[PLUG] SuitWatch -- September 19 (fwd)

[Rich Shepard]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
                                   SuitWatch

  Views on Linux in Business

  --by Doc Searls, Senior Editor of Linux Journal
     _________________________________________________________________

                               Deskward bound

   As I write this, on Wednesday morning, all eyes and ears are trained
   in the direction of Sun Microsystems, which is announcing new Linux
   desktop hardware (among other Linux-related items) at the company's
   Sun Network:
   http://sunnetwork.sun.com/ show in San Francisco:

   <http://sunnetwork.sun.com/>

   The Big Picture stories have already appeared in the Wall Street
   Journal and the New York Times:
   :

   <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/technology/18SUN.html>

   Both position the new boxes as threats to Microsoft. Given Sun's
   severe antipathy toward Microsoft, that's an easy story to tell. In
   fact, this morning the Times is running an editorial endorsing Linux,
   presumably on the occasion of the Sun announcement. "The New Challenge
   to Microsoft":
   , opens with this:

   As the government's antitrust lawsuit winds down, Microsoft's next
   battle may be a knock-down, drag-out fight against Linux. Like
   Microsoft's Windows, Linux is a computer operating system, but written
   and updated by volunteer programmers in a communitarian spirit, and
   available for free. If Linux spreads, Microsoft could see the first
   real challenge to its dominance of the operating-system software
   market. For consumers, that would be good news.

   And it closes with this:

   Government units abroad and in the United States and individual
   computer users should look for ways to support Linux and Linux-based
   products. The competition it offers helps everyone.

   <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/opinion/18WED2.html>

   That's a nice endorsement, but it doesn't touch the real fight that's
   going on, which is for shelf space among each big vendor's UNIX
   offerings, which was the topic of the last SuitWatch:
   :

   <http://www.ssc.com/pipermail/suitwatch/2002q3/000029.html>

   News came yesterday that IBM plans add:
   its pSeries of servers to the growing list of Big Blue hardware lines
   running Linux. Those already include the xSeries of Intel-based
   servers, the iSeries midrange servers and zSeries mainframes:

   <http://news.com.com/2100-1001-958354.html>.

   IBM is also working on "improving" Linux in ways the help it run on
   the company's Power4-based systems, including the pSeries.

   In a related announcement:
   http://news.com.com/2100-1001-958002.html, IBM and Red Hat say Red Hat
   will be supplying Advanced Server software for IBM's heavier iron: the
   p, i and zSeries. Red Hat already supports the xSeries.

   In one announcement after another, IBM makes clear its intention to
   make Linux work every possible place it makes sense. The company
   appears to be making no attempt to protect AIX, or any of its other
   operating systems, from Linux. From the Linux perspective, IBM has a
   shelf that includes all kinds of hardware.

   Not so with Sun. A Reuters story says "Sun argues Linux is a low-end
   complement to Solaris and keeps customers out of the Microsoft camp."
   In other words, Linux is Sun's low-end OS. That's where it sits on
   Sun's OS shelf. Which is fine: different company, different strategy.
   We'll see how it goes.

   There is good reason for Sun to concentrate right now on corporate
   PCs. Reports on a survey:
   by SG Cowen say IT spending growth will rise 1.8% in 2002 and 3.4% in
   2003, with anticipated spending closest to flat among the largest
   firms. But while PC spending is "entrenched" in a 4-year cycle,
   corporate PC upgrade budgets are due to increase 17% in 2002 and 20%
   in 2003. The primary suppliers are still IBM and Dell, with HP/Compaq
   having a "reduced role" in future spending plans. Meanwhile, all of
   those companies are pushing their Linux server offerings. Not Linux
   desktops.

   <http://www.sgcowen.com/rs/rs3.html>
   <http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/27010.html>

   In fact, finding desktop hardware is easier at Wal-Mart than at any of
   the Big Three corporate desktop suppliers, as I reported in a Linux
   Journal Web piece about Sun's latest anticipated offerings:

   <http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6327>

   That leaves a significant hole. Sun doesn't have a Microsoft
   relationship to protect. It can much more easily imagine PC business
   that doesn't swap Linux into boxes originally meant to run Windows. It
   can zero-base its PC strategy in a Windows-free way. That's a huge
   advantage.

   Even if all Sun sells is droneware for corporate cubicle hives (what I
   suspect at this point, still in the absence of input), at least it's
   offering something that the Big Three are not.

   Yet.

   Until the Big Three get on the stick, the primary competition for Sun
   will be commodity white boxes. Are companies already buying white
   boxes by the trainload likely to go for the Sun brand? Not clear. It
   would help if they were already Sun customers, and taking advantage of
   the application environments Sun talks about on its Linux page:

   <http://wwws.sun.com/software/linux/>

   The question then for Sun is whether or not its successes with Linux
   will be at the expense of PC vendors and Microsoft, or of itself.
   After all, that same SG Cowen survey showed both Linux and Windows
   gaining momentum, with Linux growth coming at the expense of other
   UNIX variants.

   It also said Linux was already running at 44% of the companies
   surveyed, with 45% planning to emphasize Linux more in the future.

   This invites a new concept: the Linux hardware replacement cycle. At
   some point all these competitors will have to count on it. And that
   will be a huge sign of Linux' success.

   Other items:

   Earthlink to bundle with LIndows PCs (ComputerWire, via The Register)
   <http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27167.html>

   Red Hat broadens desktop push (News.com)
   <http://news.com.com/2100-1001-958342.html>

   Sun to shed light on desktop Linux plans (ITworld.com)
   <http://www.itworld.com/Comp/2362/020917sunlinux/>

   Security: Linux Virus Exploits Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
   (Net4Nowt) <http://www.net4nowt.com/comments/1032345778,7666,.shtml>

   LinOra Corporation Switches from Microsoft Windows to Linux Desktops
   Using Ximian Evolution
   <http://ximian.com/about_us/press_center/press_releases/linora.html?>