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Michael Dell says Linux Server Sales are Up

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the nobody-wants-vista dept.

00_NOP writes "Linux is growing faster in the server space than Windows says the Dell CEO 'On the server side Linux continues to grow nicely, a bit faster than Windows. We're seeing a move to Linux in critical applications, and Linux migration has not slowed down.'"

6 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The CEO of DELL was found dead in his mansion today, suffering numerous blows to his head from a chair. He was found with a note attached to his body that simply read "Microsoft > u"

    Authorities are baffled to who committed this crime.

    captcha: mocker

  2. Where are the numbers? by Necreia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I RTFA, but didn't see anything about 'numbers'. "How" much is Linux up?

    Did I gloss over it somewhere?

  3. Re:And this is news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The former, no. Windows is just as stable if you are a competant admin these days, and don't use CheapAss(R) hardware (note: inexpensive and old are ok, just not crap that will crash due to hardware issues).

    The latter. That is part of it.

    But as a Windows admin, (note: my main home system is not Windows - KDE > Windows) the only advantage I find on Linux in server space is the flexibility and options allowed by Unix that aren't as easy to access in Windows.

    That being said, that one advantage is more than enough, given sufficient security and stability (which of course, properly run, Linux has just as well as Windows 2003, also properly run), to justify a switch for most, provided they have enough experience at getting Linux to work (I'd probably rather use FreeBSD myself, but hey, whatever floats your boat... err, server).

  4. How will this news affect Apache? by bogaboga · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I wonder whether this development will reverse the Apache web server's seemingly steady erosion in market share to Windows' IIS.

    This is according to http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html, though Security Space paints completely different picture http://www.securityspace.com/s_survey/data/200709/index.html.

    By the way, who of the two is more credible? Netcraft or Security Space?

  5. Re:And this is news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The cost of either is so dependant on the quality of your administrator(s).

    Windows with a good administrator is cheaper than Linux with a mediocre/avarage administrator, and not significantly more expensive than Linux with a good administrator (from a business perspective, a $1000 set of OSes/licesences doesn't make much of a difference when you've got $10k hardware, and a $75k administrator.

  6. Re:And this is news? by Stamen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The former, no. Windows is just as stable if you are a competant admin these days I think this is a true statement. The problem is that the likelihood that you're going to find a competent Windows admin in the your typical company isn't as high as the likelihood if it were a Unix shop. It isn't because there aren't really skilled Windows admins, because there are, it's more that you're able to scrape by, in Windows, if you're incompetent; Unix is a bit less forgiving.

    It's also a cultural thing also. I'm a developer, and it's true in my field as well. Back when VB was big, it was exactly the same problem: sure there were very good VB programmers, but the culture wasn't one of advanced learning or skills. If you asked a question about something in the VB forums about something advanced, you tended to get the "deer in the headlight" responses, or someone would try to tell you which Wizard to use. If you asked the same question in the c++ forum, someone would not only understand your question, they'd answer it, and explain the reason why it is done this way. Ultimately, culture, like in many aspects in life, is a very important thing.

    I choose Unix because it allows me to work in a way that is powerful for me, there is a culture of excellence, and my skills are transferable to almost every OS but Windows. I don't use Unix because it's more stable than Windows; at this point I assume my OS is stable; that's hardly good enough anymore.