It will be interesting to see if IBM picks him up as a Fellow. In better times, the VC's would grab him as a "celebrity executive" for one of their start-ups, but things are pretty cold in that sector right now. |
Posted on 09/14/2002 8:14:16 PM PDT by rdb3
Windows critic shown HP's door
If Microsoft fears anything, it is Linux, the free, open-source operating system that is challenging the dominance of Windows software, especially in network servers. Linux has been adopted by Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard who offer it as a parallel solution to Windows, yet, according to those of darker mind who watch the convoluted politics of the IT industry, even the biggest companies use a long spoon when supping with Bill Gates. About 10 days ago, Hewlett-Packard fired Bruce Perens, one of the most respected Linux experts in the US because, as he told reporters, "the thing I did that was most hazardous for HP is the Microsoft-baiting I tend to do". The parting was amicable, he said, but he was fired. Mr Perens was hired by HP two years ago to be a senior strategist for open-source software. In the US he was described as "an evangelist and rabblerouser on behalf of a computing counter-culture that increasingly is moving into the mainstream". Part of his job description, Mr Perens said, was to "challenge HP management".
By Garry Barker
Technology Editor
September 13 2002
Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!
Got root?
It will be interesting to see if IBM picks him up as a Fellow. In better times, the VC's would grab him as a "celebrity executive" for one of their start-ups, but things are pretty cold in that sector right now. |
"Pretty cold?" How 'bout Antarctic-cold?
Colder than the inside of a crusty black pantsuit?
It was so cold...
How cold was it?
It was so cold, I saw a venture capitalist with his hands in his own pockets.
And I doubt if they'll ever warm up for someone who passionately believes in the Open Source movement, because it's very hard to make money when you believe everything should be free.
Open Source may or may not be a good idea for the consumers (it depends on circumstances), but companies that depend on Open Source software for revenues have a built-in cap on how much they can make. Venture capitalists don't like that.
Thanks
;-)
| companies that depend on Open Source software for revenues have a built-in cap on how much they can make.
Revenues are not margins. In fact revenues that don't generate margins hurt a company's overall ROA. The price pressure on Intel boxes is sufficiently strong that the margins on the Windows resale are pushed to zero by competitive forces. The OEMs are therefore indifferent between Windows and linux. Your venture capitalists will not care how much money you intend to make for Microsoft. They only care how much money you can make. You can't make money reselling Windows. Everybody does it and it's a commodity. It might as well be linux for all the money you'll make from it. |
Is it reliable? Easy to use? Can it be installed as a dual OS on a Windows machine?
Therefore, it doesn't suprise me that HP has been vacillating about Linux. They have been having an identity crisis for some time. Of all the major computer companies, IBM has gone the farthest in adopting Linux in their products. I don't find this particularly suprising, since I am sure IBM learned a hard lesson from Microsoft's betrayal.
But don't get it twisted.
Slackware or Red Hat won't make a P-75 run like a Pentium 4 2.53 Ghz system. Anyone who tells you that it can is lying.
Then again, try loading Win2K on a 386 and watch what happens.
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HP's competitors will use this firing, at least for a while, to insert a little FUD into the buying decisions of UNIX shops where Hewlett-Packard has a bid on the table. Nobody can tell what this firing really means, and it might mean a strategic shift by HP away from linux. If I'm the IBM or Dell salesman, I'll make sure my linux customers know about this.