[log in to unmask] wrote:
> In a message dated 1/28/03 2:51:34 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
>
>> ...But it's not the new cool thing that Linux
>> is, and it's not open source (no matter what Sun says).
>
>
>
> I think that Sun has done something very very smart even if they might
> not realize it yet.  How does Solaris X86 at $20 compare with MS Windows
> XP at say $100?  Or some distribution of Linux at say $10?  the X86 and
> Linux prices are so low that they effectively don't matter.  Now think
> about the price tag for HP-UX... NOT so low right?  In the future when
> all (?) processors are Intel architecture, what will the competitiive
> pictue look like?

More to the point, what will software and application availability
look like? Oracle supports Linux today. Oracle does not support Solaris
on x86.

> I have yet to see an advantage for open source that means anything to
> me.  If I had the source code to MPE, Solaris, etc, would I use it to
> make a modification?  Nope.  I've got other things to do with my time.
> I've been a bit of a pest reminding people about the need for MPE source
> code availability but that is only so that we have a possibility of
> modifications by somebody in the future.  For me personally, I'm content
> to let an OS vendor make their enhancements and then purchase an upgrade
> or whatever.  In the case of Solaris X86 that might mean another
> expenditure of all of $20.  Perhaps one could argue that Sun has created
> a low cost alternative to Linux????  Clearly a lower cost alternative to
> any MS Windows OS product.

Depends on what you want to use it for. MS Office? Maybe, if you can
live with OpenOffice or StarOffice.

re: the benefits of open source, there are many people out there who
will extol them. Not sure if I buy them *all* myself. There are aspects
of Linux that could certainly benefit from a little central control 8^).

--
Greg Cagle
gregc at gregcagle dot com

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