You know, it's really funny. Compaq mentions off-hand that it intends to rebrand Digital Unix to Tru64 Unix, and the whole world takes notice - lots and lots of mainstream articles in the week since then. Whereas, there's a groundbreaking new release of Linux, and hardly a peep. Meanwhile, Linux in the press in general is healthy, but nothing concentrating on the release. I wonder if it's because of incoherent media co-ordination inherent to the open-source model? Any ideas? --
The same way Apple's think different forces you to meditate on it because of the grammatical issues with the phrase, I'm sure the sexual angle (you dirty birdie) or whatever wide swaths of interpretations available are on purpose. The second they've forced you to think about it for more than a quarter second, they've won, and the brand recognition attempt succeeds.
Not to mention the fact that apparently most of the people who visited in the last couple days voted Alpha - mind you that's not surprising, 'cause it's an alpha-related story. Fact remains that these web-surveys, whether/., ontopofIT or CNN, are all very unscientific, no matter what the sample size. --
Looks like Alpha really has a chance to dominate if it can get a foothold before Merced. A lower price and mainstream availability (Compaq could do this) would really help. As far as competing 64-bit architectures go, look at this poll to see by how much the Alpha platform is dominating industry opinion. How to leverage that into a real thrust against Intel? I think price will be a big part of it. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if these lower prices weren't part of a larger strategy by all Alpha licensees. It's now or never - let's see if everyone comes down, at least on the slower Alphas. --
This reminds me of when I first got my Sun 386i. At the time, I could spend the 2500 on a really good PC, (with color!), or I could get this aging SunOS 4.2 box - a 386/20, haha! Anyway, I had never used Unix before, but I knew it had to do with what bigger computers were about, and I could (sort of) afford it, so I went with it. Let me tell you, man -k was my friend! I had no idea about anything, no mentors, basically nothing. It was hilarious. Over time though, it was worth it. That experience (of having used Unix for so long, with root) got me the team lead for our companies' migration project from VMS to UNIX, so I got to lead a team of 18 very, very early in my career. I've built on that since then, sysadmin/dba'ing shops with 7 Alphaservers and a Solaris box. I've got no complaints. I can appreciate how any new user would go through this. It sure isn't fun. Isn't there anything we can do about it? Maybe the journey is part of the reward. Sigh. --
This ties into the Dell/HP/Gateway etc. deals. Basically, as PC hardware has become more powerful, more and more companies have chosen PC-architecture machines as workstations. What OS are they going to run on them? NT, SCO, Linux, etc. But what can they but pre-installed, well, only NT. Now, with the new deals being announced (or rumoured) right and left, we can see this trend reverse itself. With Linux available pre-installed, and the PC architecture continuing to dominate the workstation market, we can claw back. --
This is important. When companies perform a selection between different platforms, they are going to include Dell, HP, IBM offerings in the process. "Build your own" will not be on the list. So we are in agreement that corporate acceptance of Linux is key, and thus we must support Dell et. al. in their pre-installed, supported configs. I myself would still build my own, but believe me, there's no way I can put that on a proposal or in a selection doc. Moreover, acceptance from these manufacturers will foster mainstream acceptance and growth. We've got to back this. P.S. Tru64 Unix has got to be the lamest Unix brand name choice I've ever heard. --
I called Compaq to get referred to a server retailer who could get me Linux pre-installed, and they referred me to Big Apple in NYC. I'm waiting to hear back from them today, but I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. I have a client doing an NT vs. Linux selection, and NT is winning because of Dell's 24/7 on-site warrantee stuff. I'm hoping Compaq can provide a server w/ the on-site. VAResearch can not at this time, although apparently a deal with a National support company is in the works. --
I must say this is a huge relief. The mere fact that any of us were this worried is a testament to Intel's near-monopoly on chips, though. That's the sort of non-feature for the end-user that really only gets tacked on when the manufacturer has no real competitors. --
What is UPN, and how can I find out if I get it? I know, if I have to ask... I probably don't get it. But just in case? If you really want to help, my line-up is here. --
Slashdot Mirror
You know, it's really funny. Compaq mentions off-hand that it intends to rebrand Digital Unix to Tru64 Unix, and the whole world takes notice - lots and lots of mainstream articles in the week since then.
Whereas, there's a groundbreaking new release of Linux, and hardly a peep. Meanwhile, Linux in the press in general is healthy, but nothing concentrating on the release. I wonder if it's because of incoherent media co-ordination inherent to the open-source model? Any ideas?
--
The same way Apple's think different forces you to meditate on it because of the grammatical issues with the phrase, I'm sure the sexual angle (you dirty birdie) or whatever wide swaths of interpretations available are on purpose. The second they've forced you to think about it for more than a quarter second, they've won, and the brand recognition attempt succeeds.
--
Not to mention the fact that apparently most of the people who visited in the last couple days voted Alpha - mind you that's not surprising, 'cause it's an alpha-related story. Fact remains that these web-surveys, whether /., ontopofIT or CNN, are all very unscientific, no matter what the sample size.
--
Looks like Alpha really has a chance to dominate if it can get a foothold before Merced. A lower price and mainstream availability (Compaq could do this) would really help. As far as competing 64-bit architectures go, look at this poll to see by how much the Alpha platform is dominating industry opinion. How to leverage that into a real thrust against Intel? I think price will be a big part of it.
In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if these lower prices weren't part of a larger strategy by all Alpha licensees. It's now or never - let's see if everyone comes down, at least on the slower Alphas.
--
This reminds me of when I first got my Sun 386i. At the time, I could spend the 2500 on a really good PC, (with color!), or I could get this aging SunOS 4.2 box - a 386/20, haha! Anyway, I had never used Unix before, but I knew it had to do with what bigger computers were about, and I could (sort of) afford it, so I went with it. Let me tell you, man -k was my friend! I had no idea about anything, no mentors, basically nothing. It was hilarious.
Over time though, it was worth it. That experience (of having used Unix for so long, with root) got me the team lead for our companies' migration project from VMS to UNIX, so I got to lead a team of 18 very, very early in my career. I've built on that since then, sysadmin/dba'ing shops with 7 Alphaservers and a Solaris box. I've got no complaints.
I can appreciate how any new user would go through this. It sure isn't fun. Isn't there anything we can do about it? Maybe the journey is part of the reward. Sigh.
--
This is from Tuesday.
--
This ties into the Dell/HP/Gateway etc. deals. Basically, as PC hardware has become more powerful, more and more companies have chosen PC-architecture machines as workstations. What OS are they going to run on them? NT, SCO, Linux, etc. But what can they but pre-installed, well, only NT.
Now, with the new deals being announced (or rumoured) right and left, we can see this trend reverse itself. With Linux available pre-installed, and the PC architecture continuing to dominate the workstation market, we can claw back.
--
This is important. When companies perform a selection between different platforms, they are going to include Dell, HP, IBM offerings in the process. "Build your own" will not be on the list.
So we are in agreement that corporate acceptance of Linux is key, and thus we must support Dell et. al. in their pre-installed, supported configs. I myself would still build my own, but believe me, there's no way I can put that on a proposal or in a selection doc.
Moreover, acceptance from these manufacturers will foster mainstream acceptance and growth. We've got to back this.
P.S. Tru64 Unix has got to be the lamest Unix brand name choice I've ever heard.
--
Problem is, though, that there is no Support for Dell's RAID controller in Linux, afaict.
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Hi.
This is exactly the subject of a really fantastic article at Wired's magazine archives. Thought I'd contribute the URL.
Enjoy,
-p
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I called Compaq to get referred to a server retailer who could get me Linux pre-installed, and they referred me to Big Apple in NYC. I'm waiting to hear back from them today, but I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. I have a client doing an NT vs. Linux selection, and NT is winning because of Dell's 24/7 on-site warrantee stuff. I'm hoping Compaq can provide a server w/ the on-site. VAResearch can not at this time, although apparently a deal with a National support company is in the works.
--
Yup, I checked, and I don't get it. It's in the lineup, but along with pay-tv. So what the hell is UPN?
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I must say this is a huge relief. The mere fact that any of us were this worried is a testament to Intel's near-monopoly on chips, though. That's the sort of non-feature for the end-user that really only gets tacked on when the manufacturer has no real competitors.
--
What is UPN, and how can I find out if I get it? I know, if I have to ask... I probably don't get it. But just in case? If you really want to help, my line-up is here.
--