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Microsoft to Storm Linux Strongholds
VitaminB52 writes "Microsoft is only winning about one out of four deals where IT shops are trying to move off of proprietary Unix. To turn that trend around, there are four specific Linux strongholds where Microsoft is focusing its attention." From the article: "After discussing server clustering, Web hosting, and server appliances, Ballmer was cut off by the interviewees before he could identify the fourth. But my guess is that, given the way Ballmer emphasized Software as a Service (SaaS) as a core theme for all the work that's taking place at Microsoft right now, the fourth stronghold of Linux that Microsoft wants is the SaaS stronghold where Linux is the operating system behind a Java-based application server technology ... Ballmer knows he's got a long roe to hoe. 'The day I come in front of the Gartner audience and say we have a better Unix than Linux, that'll be a good day.'"
Realistically, what can balmer do?
SFU isnt the answer. Migration from heavily invested unix setups to win32 is both expensive, time consuming, and typically carries a very low ROI when compared to a linux option.
So what can he do? Bring back Xenix?
Pah!
Nothing to see here, move along.
-GenTimJS
funny to see Microsoft realizing that it's web server offerings have "the bloat". But that's also a huge problem for appliances and high performance computing applications. Writing apps for an API on top of The Bloat is painful too, even with IDE code wizards. And what to do when the Bloated Black Box doesn't behave or act the way you were expecting?
First -- If SFU isn't the answer, make it the answer. There's no technical reason Windows can't have a good Unix environment on top of it. Get some sort of *nix-like package management on top of it so the OSS world can build and distribute tools. Build in a "registry file system" or whatever you need to make *nix tools work better on the Windows OS.
.NET, MS should provide better support for J2EE vendors like JBoss or BEA. (I read the biggest chunk of MS's "enterprise" penetration is actually as a platform for running Java servers.)
Second -- Apache. There's no reason people should have to run IIS, so build up Apache to be first class on Win32. Give it windows authentication and a GUI manager.
Third -- Java. It's not going away, so even with
You're right that POSIX->Win32 is a bogus migration plan. So the real solution is to provide better *nix-like tools that bridge the gap between the unix world and the Windows OS. If the capabilities are there, people will migrate.
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
When I saw that JBoss announcement I was wondering wtf. How does that tie in with their xcaml builder tool spakle or sprinkle, whatever its called. I keep arguing that Visual Basic "made" their developer market (in the early days). I guess they believe their tool is simple enough to become what visual basic was, but for the SaaS market.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
Two more years to do that and it'll be way too late. Really, almost everything around the kernel would have to be gutted & replaced with something.
New research and office space, ~300 users. MS came in with a partner firm and said they could make all this work for "only" $1.5M over 3 years. 12 servers (Yeah 12!), one each for email/exchange, AD, file, dns, dialup, blackberry, applications, etc.
I presented something which will cost ~$90K for the hardware, zip for the software and give us more. The users will still have Windows on the desktop and won't care about the backend stuff. And I know this will work, it's a virtual duplicate of 2 other places I set up for this org.
MS & partner firm hate me.
Most serious users will mock such sassery.
I would love to agree with you but unfortunately I can't. There are lots of people in senior IT purchasing positions who really don't understand the technology at all and just know buzzwords and are easily swayed by sales people.
Just a couple of days ago I was talking to a senior IT person explaining the advantages of a particular web server configuration. I went to demonstrate something on a terminal monitor, and the guy started laughing said "What, it doesn't have a Windows interface? And you're trying to tell me that this is advanced server technology? We're not going to use primitive Unix systems here. We're a state of the art Microsoft shop. You've got to admire Bill Gates, haven't you? You Unix guys crack me up..." and carried on like that for about half an hour. I didn't say anything and decided to just forget ever talking to this guy again.
The PC market is pretty mature at this point; things are changing. The only constant is that prices are continuing to fall, and that IS putting OEM pressure on Microsoft to drop prices. It hits with a double whammy I'd bet, as most of their applications are bundled deals.
I know that the clients I deal with are VERY hesitant to migrate from Windows XP (many have not migrated from Windows 2000 or 95).
Embedded devices have been a problem for Microsoft; Their XP embedded is much better than CE, but both are overly complicated and do not have a good reputation with people I've worked with, and I don't especially like them either. Even the classic RTOS makers are getting hurt by things like RT linux.
Web services are another potential front microsoft is going to lose big on; unless MS is able to tie in propietary hooks to IE, they're going to lose there in a big way just by the nature of the product. If it doesn't matter to the user what platform they interact with, the back end can shuffle around between vendors so long as the end user experience remains the same. Does anyone care what OS google runs, so long as it works (Fast)?
You want to know where Microsoft and Windows have a huge lead? It's in development environments and integration and third party libraries. Even the Mac is a little behind there, but is in much better shape than Linux. Companies like Borland et. al have come a long way, but the tools don't seem to have picked up widespread adoption with the FOSS people.
Interesting times.
..don't panic
For me, it has nothing to do with humiliation.
A Unix admin with some experience has had the opportunity to become more and more effective. It has to do with tweaking the routine, making shell scripts which makes your job much easier, and generally working with the command line. As time goes and knowledge comes, one can have a remarkable arsenal of scripts and tools at hand. Since most stuff is quite portable (you can compile bash or any other shell of your preference for every Unix there is, I think), and the *basic* unix things can be expected to be there always, one tends to rely on it in ones day-to-day tasks, and reuse whatever can be reused as new Unix-machines comes in.
Windows, however, isn't like that. At least not initially. Good Windows-admins know their way in the GUIs, know exactly where to click, and can navigate quickly to get stuff done.
I know you can script, you can do *some* stuff from the command line, but it quickly becomes a challenge, and of the wrong kind. You can get a bit of the way with Cygwin and such, but you'll end up constantly trying to make Windows into Unix.
Never mind that all monitoring-tools, scripts, things set up to run through cron, and all that stuff, has to be changed. No, a Unix admin truly does *not* want to migrate to windows. I know, I am one.
I was lucky I was wearing my corset when I read the headline or I fear my sides might have split.
Although it is interesting that for many years now many linux related headlines have been something like:"Linux makes inroades into windows territory X".
Now suddenly we are seeing microsoft execs talking about making inroads into GNU/linux markets. I think this, more than any "get the facts" paper points to how Free systems and open standards are slowly but steadily becoming more common.
A bad analogy is like a leaky screwdriver.
I have a tendancy of getting those people fired by their bosses when I make the correlation between their dependancy on Windows for data entry and management with worker unproductivity.
Showing an owner how they can make more money and still have Windows on their personal desktop usually wins. Besides, they won't need the Windows admin by the time I'm done with them.
"1592 R. GREENE Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. Ev, He..gropeth in the dark to find a needle in a bottle of hay. 1690 W. WALKER Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. (1695) Pref., A labour much like that of seeking a needle in a Bottle of Hay. 1711 E. WARD Vulgus Brit. VIII. 95 Seeking we may say, A Needle in a Truss of Hay. 1742 T. GRAY Let. 24 May in Corr. (1971) I. 203 A coach that seem'd to have lost its way by looking for a needle in a bottle of hay. 1779 W. ROGERS in J. Sullivan Jrnls. Mil. Expedition (1887) 262 But agreeably to the old adage it was similar to looking for needles in a hay stack."
Your suggested origin makes absolutely no sense. Do you have a cite for it?
Fortunately I am able to read and therefore benefit from the experience of others. You might want to give it a try yourself rather than attempting patronising comments.
Igor Presnyakov stole my hat
Looking for a needle in a bottle of hay. Looking for a very small article amidst a mass of other things. Bottle is a diminutive of the French botte, a bundle; as botte de foin, a bundle of hay.
So "bottle" is not a glass bottle, but I think "needle" is in fact a sewing needle.
Repeating again and again. It doesn't matter that it's the same news, if it's said enough, it could possibly be excepted as the truth. Microsoft knows this. How did they displace Novell as the non-UNIX network based operating system for business, they continually coughed out their speel ""we're better than Novell, We're better than Novell" and as companies began to buy the lie, they also bought the software. 'Intergrated is Better, Intergrated is better" Oh look here's active directory, trojans, virus', and all. As the media (let me use a qualifier "general media") continues to print the garbage and unsubstantiated claims of M$, people being the general sheep that they are will buy it. Because Linux, and Unix for the most part, is still so fragmented from an image stand point, people hear RH say this, and Novell say that, and that SUN guy said this, who do they believe? No impact past the people who know enough to read. M$ will continue this campaign, they are losing in the 'real' market, they are driving people away in droves with their obsolete, error prone products. The sheep people will always believe them though.