Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 11:09:49 +1030 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Frank Pawlak <fpawlak@execpc.com>, Jamie Lawrence <jal@ThirdAge.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD vs. Linux Message-ID: <19981107110949.M499@freebie.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <19981106183256.A4148@quark.execpc.com>; from Frank Pawlak on Fri, Nov 06, 1998 at 06:32:56PM -0600 References: <19981107095107.C499@freebie.lemis.com> <4.1.19981102162944.00cc6ec0@mail.netconstruct.com> <19981106165913.B13675@cityip.co.za> <19981107095107.C499@freebie.lemis.com> <19981106181037.A4027@quark.execpc.com> <3.0.5.32.19981106162525.00bb5330@204.74.82.151> <19981106183256.A4148@quark.execpc.com>
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On Friday, 6 November 1998 at 18:32:56 -0600, Frank Pawlak wrote: > On Fri, Nov 06, 1998 at 04:25:25PM -0800, Jamie Lawrence wrote: >> At 06:10 PM 11/6/98 -0600, Frank Pawlak wrote: >> >>> Your answer provides some very useful information, but raises a question >>> that I have been pondering for some time. As I understand it, Oracle >>> has stated that they will support Linux where it is running their >>> database product, and possibly will release their own distro of Linux. >>> Given the server process short comings and the relative immaturity of >>> the Linux code compared to FreeBSD, why would they want to port to and >>> support an inferior OS, when for the some resource expenditure they could >>> do the same on BSD? >> >> Economics. >> >> Software companies port to market share, not technical excellence. >> You may as well ask why they ported to NT (although there are other >> considerations there... mainly externalities of the market share >> issue). > > Fair enough, but you miss my point that if they are going to roll their > own Linux distro, why wouldn't they start with a superior platform to > begin with. Then again, perhaps this is all moot. They're not trying to sell a complete Oracle solution, they're trying to reach a market. I'd guess that doing their own Linux distribution was an afterthought when they discovered (and fixed) deficiencies in the Linux kernel. Given Linux's fragmented approach to distributions, this could save them a lot of headaches even if they didn't have to fix the kernel. Greg -- See complete headers for address, home page and phone numbers finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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