Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 19:03:10 +0000 (GMT) From: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> To: jcwells@u.washington.edu Cc: brett@lariat.org, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Targeting the server: Not such a good idea? Message-ID: <199910081903.MAA09205@usr07.primenet.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.10.9910082116380.80955-100000@s8-37-26.student.washington.edu> from "Jason C. Wells" at Oct 8, 99 09:48:07 pm
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> >"The trouble is that no one wants to have separate training, separate > >software, separate configuration, or separate experts for the server. > >Companies are tired of paying a CNE 'guru' big bucks to fix NetWare and > > No need for an NT admin. Bullshit. That is the biggest myth of NT. And if > the workload requires a staff of six, then what diff does it make if one > person is Unix and 5 do help desk. He said "seperate experts", not "no experts". I think the point was that Windows training is transferrable between their server and desktop operating systems. I believe that this is true, and that one of the biggest reasons this is true is "InstallShield". > >then keeping a whole separate staff around to support DOS and Windows. And > >they want their workstations to act like servers: fast, efficient, and rock > >solid. They don't want to see these traits limited to the server! The > >operating system that everybody wants will run on everything, maybe with a > >few tweaks for what it's doing, and will be reliable, fast, and secure > > If this was true, Unix would bo on the desktop already. UNIX is not on the desktop because of Kanwahl Rheki, when he was at Novell, deciding to "deemphasize the desktop". I was in the conference room on the first floor of the Novell Sandy, Utah office off the 106th south exit off Interstate 15, where I worked for Novell, when this announcement was made regarding UnixWare. Ray Noorda (then CEO of Novell) was in the room too, watching how this preannouncement would play to the engineering staff, as a predictor of press reaction. I personally asked the question "If people aren't going to be running UnixWare on their desktops, wat _Novell_ operating system will they be running on their desktops?". Rheki's answer was "They won't be running a Novell OS, they'll be running Windows". To this answer, Ray Noorda got up and stormed out of the room; soon afterwards, Rheki "left to pursue other opportunities"; but the damage of the deemphasis had already been done. UNIX needs a vendor with *BALLS* to hit the desktop, but I firmly believe that the desktop can be hit. Novell was a mere 16 Million dollar investment from this at one point, and gave up out of fear of Microsoft. UNIX also needs an ABI unification, where you can turn frigging "vendor extensions" *OFF* and be guaranteed of running across all platforms. I believe the first Free UNIX that standardizes on an ABI in alignment with a commercial vendor could be enough to trigger a cascade of UNIX unification: a "shot heard 'round the world". > >everywhere. And if you know how to fix the desktop machine, you will be > >able to work on the server too. NT would have taken over the world by now > > Also bullshit. The training barrier we are talking about here is the ability to use a common interface on both desktop and server platforms. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the ability to perform complex operations using those interfaces. In most cases, the interfaces explicitly limit your range of choices, by default, to those which will work for 95% of users. This doesn't totally shut out "power users", but it does shut out the barrier to usage called "complexity" that most people can't get their heads around. > Oh, and FreeBSD does the desktop as good as any unix but not as good as > Mac or Windows. So what? I think the thesis, that of needing to support the desktp to win the server war, is a valid one. It certainly rings true with my professional experience, both at Novell, USL, and elsewhere. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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