She's also not specifically a fanboy of any particular company or technology. Laura's strength at CW was in insight - she did a good job of seeing through the fluff that companies were spewing and getting to the "real" impact behind it. Covering Novell back when Microsoft was first starting to take a big bite out of their business, she recognized then that it wasn't the superiority of the product that was winning the battle for Microsoft, it was the marketing. She also saw what Novell was doing wrong, but wasn't in a position to do much about it other than point it out in columns.
As an analyst, I'd say her work (that I've read) is usually solid. I don't agree with all her conclusions, but remember - her job is to figure out what mainstream business is doing and is interested in. It's not to rave about one platform or another. And since mainstream business is on Windows, converting would incur costs and complications that don't exist if they stay on Windows. Some companies would save money by moving to Linux - some would not. Sometimes it's worth it for a business. Sometimes it's not. And sometimes she's spot-on - sometimes she's not.
The folks who post flames about her and other analysts who say anything other than "Linux rocks and Windows sucks" regularly are giving Linux a bad name, Slashdot a bad name, and the whole open source/free software community a bad name. There are valid criticisms one can make of some of DiDio's work. Flaming the messenger personally because you don't agree with her professional conclusions - that's just stupid.
Even Rob Enderle deserves better.
OK, maybe that's going a little too far...
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
Yesterday, Brent Noorda posted an open letter on Groklaw Brent Noorda Sets the Record Straight --here's a key quote:
While the information provided by analysts like Rob Enderle and Laura DiDio weren't incorrect, their statements represented speculation more fitting to a daytime soap opera than to the business section of a newspaper.
this refers in part to DiDio's many inflammatory statements, in particular one from the SLC Tribune on March 9:
No one could say for sure Wednesday, although Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio had some advice for those watching the fortunes of both Canopy and the Noorda Family Trust - two entities controlling hundreds of millions of dollars. "This is all about the money, and the ones most closely following the money are the Noordas' [four] kids," she said. "Who stands to gain the most? And what's the only thing that stood between them and the money?
"That was Ralph Yarro. So, good-bye, Ralph," DiDio added. "I don't think Yarro will be reinstated. I find that highly unlikely. . . They will just pay him off and send him on his way - but they won't countenance anyone who's a threat" to their monetary access.
People following the case know about Val Noorda Kreidel's tragic suicide a few weeks ago, and evidently, Brent Noorda felt compelled to address the out-of-bounds tactics of these so-called 'analysts.'
While it could be agreed that there are individual extremists among the pro-FOSS crowd, DiDio and her fellow neo-cons (Enderle, Maureen O'Gara) consider Groklaw itself to be a radical extremist site, despite the solid legal reportage done by Pamela Jones and company (so good, in fact, that SCO raided Groklaw's documents to seed their own prosco site).
While DiDio is crying harrassment, one could have a sense that the best defense is a good offense, as in she'd rather take offense than apologize for her own transgressions...
I encourage everybody who hasn't already, to check out Brent Noorda's open letter on Groklaw, and then decide for yourself who's the real extremist!
Well, exactly since unless you can develop for the other with each it doesn't really matter anyway. Xcode is extraordinary (and it's included with every $129 purchase of Mac OS X) but you can only develop for Mac and Java, so it ain't that useful for Linux and Windows developers (unless you want to develop Java).
Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
No, Criticism is a valid form of response. In opensource you will be criticized, and usually harshly. Developers, Users, etc all put up with it. Read the mailing list on a random opensource project and you'll see it.
Constructive criticism is good, it's what produces quality in opensource. It's what keeps it viable and useful. Useless criticism is just that, useless. It provides nothing and should not affect the one on the receiving end. It simply adds or contributes nothing in any form or fashion.
That is the difference. When you learn from constructive criticism you not only grow stronger but you may gain an ally. I've experienced it myself and the learning experience has been golden.
To my knowledge, when I was a teenager 10 or so years ago I did alot of criticizing. Still do, nothings changed, so i'll most likely go to the grave bitching, guns loaded and all. IMHO we need more people with constructive criticism. If history is any marker in this industry at least, opensource is where most of it happens. In public open forums no less.
My, that name sounds familiar. I remember her repeating SCO's unsubstantiated claims about Linux being stolen SCO code.
You mean people haven't been questioning their competence?
I think the problem that Yankee Group has is indeed that Open Sourcers are questioning their competence in inconvenient places like the offices of CIOs and CTOs, and if the direct customers for Yankee Group publications and analysis start hearing enough questions as to whether or not the products are a rational use of company funds, Yankee is likely to find their customers going to the competition or even bringing analysis in-house.
Yankee doesn't sell to end users, their only market is corporate/investor, and ALL they have to sell is their credibility.
They should concentrate on finding facts to analyze, not trying to spread more Linux-related FUD. The only credibility that sort of thing hurts is their own.
This isn't "Linux zealots hurting. . ." anything but Yankee Group. I'm sure the Gartner people enjoyed reading the article.
Tech Public Policy stuff
More or less the same way competent Windows users do. Netstat, tripwire, checkrootkit, etc.
Exploits for Linux aren't completely unheard of, just harder to findActually, it's rather easy to detect a compromised Linux system, using only the tools that virtually every distro comes with "out of the box". Sure, you have to learn to use those tools, but I'm sure you weren't born knowing how to secure a Windows system.
I get a little tired of Windows users saying "Linux is hard to use" when what they really mean is "It doesn't work like the system I know how to use and I'm too damn lazy to learn another", conveniently forgeting how long it took them to learn Windows in the first place.
Most of the people I've met who didn't like Linux tell me the same thing. "I tried (insert long since obsolete version of redhat, usually 4 or 5 point something) for a couple days and didn't like it." Give it a chance - it'll take a few weeks of heavy use before you break out of the Windows mindset. Until you can break out of the Windows habits you'll never be able to appreciate the power and flexibility of Linux, and for Pete's sake download a RECENT distro. Comparing Redhat 5 to Win XP simply isn't fair. Comparing it to Windows 3.2, maybe.
And it always amazes me how many Windows powerusers think nothing of reformating and throwing on a fresh install every six months just to "keep things fast" because the registry gets too much crap in it. Any website you visit can write to the registry unless you've installed a third party blocker like Finjan's Surfin Guard Pro. Your Antivirus/firewall/antispyware combo probably isn't preventing it - very few antispyware apps (and no firewalls or AVs that I'm aware of) will prevent registry writes. What a joke. If you don't believe me - get Surfinguard and watch the warnings pop up. Since people learned how to delete cookies many sites now use the registry to keep permanant tabs on you (and not just pr0n sites, either - CNN used to, among others).
TommyOpen Source for Open Minds
One of the quotes that helped Laura earn the name DiDiot:
"Within the open source community, there are a large percentage of tinkers and 'ankle biters' who are trying their hand at hacking. Some are even communicating with each other. So it only takes one or two of these groups sharing information to be able to pull something off. When you have this type of passion, it's hard to fight because these people are like virtual suicide car bombers."
If you can't stand the heat Laura, don't keep throwing fuel on the fire.
Even though Billy boy over there says that you can't get burned by being his shill, you might get an unpleasant surprise...
Brielle
Windows is a truly idiot-proof setup.
That statement is completely untrue. I don't understand why it seems to be accepted as canon.
Installing Windows is a NIGHTMARE. The vaunted "good default settings" on a modern machine consist of 640x480 graphics, no network or sound card drivers installed, and absolutely zero applications. Building a working Windows sytem from scratch is a tedious, time consuming process of calling Microsoft for permission to reinstall the operating system, installing chipset drivers in the right order, nearly a gig of patches, finding untold numbers of license codes and forgotten application CDs, and a week of getting everything settled down and working right.
Don't believe me? What do you do when your Grandmother's computer gets fatally spywared and has to be blasted and reinstalled? Do you tell her to insert her windows disc and follow the instructions? No, you go over there and spend DAYS getting everything working again. I spent 20 hours at my brother's house a few weekends ago installing all his software, drivers, and apps all over again, and it still didn't have everything back like it was before the crash. We still have to fix a naggnig problem with Outlook Express and the damn dialer prompt comes up every time he adjusts the chair in his office.
In 20 hours, I could have installed Gentoo and all supporting applications! I could have rolled out Debian, Red Hat, or Ubuntu to dozens of PCs, all with productivity apps in place and ready go to the moment the CD was ejected!
Just because we've come to take the difficulties of working with Windows for granted does NOT make installing Windows idiot proof.
If you use udev, the naming system is entirely up to you. You can even create symbolic links based on the Vendor/Product ID so that your mp3 player will always show up as /dev/mp3 and your thumb drive will be /dev/thumb no matter where you plug them in.
/dev/ide/host0/bus1/target0/lun0/cd, /dev/cdroms/cdrom0 and /dev/hdc. I don't think gentoo does a similar thing for SCSI by default, but there is no reason why you couldn't.
For example, Gentoo's default udev naming scheme puts my CDRW in (at least) 3 places:
Don't you hate meta-sigs?
"Uh. At least in Windows everything is graphical."
What on Earth does that have to do with the point at hand? If you don't know how to do something on a system it's hard whether its graphical or not. I have no clue how to change the DNS server in Windows for example, but its glaringly obvious how to do it in UNIX. This is mainly because I've never used Windows and have used UNIX for years. I suspect the reverse is true for the people who denounce Linux as "hard to use".
It's just a case of what you know.
Very true. For a current example, look at the significant pressure (withdrawing advert) GM has exerted on the LA Times, for what seems to me stating the obvious: GM is in trouble. (Where else but LA would you get pulitzer prize winning articles on the auto industry?)
So rather than take the advice, make corrective action, they , having seem to failed in their efforts to muzzle the reporter, apply pressure by withdrawing their advert. Yes, I agree it's a fine line - why advertise in a paper that writes bad reviews - however the possible impact on the Time's objectivity, or any other newspaper, is important. GM to stop LA Times advertising
Bill Moyers, before retiring from NOW, said one of the most critical issues facing democracy was that increasing control of the media by just a few companies (Think Murdoch and the Fox Empire).