To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 11:25:38 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Henning P. Schmiedehausen" <hps@tanstaafl.de>
Message-ID: <96obfi$j8p$1@forge.intermeta.de>
Organization: INTERMETA - Gesellschaft fuer Mehrwertdienste mbH
In-Reply-To: <3A8CF1FE.16672.10105D@localhost>, <20010217152814.G26627@alcove.wittsend.com>
Reply-To: hps@tanstaafl.de
Subject: Re: Linux stifles innovation... [way O.T.]
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org

mhw@wittsend.com (Michael H. Warfield) writes:

> Excuse me?  A 1 billion dolar investment in Linux is not
>supporting it?

On their own hardware.

> Setting up tier 1 and tier 2 support services for a half a dozen
>distributions is not supporting it?  

For their own hardware.

> Porting their AIX file systems and applications is not supporting
> it?

Keeping their legacy customer base on their products. Showing a
migration path that stays on their products and does not move to M$ or
another vendor.

> Porting it to the 390 is not supporting it?

Their own hardware.

>  You bet'cha they are taking advantage of the fact that people want
> it.  They would be damn fools in business if they didn't take
> advantage of that.

They want to stay in business. They don't want to lose their
customers. I remember an interview with an IBM exec which went along
the lines "We're supporting 25 different OS. Linux is OS #26. So, no
news for us here".

> And that means supporting it.  It's to their advantage to support it
> and they see it.  You must have a really bizzare idea of what
> support means...

It means "keep my customer base happy with me, so they give me more
bucks".

I'm sure, that their business plan with Linux says "we get two bucks
for every every one that we spend". IBM is an iron vendor. They have a
strong software product line but their first target is selling "IBM
software on an IBM supported OS on IBM hardware". And if the "IBM
supported OS" is not M$ Windows, which they have to pay a license fee
for but a "license-free OS" which is even developed for them, it's
good for them. And they get "community recognition" and a good press
thrown in for free.

It's "win - win" for them. And, BTW, for us and Linux too, which is a
good thing.

	Regards
		Henning

P.S.: Oh, look a me. Living in an environment where IBM are the good
guys. The horrors. The horrors. ;-)

-- 
Dipl.-Inf. (Univ.) Henning P. Schmiedehausen       -- Geschaeftsfuehrer
INTERMETA - Gesellschaft fuer Mehrwertdienste mbH     hps@intermeta.de

Am Schwabachgrund 22  Fon.: 09131 / 50654-0   info@intermeta.de
D-91054 Buckenhof     Fax.: 09131 / 50654-20   
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