News from PANUG/BizNix - June 15, 2002
http://panug.org - http://biznix.org


PANUG MEETING PRESENTATIONS
We do not yet have a presenter for the June meeting next Thursday. If
you'd like to do a presentation, please contact us at info@panug.org.


LINUX PARTNERSHIPS
by Ed Sawicki - Accelerated Learning Center / Tailored Computers

Last week, SuSE, Caldera, Turbolinux, and Conectiva announced their United
Linux initiative, which sets standards for Linux server software (not
desktops) that these vendors sell. Later in the same week Oracle, Red Hat,
and Dell announced their Unbreakable Linux partnership with Dell servers
running Oracle9i database software under Red Hat's Linux OS. 

HP is persuing a similar partnership with Red Hat and Oracle. The group
announced plans to combine engineering resources to produce a failsafe
database service deployed on clustered Proliant servers.

The commercial Linux world is coming of age, with big name vendors
doing deals to ensure their place in the Linux market. For some of
you, this is good news because your company wants solutions backed by big
name companies that provide support services and can be blamed when things
don't go right. For others, the good news is that non-technical managers
will finally start taking non-Microsoft solutuions seriously. 

For many of us, however, these announcements mean little because we're
able to deploy robust solutions without the help of (big) vendors. The
beauty of Open Source Software (Free Software) solutions is that you get
to pick precisely what solutions you want, deployed by whomever you want,
and get support from whatever source you want. You can buy from big
companies when your management wants a traditional relationship with a
vendor. But Linux-based solutions present new possibilities - that your
management may not be ready to cope with. 

You can do it yourself if company politics and inside skills allow for
that. The benefits is systems customized to your business without the
traditional high cost of customization. You can hire local consultants for
close-by, inexpensive support and, frequently, more innovative solutions.
Economic conditions, at the moment, make this very attractive. There
are many talented consultants looking for work. 

Big-name vendor partnerships for Linux solutions are great but don't get
trapped into thinking that Linux solutions carry the same pricetag and
limitations as traditional commercial products. Don't think, for example,
that you need to use Oracle for high-performance, robust, database
applications or that Red Hat Linux is any better, for server applications,
than any other Linux.