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~50% of Compaq Server Customers Using Linux

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the good-news-for-linux dept.

newt writes "The Australian's Technology section is carrying a story from Compaq which claims that 50% of Compaq server customers are using Linux. As a result of increasing use, Compaq is beefing up its Linux support infrastructure and unveiling new Linux service offerings similar to the support offered for "mainstream" operating systems. "

34 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Read 50 posts in one. by antizeus · · Score: 2
    50 people (or maybe 10 people 5 times) will say that the strength of Linux in the server market is insignificant because Windows still rules the desktop, and will provide a number of reasons why they think this is, and will continue to be, the case.

    So instead of reading all those messages, read this one instead,

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  2. Don't forget .... by taniwha · · Score: 2

    That Compaq's customer base is much wider than most other 'PC' companies and many of them have long standing, decades long, experience with Unix ..... Unix was developed on Compaq (aka DEC) computers ....

    1. Re:Don't forget .... by IntlHarvester · · Score: 2

      You make an excellent point -- The old DEC user base is mostly likely already using Unix, and therefore going to be more comfortable with Linux.
      In addition, Compaq has always been a premium partner with SCO, and the SCO customer base is certainly looking at Linux

      However the vast majority of Compaq Proliants are probably in NT/NetWare shops which might be using Linux here and there but would be less likely to standardize on it.
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      Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
    2. Re:Don't forget .... by taniwha · · Score: 2
      It was originally done on PDP7s and quickly ported to 11s

      My first experience was V6 on an '11 and my first port was of V6 to the vax (no not a port you've ever heard of)

      68k (and 32k etc) ports came out when chips with MMUs or chips for which MMUs could be made became available (I probably did 15-20 68k ports plus a couple of others in the mid-80s). x86 based ports came later - for the 286 initially which was an abysmal Unix target - Intel learned a lot by the time they brought out the 386 and sadly around the same time Motorola floundered.

  3. Compaq owns RedHat? by nevets · · Score: 2

    Most of the Linux systems are provided by Red Hat, which is part-owned by Compaq.

    I didn't know this. Does Compaq own a lot of RedHat or does it own some shares of RedHat, thus I could say that since I own shares of RedHat, I'm a part owner ;)

    Actually, I lied, I don't (not yet) own any shares of RedHat. I'm a little strapped for cash.

    Steven Rostedt

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    Steven Rostedt
    -- Nevermind
    1. Re:Compaq owns RedHat? by mrsam · · Score: 2

      I don't recall ever reading about Compaq investing equity in RHAT. However, Compaq does have an array of agreements, or "partnership"s with RHAT, running the gamut of jointly developing device drivers, certifying Compaq's hardware for RH Linux, and technical support.
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  4. Hmmmm. by Davorama · · Score: 2

    Makes for enteresting reading when you combine it with these statements made by Pfeiffer earlier today. http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19991108S0026

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    Davo -- Free speech, free software, AND free beer.

  5. Re:Management is where its at! by nevets · · Score: 2

    I've notice that in my company, the techies have say over a few things that they do. Thus the first level managers listen and supply them a little of what they need. But when a large number of techies are asking for the same thing, the upper management starts to notice.

    I was asked by one manager if I heard of "Linux" and he was shocked that I already had it running on my terminal!

    Steven Rostedt

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    Steven Rostedt
    -- Nevermind
  6. Hmmmm by mochaone · · Score: 4

    The timing of this announcement disturbs me.

    On friday, MS is ruled a monopoly and the Judge asserts that MS has no competition in the PC market.

    On monday, Compaq releases a statement indicating that Linux accounts for 50% of its server setup.

    Compaq is MS' biggest corporate customer. MS uses Compaq computers in its corporate systems.

    Does something sound fishy here?

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    Hates people who have stupid little sigs
    1. Re:Hmmmm by MarkX · · Score: 2

      Actually a very careful reading would lead to the conclusion that ~50% of Compaq customers have used or are using Linux. It doesn't say that 50% of shipments are running Linux.

      Compaq service director Pathy Pathmanaban confirmed that 45 per cent of all customers had now either deployed Linux or used the operating system for a pilot project.

      All this really means is that a lot of people have tried Linux, which we already know. It really doesn't say much about what percentages they are shipping today. Also it sounds like they are talking about Australia, not the United States.

    2. Re:Hmmmm by mochaone · · Score: 2

      You can certainly disagree with these statements; I do, at least partially. But for the purposes of this lawsuit, they're now facts, and the penalties imposed on Microsoft (if any) will be based on those facts.

      They may also provide the basis for a future appeal. The judge may have erred in trying to make a distinction between client and server pc's when the distinction is not all that clear. Linux computers are easily set up as either client desktops or servers and Microsoft is fast trying to proceed with a one size fits all OS that serves both the client desktop and server markets.

      Additionaly, the Judge severely diminishes the increasing trend to move popular consumer applications to the web, thereby increasing the need for server pc's. Even MS recognizes this growing trend and is re-thinking its licensing fee strategy to better fit the new(?) paradigm.

      As such, I think any news along these lines may wind up in the hands of appellate judges. I can almost hear the MS legal team saving Compaq's release now...that is, if they weren't privy to the release before hand ;)

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      Hates people who have stupid little sigs
    3. Re:Hmmmm by MikeBabcock · · Score: 2

      Actually I found it interesting the way the judge phrased the facts on web apps and appliance computers -- they may very well succeed, but there is no proof of that yet, and others have failed.

      - Michael T. Babcock <homepage>

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      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  7. *NOT* 50% of servers run Linux by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 5

    Note that the story does *not* say that 50% of servers delivered by Compaq have Linux installed. It simply says that 50% of the organizations that buy a server from Compaq have at least one Linux box.

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    Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
  8. Compaq Linux server usage by kickahaota · · Score: 2

    Gosh; for a system that Microsoft has so 'convincingly proved' (spit) to be slower and less efficient than Windows NT, people sure seem to be switching to it in droves. Funny how that works, hmm? One would almost think that the Microsoft-funded tests didn't reflect reality; but we know that can't be right...

    When it comes to the desktop, all sorts of factors come into play when choosing an OS. But in the server field, the decision-making process is usually much narrower; how much speed and reliability can platform X deliver, and for what cost? Unix has always has the edge performance-wise; but commercial Unix implementations were often pricey, and the companies I've worked for have found recruiting experienced Unix administrators to be much more difficult than recruiting NT admins. Linux has really changed the field, both by reducing the cost of the server software, and by creating a much wider pool of potential Unix administrators. Microsoft had better hope that they can hang onto the desktop for a while longer, because it looks like the server playfield is tilting heavily against them.

  9. Good guys... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3

    I worked at Compaq for the summer. I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the head guys in the Linux Division. There are some pretty sharp guys there, and they've been pushing really hard to get Compaq to support Linux.

    Even while I was working there I stripped Windows off the box I was working on and installed Linux to do all my work. I loaded VMWare every once in a while to work with Access, but other than that it was Linux. Even within Compaq they've been very supportive of Linux.

    I'm sure that they will begin to encourage the use of Linux now, and probably have a tech support setup. Sounds good to me!

  10. How many total? by Amphigory · · Score: 2

    I have to wonder how many total customers this represents? Could provide some nice verification for the "10-15 million" numbers. Sadly, the article doesn't seem to say.

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    -- Slashdot sucks.
  11. 50% of Compaq Customers? Or Ex-DEC Unix Customers? by John+Murdoch · · Score: 2

    Hi All!

    Uh, let's not get too excited by this. Compaq in Australia (as elsewhere in the Pacific Rim) is an amalgam of Compaq, Digital, and Tandem. Digital and Tandem might easily be a bigger portion of the customer base in a lot of parts of the area than Compaq has been. (Compaq Japan is firmly established--but Digital has been solid in Asia for a long time.)

    That 50% of Compaq customers have done pilots with Linux probably says more about those customers' perception of the future of Digital Unix than it does about NT.

  12. I've said it before... by Amphigory · · Score: 3
    And I'll say it again.
    Market share is irrelevant in anti-trust cases!
    What matters is if the company is able to exercise a strong influence on the market, and the what they do with that influence. So, Microsoft, while they are not the /only/ vendor of PC operatings systems, does exercies monopoly power due to the high price of entry into the market. That has been documented in nauseating (but wonderfully well written) detail by Judge Jackson. (I want his child, by the way).

    The point is that Microsoft /used/ their monopoly power in an area (operating systems) to prevent people from entering other markets. Specifically, web browsers.

    The only way in which market share is relevant is that you usually have to have a lot of it to have monopoly power. There have been successful cases with as little as 45%.

    Please guys: remember this, and repeat it. There is a lot of nonsense still going around that "MS ISn't a monopoly, look at linux!" They are a monopoly, notwithstanding that Linux is going to kick their little hButts, and at the bare minimum they deserve a massive (say $10billion) fine.

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    -- Slashdot sucks.
  13. FoF refers to the Desktop. by torpor · · Score: 3

    One thing that is definitely not really made clear in this FoF/MS/Linux broo-haha is the fact that Linux is cutting into MS' *SERVER* market, not its desktop market.

    And this lawsuit is really about MS' desktop operating system - Windows 95/98.

    So on that basis, what Jackson has said is that Linux can't compete with Windows 95/98, and its true - right now, Linux is not a desktop operating system that Ma Apple Pie is gonna install.

    But on the backside of this, when you are comparing *SERVER* products, Linux is a match for NT, for sure...

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    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  14. Does Compaq / Linux seem strange to anyone else? by The+Logic+Police · · Score: 2

    Do I remember reading in the FoF that Compaq was singled out on more than one occasion for being highly "compliant" with M$'s desires? For some reason this partnership with Linux seems suspect considering that Microsoft is competing against Linux with NT4 and that win2K is supposed to be an industrial strength OS for both servers and clients.

    What will Compaq do when 2K comes out? Ship PCs with 2K and servers with both? Or ship both Linux and 2K with both servers and clients? Either way, you get a quite pissed off M$ and a Compaq that suddenly finds royalties rising. If Compaq figures that any added expense in the form of royalties can be more than offset by the rise in sales of servers by offering both 2K and Linux, this can suggest three things:

    1. Compaq figures that M$ will get their butt kicked by the DOJ and be forced to make public what they charge each computer maker for their product, therefore effectively insulating Compaq against possible royality increaces...

    2. Compaq has very high hopes for Linux, high enough to begin to break a close relationship with M$... or

    3. Compaq knows something about win2K that we do not know for certain (a verdtiable bugfest, swiss-cheese security, etc.)

    Either one of these three is quite interesting to contemplate. The Logic Police have spoken.

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  15. this is good after the M$ ruling by Haven · · Score: 2

    I'm glad this came out after the M$ ruling. This gives Linux credibility in the business server environment, and it didn't give microsoft any battling fodder. Though, as much as I like Microsoft getting the smack laid down upon them, I would like a fair trial. I now feel kinda bad that M$ didn't get this to throw at the DOJ.

    You have just experienced the full spectrum of the /. post. Super prolinux/fuck M$ to we feel sorry for M$.

    whatever

  16. Compaq in America........ by TheLanMan · · Score: 2

    Well... I cant speak for compaq, even tho I work for them.. But here in the states we have quite a few people on our LINUX team for tech-support, at the CSC I work at, we have 20 members alone.. (CSC = Customer Service Center) And we have a few CSC's in North America.. I know that inside my CSC linux is strong, as well as Tru64.. So, Linux is getting there.. Plus Compaq was a BIG sponser this year at ALS..

  17. Hey Compaq: Prove You're Serious by crucini · · Score: 2
    I wish that corporate statements of support translated into reality a little more quickly. When I look at (Compaq|HP|IBM)'s web pages for servers, I can rarely tell what degree of linux support they have on a particular product. I'd like to see a table listing each hardware feature and explaining how, and how well it is supported. The best example is RAID arrays. If the vendor claims that the RAID is linux-compatible, does this mean:
    1. They provide a binary, closed-source kernel module?
    2. They provide a kernel patch?
    3. Someone else has written a kernel patch?
    4. I can write a script which takes some action when a drive dies?
    5. I can take drives offline/online with a command-line utility (for hot swap)?

      1. The number one thing Compaq could do to show that they're serious about linux on servers is eliminate keyboard, video and mouse. These are relics of the "PC wannabe server" days. Sun's Netra realizes this. I want the BIOS fully accessible through the serial port. And if the machine locks up hard, I want to reboot it through the serial port (with adequate authentication.) And obviously, the RAID must be fully configurable/controllable through the serial port. Although I'm not sure what would be the best way to install Linux on a headless box.

        In reality, it's easier and cheaper to build from scratch than to get satisfaction from these corporate giants. They talk the Linux talk, but they walk the Microsoft walk.

  18. US judicial system by Bill+Currie · · Score: 2

    I want to get this clear in my head: can even a federal court ruling be appealed in the supream court? How do the various court levels in the US work? (I'm not fully up to scratch on the judicial system in any country, for that matter:).

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    Bill - aka taniwha
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    Leave others their otherness. -- Aratak

    1. Re:US judicial system by dillon_rinker · · Score: 2

      in fact ONLY federal cases may be appealed to the supreme court.
      I don't believe this is correct. issues not resolved at the highest level of state courts can go to the supreme court.

  19. Linux is a proof that MS is a monoply by Le+douanier · · Score: 2


    Given that the only way for customers to have an alternative to Windows was to create one themselves, this prove that they couldn't have one from another company than MS because of their monopoly power, so the very existence of Linux is a PROOF that MS is a monopoly.

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    "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
  20. Re:Does Compaq / Linux seem strange to anyone else by Le+douanier · · Score: 2


    3. Compaq knows something about win2K that we do not know for certain (a verdtiable bugfest, swiss-cheese security, etc.)

    And maybe that is what they know about W2K that made them drop the team for Alpha port of NT.

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    "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
  21. Wouldn't have changed the FoF by Le+douanier · · Score: 2


    Because this is the SERVER side and Judge Jackson said that it was unlikely that users would switch to a server operating system.

    If MS had a monopoly on the server side this would have been an ammunition, but here this would be appor try to do it.

    MS: "See, this is a proof that we are not a monopoly"

    DOJ: "We have to confess MS is right, this is a proof they are not a monopoly... on the server side, which we never claimed them to be"

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    "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
  22. Intel goes far higher than 8-way by Tet · · Score: 2
    The max you can achieve with Intel right now is 8-way systems.

    Bollocks. Data General have been offering 64 CPU Intel based servers for some time now. See http://www.dg.com/avi ion/html/av_25000_enterprise_server.html. 128 CPU and higher versions are due to follow early next year.

    Sun HW offers 1000-way SMP capabale systems(in theory at least)

    Nope. The most Sun offer is 64-way with the E10000 StarFire. We have four of them here. http://www.sun.com/servers/highe nd/10000/spec.html. Sure, you can go past 64 CPUs with clustering or server farms, etc., but not SMP.

    Linux is slowly getting there but it;'s not there "just yet" Let's be sensible....

    Agreed. I've even had Linux running on a Sun Ultra Enterprise server, but it certainly doesn't make as good use of it as Solaris does. It'll get there in time, but it's not there yet.

    --
    "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
  23. read more carefully by mattdm · · Score: 2
    This is irrelevant. The MS antitrust case specifically refers to the intel-compatible desktop PC operating system market. Servers (and even more so non-x86 servers) aren't at issue.

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  24. appeal by mattdm · · Score: 2
    I'm not so sure. I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that appeals focus on findings of law, and that's very difficult to appeal a finding of fact.

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    1. Re:appeal by hawk · · Score: 2

      IIAL, and you're correct. It's not that findings of fact can't be appealed, but that the standard of review is so high--essentially that no reasonable person could have reached that concusion from the evidence offered.

  25. Then, and now by hawk · · Score: 2

    IAAL, but this is is not legal advice. etc.
    The market today has *nothing* to do with whether ms violated the law four years ago. zero. zilch. No matter how much ms's spin machine tries to suggest otherwise.

    Today's market *does* matter in determining what remedies to be applied. But the underlying case was about harm in 1996, which doesn't go away just because they can't do it any more.

    hawk, esq.

  26. Takeup figures misleading by maroberts · · Score: 2

    Hate to be on the doom merchants side for once, but this survey doesn't really tell us much.

    If a company with 200+ servers has one crufty 486 running Linux as a "pilot project" to keep a university trainee busy during the holidays they'll qualify on the side of the angels.

    I want to see the survey that says 50% of all server sales are selecting Linux over NT [or any other OS]....and I hope the day comes soon!

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