This begs the question - will the Internet become part of the television industry like some companies seem to be banking on? I've noticed that a number of companies such as Microsoft with their Web-TV concept, and now Nokia and Intel seem to feel it is a possibility. Personally I think that in the short run browsing the net via television will be popular. People used to their TV and not computers will find it especially easy. However in the long run I think that the opposite is more likely - your computer and the Internet will become the medium of delivery.
This article demonstrates a basic ignorance about the Open Source model and it's ramifications. Let's take a look at the highlights of Solaris indicated in the artice:
Solaris Highlights:
Highly scalable (64 processors)
Already runs on 64-bit SPARC chip (Intel doesn't even have one yet)
Has been proven in the industry
Has the support backing of a major company (Sun)
Runs everything Linux does (Mail, DNS, FTP etc...)
Already has many software packages ported to it.
Now has Star Office
Almost every one of these benifits apply to Microsoft's operating systems as well. Lots of software, has Microsoft Office, support by a major company, and so forth.
The real issue here is access to the source code, the security of not having to rely on another company's stability, and the rapid development that comes with the Open Source model. Cost has very little to do with it. Most companies write the cost of their operating systems off of their taxes. Even those that switch to Linux still usually pay hefty sums for a reckognized disbribution like Red Hat and, more importantly, the support that they can get with it. Not to say price isn't a factor, but it isn't the main one.
Their are a lot of benefits that Linux offers that Sun's Solaris could never supply. First is the GPL license. This protects people and corperations from being at the whim of somebody else. For example, Sun might release Solaris free today, but charge you big money for the next upgrade. Since you don't have the source code, you have the choice of tearing down your whole enterprise system and switching to something else, or paying the piper. Sun might go belly up. Strong today doesn't guarantee the future. Solaris may not have features or hardware support you need. I guess you'll have to wait for Sun to get around to it.
Of course Sun could try releasing the source code for Solaris. In that case however, Linux would simply cannabalize the good stuff and be that much better off.
A number of UNIX versions have features that Linux does not have yet but that Linux will need, such as scalability. However this doesn't mean Linux would die or even get slowed down just because these versions were made freely available. People and corperations are willing to 'reinvent the wheel' as you say with Linux because it is their wheel, not somebody elses. So like it or not, Linux will continue to evolve into whatever people want it to be and if the work of a number of programmers put into various UNIX systems get's duplicated, oh well. That's the price you pay for freedom from the whims of the companies that own those various distributions of UNIX.
Time will tell. As I said before, I don't think Corel came up with this stance by mistake. They want to privately develop a version of Linux so they can make a bigger splash when they release it to the public. I believe they feel there is enough of a grey area in the GPL here (does Beta = internal, and thus not a distrubtion) to give them room to try this.
The reason they might want to try this is very simple - very large sums of money are at stake. Sudden release of a new version of Linux after hidden development serves several purposes. First they get more publicity and excitement over their changes. Second they deprive other distributions of the ability to incrementally (gradually) review the changes and understand them. The issue here is the ability to provide support, not merely copy the disks.
In other words this is an issue of corporate strategy. If they pull this off, then their release will be much more newsworthy, and it is one of the few ways they might be able to make inroads against Red Hat. You can bet that Corel wants its distribution to be #1 after all. Their position in the Linux distribution food chain will directly translate into stock value, and if they dethroned Red Hat as number 1, their stock value would jump by orders of magnitude. Worst case scenario is the OSS community gets really riled up in arms and they pull back and say it was a mistake. Ooops - sorry about that we didn't mean it, let's make up.
First off, let me say what I don't think. I don't think Corel is just stumbling about not sure of itself and the GPL. I also don't think they are the great Satan.
I think that Corel likes to do things their way. They want to privately develop a version of Linux (Cathedral style) and then release it and wow everyone with what they did and make a big splash. This is very important, because it is hard to wow people when they see you coming. If they think they have made enough updates to Linux to really capture everyone's interest and attention, then they might become the primary distribution of Linux, replacing Red Hat before Red Hat becomes too entrenched. That would mean HUGE money for them - their stock value would increase by orders of magnitude. I think the rocketing stock values of Red Hat inspired them to try this.
As to the legal issues, I think they figure that by using the Beta Release ruse - (is it a distrubion or internal development) puts them in a grey area of the GPL. I think they figure this will give them enough maneuvering room to try it. Worst case scenario they just say it was a mistake, apologize, back down and make up with the OSS community and they're no worse off than when they started. Pull it off and they enhance their chances of winning the number one slot in the distribution wars.
Slashdot Mirror
What do you think?
Solaris Highlights:
Highly scalable (64 processors)
Already runs on 64-bit SPARC chip (Intel doesn't even have one yet)
Has been proven in the industry
Has the support backing of a major company (Sun)
Runs everything Linux does (Mail, DNS, FTP etc...)
Already has many software packages ported to it.
Now has Star Office
Almost every one of these benifits apply to Microsoft's operating systems as well. Lots of software, has Microsoft Office, support by a major company, and so forth.
The real issue here is access to the source code, the security of not having to rely on another company's stability, and the rapid development that comes with the Open Source model. Cost has very little to do with it. Most companies write the cost of their operating systems off of their taxes. Even those that switch to Linux still usually pay hefty sums for a reckognized disbribution like Red Hat and, more importantly, the support that they can get with it. Not to say price isn't a factor, but it isn't the main one.
Their are a lot of benefits that Linux offers that Sun's Solaris could never supply. First is the GPL license. This protects people and corperations from being at the whim of somebody else. For example, Sun might release Solaris free today, but charge you big money for the next upgrade. Since you don't have the source code, you have the choice of tearing down your whole enterprise system and switching to something else, or paying the piper. Sun might go belly up. Strong today doesn't guarantee the future. Solaris may not have features or hardware support you need. I guess you'll have to wait for Sun to get around to it.
Of course Sun could try releasing the source code for Solaris. In that case however, Linux would simply cannabalize the good stuff and be that much better off.
A number of UNIX versions have features that Linux does not have yet but that Linux will need, such as scalability. However this doesn't mean Linux would die or even get slowed down just because these versions were made freely available. People and corperations are willing to 'reinvent the wheel' as you say with Linux because it is their wheel, not somebody elses. So like it or not, Linux will continue to evolve into whatever people want it to be and if the work of a number of programmers put into various UNIX systems get's duplicated, oh well. That's the price you pay for freedom from the whims of the companies that own those various distributions of UNIX.
Could be. Either way I'm not too concerned. I'm all for the OSS model, but if Corel is trying a tactic here, I don't necessarily consider that wrong.
The reason they might want to try this is very simple - very large sums of money are at stake. Sudden release of a new version of Linux after hidden development serves several purposes. First they get more publicity and excitement over their changes. Second they deprive other distributions of the ability to incrementally (gradually) review the changes and understand them. The issue here is the ability to provide support, not merely copy the disks.
In other words this is an issue of corporate strategy. If they pull this off, then their release will be much more newsworthy, and it is one of the few ways they might be able to make inroads against Red Hat. You can bet that Corel wants its distribution to be #1 after all. Their position in the Linux distribution food chain will directly translate into stock value, and if they dethroned Red Hat as number 1, their stock value would jump by orders of magnitude. Worst case scenario is the OSS community gets really riled up in arms and they pull back and say it was a mistake. Ooops - sorry about that we didn't mean it, let's make up.
I think that Corel likes to do things their way. They want to privately develop a version of Linux (Cathedral style) and then release it and wow everyone with what they did and make a big splash. This is very important, because it is hard to wow people when they see you coming. If they think they have made enough updates to Linux to really capture everyone's interest and attention, then they might become the primary distribution of Linux, replacing Red Hat before Red Hat becomes too entrenched. That would mean HUGE money for them - their stock value would increase by orders of magnitude. I think the rocketing stock values of Red Hat inspired them to try this.
As to the legal issues, I think they figure that by using the Beta Release ruse - (is it a distrubion or internal development) puts them in a grey area of the GPL. I think they figure this will give them enough maneuvering room to try it. Worst case scenario they just say it was a mistake, apologize, back down and make up with the OSS community and they're no worse off than when they started. Pull it off and they enhance their chances of winning the number one slot in the distribution wars.
If you are telling the truth though, I don't think your so-called legal department would appreciate it if you divulged the information :)