Posted on 06/06/2002 10:38:39 AM PDT by Redcloak
Operating Systems
Linux Gets Boost From Dell, Oracle
NEW YORK - In yet another strong show of support for the Linux operating system, market leaders Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ), Dell Computer (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) and Red Hat Software (nasdaq: RHAT - news - people ) today combined strengths to make the software more reliable, higher performance and easier to buy.
For the first time, Dell will resell licenses for Oracle's 9i database and application server software for Red Hat Linux. That lets customers avoid having to buy from two companies, and is a strong show of support of Linux from Dell, which made its fortune as a purveyor of Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Windows systems.
The trio is also developing more reliable Linux products for Dell's storage systems, which are actually made by EMC (nyse: EMC - news - people ). The big improvement here is that Oracle and Red Hat are developing so-called "clustering" technology for Dell servers. Typically the domain of traditional Unix, clustering is a complex way to get higher performance from a smaller number of server computers.
Oracle and Dell are both seeing growth in their Linux businesses. A Dell spokeswoman says the company expects to ship 12% "or better" of its servers with factory-installed Linux this year, up from 8% to 10% last year. International Data Group expects market revenue for Linux-based relational databases, which is what Oracle sells, to surpass Unix-based relational databases by 2006, to $6 billion.
Oracle doesn't break out product sales by platform but the company says the demand for Linux is high. A spokesperson cites its online developer network, which had 370,000 downloads of Linux-related software in the last year.
The deal is also an important win for Red Hat, which appears to be under fire from the rest of the Linux distributors. Last week, several Linux companies said they would collaborate on "standard" Linux software and distribution. Red Hat, the biggest Linux distributor, was not part of the alliance. Today's news boosted Red Hat shares nominally to $4.89 in early afternoon trading.
Linux is gaining steam everywhere but especially on Wall Street, where some information technology executives say they are demanding that their technology providers have a comprehensive Linux strategy. Microsoft is the only major technology company without one. Can it hold out forever?
I'll say! And Slack is a pain in the butt to install. It's great once you get it up and running, though. Experienced Linux users even have problems with its installation.
But the Linux kernel is.
You mean someone actually said Office is a flaw in Windows? They must have been smoking some good stuff to make that claim.
Uhh... Did I say that I was proud of it? There's no reason for me to be proud. I didn't do it.
It makes no sense to say that Outlook's troubles are related directly or indirectly to the Windows OS. Anyone who said this was being either disingenuous, or was/is thoroughly unknowledgeable about software.
At any rate, if this is what's needed to advance in technology to provide more choice, I'll accept it. Still can't stand Ellison, though... X-(
In all honesty, B2K, it wasn't pride. I was shocked, and even as I typed this in here I was shocked yet again by what I saw as I remembered it.
Seriously, pride had nothing to do with it. The "Linux guys" statement was submitted just to prove that we who are on this platform are in no way to be taken lightly. Or if you do, you do so at your own peril.
You say how Windows is blamed for this and that. You're correct in how some of it is not true. But take note how the Linux platform is pilloried as well. Hell, they call us communists because it's Open-Source!
It goes both ways. All I try to do is be fair. I mean, come on! We're only talking about software here. I don't take statements against Linux personally.
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