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Microsoft Sells Linux To Wal-Mart
Several readers wrote in to let us know that Wal-Mart is planning to buy SUSE Linux vouchers from Microsoft in the course of building out its infrastructure. These are the support vouchers that Microsoft must distribute to hold up its end of the bargain with Novell. Wal-Mart has been a customer of Red Hat Linux. CBR Online notes that the deal is not entirely unexpected because Microsoft's COO, Kevin Turner, is the former CIO of Wal-Mart.
Maybe is this the reason Novell and MS wanted that deal of theirs so much?
C|N>K
So they are saying Linux is the Walmart Windows are they? FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Matt
You have 1 Moderator Point! Use it or lose it! Is that a threat? -vapid
The first thing that popped into my mind upon hearing this was "when they call MS Support, they'll get the Blue Automated Message of Death". Then I realized that the fastest way to get users to dump Linux would be to have them sent to MS' real tech support.
'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
And then, so Lucy says to Charlie Brown, "Come on Charlie Brown, I promise not to pull the ball back this time when you kick it!"
Does anyone imagine in any way or any context this Microsoft -- Wal-Mart relationship for Linux could be a good thing? I can thing of many reasons and many ways Microsoft can undermine and even try to bury Linux with this Novell Suse bargain (with the Devil?), but I only need think of one.
Suppose as Wal-Mart moves forward doing "stuff" with Linux things go terrible wrong, or get terribly hard. "No problem", says Microsoft... you need only switch to our SQL Server which of course needs to run on a Vista Server, etc. It's win-win for Microsoft.
Microsoft gets additional customer share from Linux, and has a diamond-crusted public whipping boy to prove once and for all Linux can't cut it in the big boys' world (business). We all know Linux can, but with big publicity coups I fear Microsoft gains more purchase in the PR war.
Maybe none of this will come to pass, but do you think for one minute a company that sold out its business partners with "Plays for Sure" (sorry, I know I keep using this as an example...), won't think twice about short-shrifting any value Linux brings to the table? Microsoft has shown itself a predator many times before, there's no reason to think this isn't just one more opportunity for them (and a big one at that).
What is the world coming too?
Wal-mart + Microsoft = Linux?
I've seen fuzzy math before, but this takes the cake.
I've been waiting for a way to run Linux that managed to simultaneously involve Microsoft, Novell and Wal-Mart! Do you think they can get Lotus Notes into the mix as well?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
We'll they'll have to deal with Daryl McBride and his SCO cohorts for selling their UNIX license without permission. Of course, he'll have to ask them to finance his lawsuit against themselves.
If there were a time for Linux to be made into a tool of destruction to wipe out all mankind, to kick puppies, make children cry, steal candy from babies and import illegal aliens into our country to pay them pennies to work overtime, this would be it's opportunity.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
... can we call it genuine Linux?
Ok I'll ask it. Is seeing Microsoft selling Linux to an insanely large customer a major victory or is this a SCO tax? Do we congratulate or mail-bomb Novell? And wow, eight years ago, running Slackware this was a slightly absurd scenario you would joke about while trying to fix your rc.d scripts after an update.
-- http://thegirlorthecar.com funny dating game for guys
Because they hope to earn some karma by finishing their sentences with a question mark?
At least now we know why 1 in 5 dosn't pass certification...
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Fear? Check.
Uncertainty? Check.
Doubt? Check.
Profit for MS? Check.
A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
I'd totally install "Super Ultra Evil Linux"
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Maybe this is a way for Microsoft to keep Red Hat away from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is strong and is likely very willing to play hard ball to get good Windows discounts.
I'm sure Microsoft execs were able to get Wal-Mart to use Suse by continuing to offer them great Windows discounts. This way they aren't really compromising the integrity (sic) of their volume licensing.
the more they over-think the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the pipe
Well I don't see an upside for Linux. The article says
MS gets rid of vouchers without creating another Linux customer. MS wins
MS deprives Redhat of Revenue. MS wins
MS will get some Windows boxes installed at the same time. MS wins
OMG Microsoft is only one company away from getting it's filthy hands on the Linux codebase! It's only months before pre-packaged Shaftnix (supported by Novell) hits the market followed by a storm of Novell-specific Linux trojans! This will make Linux people out of (shudder) LUSERS! Why should we taint our beautiful GNU/Linux with the wretched eye-candy that consumers demand?! Attacks on the GPL will continue unabated, and only prostrating yourself at the feet of the mighty RMS and installing Debian will save you from the apocalypse that will come to destroy this unholy union.
"Please describe the scientific nature of the 'whammy'" - Agent Scully
just because you suck at karma whoring doesn't mean you need to throw a hissy fit.
I already run Linux virtually on a Windows box. I get the ease of use of Linux with the incredible stability of Windows. Now I can add the unsurpassed support only Microsoft can offer.
-- Will program for bandwidth
Linux is free.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
With Vista being incomplete and a high profile customer Microsoft is better off with this decision. Let's say they don't do it, they lose money. Wal-Mart already uses Linux, smoother transition that is easier to negotiate. MS can "upgrade" the support beyond red-hat ...pauses for laughs...
With Vista being THE OS microsoft wants to get everyone on board for I feel they just weren't ready and it was either this or lose the deal to someone else. It's not like they're going to gain a whole lot of support from the informed community, but this does set precedence for international sales on those who don't want Windows and want Linux for government applications. Now you're not voilating policy but paying for something you already have, plus a little garuntee of the moon (ie support + uptime).
Everyone would love a Vista deal before it's ready, but MS Corp. isn't as stupid as some of their applications. Flexibility is required to stay on top.
This takes the cake. Microsoft Linux is next. I predict within 5 years, Vista will become a legacy product, and all new computers will be shipped with Microsoft's Windows API hosted on a Linux kernel.
For those that don't know, Billy G. made his first big sale of DOS to IBM before he even owned it - or so the rumors go. He bought the rights to what would become MS-DOS from a third party, and then sold it to IBM.
And it shouldn't surprise anyone that Microsoft is selling what doesn't belong to them. I wonder how the Windows developers feel. Imagine if your job could be eliminated by Linux. Microsoft doesn't care, they're going to sell whatever makes them money.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense for Microsoft to sell their desktop, rather than the OS:
So if Microsoft can hide the complexities of Linux under a familiar interface, they could produce a very compelling product.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
Let's call it Wal-Lix
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I used to work for wal-mart 5 years ago when Kevin was the CIO. There are many linux fans at wal-mart but they have been reluctant to start large implementation because of the ongoing IBM vs SCO lawsuit. Walmart didnt want to get involved. And they have never done business with Red Hat. Walmart will not implement a product without support, period. Since they currently have so much leverage with Microsoft as it is, and no leverage with Novell, this pretty much comes at no surprise.
The new Lindows: SuSE + WGA
I fear the Y2038 bug
It is almost like putting a shiny interface on FreeBSD. Good thing they would have an excellent example to follow on how to sell a free product hidden behind a proprietary GUI.
Insert self-referential sig here.
the big concern here is Microsofts relationship with Novell. Now that MSs strategy to support SCO has failed, MS has set their eyes on Novell. Novell, probably rightly, claim ownership of Unix.
MS might not have a clear plan, but a close ralationship with Novell can be a way to keep close control over Linux as well.
Imagine a patent/copyright/licencing/enforcement mutual agreement. Now MS sits on the right to enforce any Unix IP rights violation that might occur. MS might also have rights to Linux code released by Novell. Noticing that MS has a lot of money and Novell almost nothing, this or more like a merger, may be inevitable.
If not a direct threat to Linux, this may make it more difficult for Linux developers in may ways.
Should Novell donate the Unix I.P. rights to the FSF or the Linux community before it is too late?
don't cut it off www.mgmbill.org
So what would that make Super Ultra Super Evil Linux?
I've been to Walmart near my country home in Missouri (we don't let them open stores here in Chicago, thank god). I've seen people buying pickles, underpants, shotguns, fishing line and dog food. Batteries, music CDs, printer paper, toothpaste (but not condoms), napkins (both kinds), and cereal. Glasses (both kinds). Bread. Hunting Knives.
But do people really buy computers from Wal-Mart? I'm trying to think of a place so remote that it has a Wal-Mart but no other place to buy a PC. Shit, Tiger Direct ships to every goddam place.
Why? I'm asking you for god's sake. Maybe if Wal-Mart and MIcrosoft bump heads, it'll create a black hole and the world will end.. I hope they do it before the State of the Union speech tonight. I'm tired. Lord. I'm so tired.
You are welcome on my lawn.
It's not just Wal-Mart that's switching from Red Hat to SUSE. IBM switching to SUSE was a big driver in the enterprise market. Three years ago we had a handful of customers playing with Linux, all Red Hat. Today we've got dozens playing with Linux and two or three with firm serious plans to roll it out. Almost every one of them is running SUSE.
I suppose Walmart wants a stable 100% OS to run their system on, and Microsoft wants Walmart to only stock Windows boxes in the retail stores. They have some linux boxes on their website for sale, but probably don't want to try and sell those in a store. Somebody is likely to pick one up, buy it, then bring it back with a lot of questions before Walmart has to give them a refund. That says something about the customers, and linux also. So called Linux boxes as they exist today don't belong in a retail environment where buyers looking for a "computer" are going to put them in the shopping basket and head to checkout.
No secret that Microsoft knows that, and has to "dumb down" their operating system by keeping it "closed source" in order to successfully sell it to every Tom, Dick and Harry. It's dumb, in that getting "X" to run is no problem.
Imagine a help desk at Walmart "XF86Config Help, 10AM to 2PM". or "Sound Help, 4PM to 10PM"
Without Windows, that's what Walmart would face.
(The above discussion has totally ignored the Viruses and Trojans that beset Windows, but hey, Walmart ignores them too!)
Rapidweather's Linux Screenshots.
Wal-Mart
5401 W 65th St
Chicago, IL 60638
(708) 924-1590
But do people really buy computers from Wal-Mart?
A) Yes.
B) This has nothing to do with the products sold in the store.
Okay, seriously mods, the first comment posted cannot, by definition, be "redundant".
I realize that the parent may not have been the most insightful post, but don't be stupid.
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
I suppose Walmart wants a stable 100% OS to run their system on ...
Wal-Mart installed UNIX-based systems in their stores in 1991. They use common systems and platforms in all their stores world wide. From an IT perspective Wal-Mart has been a pioneering and aggressive user of technology since 1969.
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SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
it's not a pretty sight.
1997: It's not a threat
When I was writing a feature about GNU/Linux for Wired magazine, I contacted Microsoft to find out their views on this new rival. At that time, they were so laid back about it, they were nearly falling over. In fact, GNU/Linux was such a negligible threat, they couldn't be bothered coming up with even a mild bit of FUD for me. They just said: "We have a very talented team of developers making sure NT is the most powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use operating system."
1999: It's not very powerful
By 1999, Microsoft's position that GNU/Linux wasn't a threat was no longer tenable. Articles started appearing in the technical press that not only dared to compare GNU/Linux with Microsoft's flagship Windows NT, but actually found it better. One, in a Ziff-Davis title called Sm@rt Reseller, for example, stated: "According the ZDLabs' results, each of the commercial Linux releases ate NT's lunch".
But help was at hand. In April 1999, a performance testing company called Mindcraft issued a press release headed "Mindcraft study shows Windows NT server outperforms Linux". It then emerged that Mindcraft had been commissioned by Microsoft to carry out the study - the first, but not the last time it would adopt this tactic. A fierce argument between Mindcraft and the open source community ensued about whether the tests had been fair, and how to make them fairer.
In fact, the end results of the re-run was not completely favorable to GNU/Linux, but something rather interesting happened. The open source community took the failures and used them to improve GNU/Linux to the point where it was indeed more powerful than Windows. By finding and drawing attention to free software's weak spots, Microsoft actually made it stronger.
2001: It's not very nice
In the face of the Mindcraft fiasco, and the growing strength of GNU/Linux, Microsoft changed tack. Steve Ballmer was wheeled out to bad-mouth the opposition, as only he can. In 2000, he said: "Linux sort of springs organically from the earth. And it had, you know, the characteristics of communism that people love so very, very much about it." In 2001, talking to the Chicago Sun-Times, he expressed himself even more forcefully: "Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches."
Powerful stuff. Unfortunately for the FUDmeisters at Microsoft, this kind of name-calling didn't go down too well with its intended audience. Even Microsoft's own research showed this, as revealed in one of the entertaining Halloween memos leaked to Eric Raymond.
2002: It's not very cheap
Once again, a massive change of tactics was required. Having failed to convince people that free software was either broken or bad, Microsoft decided to "prove" that it actually cost more to use than Windows - the famous TCO, or Total Cost of Ownership, studies. To achieve this, it drew on the "facts" to be found in a number of white papers from various analysts, all of which, by an amazing coincidence, came up with the result that running GNU/Linux was indeed more expensive than using Windows.
But it didn't take long for this story to unravel like all the others. First, it was not always clear whether Microsoft had commissioned the white papers that it liked to cite, or whether they were truly independent. This naturally tended to cast doubts on even those that were produced without Microsoft's input. Just as seriously, the TCO methodologies were often completely valueless, involving estimates of costs several years into the future, or the results were presented in a skewed fashion. When this became clear, people felt that they were being duped by Microsoft, and tended to discount the whole exercise.
The final nail in the coffin of this ironically-named "Get The Facts" campaign from Microsoft is the recent appearance of yet another white paper, which provided cast-iron evidence that GNU/Linux's TCO was actually better than that of Windows (well, as c
MSFT used to sell the Xenix version of UNIX in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It performed poorly because UNIX was too bulky for x86 CPUs of that era. At that time MSFT was mainly a languages company and toying around with the OS biz. We all know where that went. They transferred PC-UNIX rights to SCO around 1983.