Slashdot Mirror
IBM's Answer To Windows 7 Is Ubuntu Linux
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like IBM isn't much of a friend of Microsoft's anymore. Today IBM announced an extension of its Microsoft-Free PC effort together with Canonical Ubuntu Linux. This is the same thing that was announced a few weeks back for Africa (a program that began a year ago), and now it's available in the US. The big push is that IBM claims it will cost up to $2,000 for a business to move to Windows 7. They argue that moving to Linux is cheaper."
If Microsoft introduces an incompatible change in Windows 8 (so that, for example a given version of IE can no longer be installed, or a driver for a widely deployed device stops working), it can force a company into unbounded costs of updating their software and hardware. On the other hand, once initial migration to Ubuntu is done, only an effort of a dozen developers would be needed to compile Firefox 1.0 with new libraries, update a driver to work with 2.6 kernel and so on. While for an individual it may be acceptable - and cheaper - to buy new peripherals and applications - IBM can trivially afford custom development costs to keep an operating system running exactly the same way they want it.
It doesn't make sense for any large business with non-trivial needs to run an operating system for which they can not control future direction.
MS-DOS beat PC-DOS NT3.5 beat OS/2 Heck, you can argue that MS SQL Server is beating DB2 If I were choosing a side in this fight, I'd stick with Microsoft...
The past 6 months for several clients I have been running Proof of Concepts of moving from Desktop infrastructure to VDI(Virtual Desktop Infrastructure)
Microsoft have made licensing for running Windows desktops in a virtual environment so insane and added ridiculous costs just for the privilege of running Windows XP, Vista or 7 in a data centre that when you look at the ROI you don't see a massive benefit of shedding hardware.
A couple of those clients are actually now investigating migrations from Windows desktop to Ubuntu/SUSE Linux and running legacy Windows applications from Sun SGD/Windows Termial Server.
VDI offers huge opportunities for companies to shed the upkeep and maintenance of desktops and Microsoft are putting in as many hurdles as humanly possible to keep companies purchasing desktops every 3-4 years so they can still get their Microsoft tax from OEM's. I'm advising anyone these days to assess their dependence on windows if they are looking at VDI solutions and investigate deployments in Linux.
Well... Microsoft's tactics over the past decade have been even better than that (or worse, depending on your perspective). They've stated that they were aiming for cheaper and cheaper hardware, with the cost of computers focusing more on software and support. So, let someone else worry about "giving away" the PCs. I think they've literally stated they were foreseeing a future where the hardware is free.
I guess they enjoy the effects of market competition when it comes to *hardware*.
With Ubuntu for basic business use you won't need to upgrade at every release. Their LTS releases guarantees three years of support. Running an old version is usually not acceptable for a home power user, but it provides the stability a small business needs.
For a larger shop with at least one full time IT technician it would be possible to maintain your own repository with selected upgrades enabled. Then you can pick and choose the upgrades you need for new features in specific software. You would have the stability and security of an old release, and still get bleeding edge features where it matters with relatively little testing. This is how most major Windows shop does it for security patches and feature upgrades anyway.
Also the differences and testing needed between each version of the major distros is still far less than what's needed between each new edition of Windows. That's when you ignore the immense practical problem of global reinstallation of individual Windows boxes (yes, MS shills, fire away. It's possible on Windows as well. Call me when it's possible for my company to have absolutely all system and OS settings administrated centrally while ALL the user's personal customisations ("registry") and documents rest in his home directory on a file server, and when a motherboard fries, it'll take less than half an hour to physically replace the box and get the user back in business with all software and personalisations in place).
Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors!
I recently made the big jump for our IT department from windows to ubuntu. We havent looked back and it has been a great learning experience for many. We now have a department that is a viral resistant island in our windows heavy environment. The only things I missed was Visio for network diagrams and IE for sharepoint access, which we provide via a simple XP vbox. Everything critical however is done via ubuntu. We have lost nothing and gained much. I think in many cases the decision to NOT switch is based on ignorance of the platform and fear of interoperability, rather than on solid factual information. In a business environment its a no brainer.
Insert something insightful here, or I'll insert something painful there.
Games work on a somewhat different market than proprietary software does - the goal isn't to make a "good product" and then keep improving it, the goal is to make a "fun game" and then - fundamentally - it's done and you don't keep mucking with it besides fixing any major bugs. Even if I did open-source it, the most that would happen would be a few bugfixes and a few crummy third-party games with the same engine. It's just not worth the trouble - no gamers really care.
(See the open-sourced Quake engines to see the absolute most that you can get out. It's not much.)
Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
Why isn't IBM jumping first, and take the lead to move the whole IBM to Linux desktop? You know, the do-what-you-are-preaching concept? Last week, 5 IBM people came to our office to pitch for a 3 million contract, and I saw every single person (technical and sales) is running Windows Vista, with the latest MS Office. The only thing I recognized as IBM-made is Lotus Notes, which we also use here.
About 8 years ago, it was the same thing with Sun. We had a bunch of Sun people came to our office (another company), and they kept bitching about MS Windows and MS Office, while at the same time preaching Linux and Star Office. And guess what they were running? Yeah, you got it. At one point, I had enough of their bitching, I told them with a straight face: "Why don't you guys install Linux and Star Office, and send me that fucking slide in open format?" They looked at me as if I was from Mars, then I turned on my laptop, and it was running Linux.
One suggestion to the big guys: don't preach, do it. Then everyone will follow, you have enough clout to take the lead.
I shoved my old PC out in the living room with Ubuntu preinstalled for the kids/parents, and they love it. Nobody has asked me how to do anything, and the technophobe parents (won't update an iphone, points at computer and asks what is wrong with the modem) more often than not use it as opposed to the one that is in their room on a desk right next to their bed.
Yeah, but that will come with a locked BIOS that periodically checks and makes sure that WindowsTM is running, and connected via the internet to one of the MS beacon servers. The system will shut down in 30 seconds, if not provided with an internet access. Kind of like killing the RPC service does on Win2k and later OS's. The OS will be a subscription only based operating system, the retro obsolete standalone licensing model will be deprecated. Everyone will be mandated by law to purchase a subscription, and if you can't afford it, the government will help you pay for it, at least initially. In your own best interest. But the hardware will be free! Kind of like you get a free cellphone if you sign up for a two year contract, and the monthly payments add up to well over double what the hardware alone would have cost you. Also the EULA will state that you agree that all your documents will be stored on the cloud, kind of like webmail, such as gmail/hotmail/yahoo mail is today. It will be extraordinarily difficult to download and store a copy of anything offline(meaning you would have to make hand typed copies), unless you're willing to upgrade to the Windows Plus service for another 1999.99/mo, kind of like Yahoo Plus, which will let you get POP3 access to your inbox, and POP4 access to your cloud computing My Documents folder. You can get an offline copy of your files, but they will not be good for much, because you'll have to jump hoops of a 30 step process to simply get it loaded into MS Breath or MS One. Still, there will be no way to remove the original copies online, and you can throw them into the Recycle bin, but nothing can ever be permanently erased from the Recycle bin. Microsoft will fund the increased cost of storage for free, but only for items in the Recycle Bin that you want to get rid of. Files in the regular My Documents storage will cost you about 8cents/terabyte/month (don't laugh, a 30 page powerpoint presentation by Office 19 will weigh in at a heft 400 GB filesize, among other reasons, because it will be 256 bit based), while the My Pictures folder will go at 4 cents/tb/mo, and My movies at a 0.01 cent/TB/mo. It will be illegal to scheme the system and try to store my documents files in the movies folder, because you will get ticketed, and get a real life court citation over violating the intellectual property laws of the contracts you have signed. There will also be a mandatory penance booth, called My Confessions, where you have to write a blog about everything wrong that you've done each week, and ask forgiveness for your sins. People caught not visiting this folder often enough will be red flagged, and real life psychologists will make them take multiple choice tests where there are two correct answers, and no matter which one he picks, the other will be deemed correct, and by failing the tests prove that he is in dire need of mental health attention, and a prescription. Who wouldn't help a fellow suffering human being who does not even realize he has a problem. Admission you have a problem is the first step towards any solution. Mind control? How about ascertaining that there is order in society, and security, by keeping very close tabs on everyone. Wait.. oh, never mind.
I appreciate your efforts. However I post my opinions as they are. Some days I get modded up and others I get modded down. It happens.
Certain opinions (I'll take XP over Gnome and Ubuntu, or I think Apple is as evil as MS) almost always get me modded down. I still post them because I honestly believe those things.
I really enjoy the concept of democratic moderation and karma rankings. But I don't believe in catering my posts to manipulate them.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.