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What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek)
eWeek takes a
look at what Ian Murdock is doing at Sun. "What's a Linux guy
doing at Sun? That's the question Ian Murdock, chief open source platform
strategist at Sun Microsystems Inc., posed in a session he chaired at Sun's
CommunityOne Day on May 7 prior to the opening of the JavaOne conference.
"Why am I here? 'What's a Linux guy doing at Sun? Have you changed sides?'"
Murdock said people constantly ask him. "No, that's not how I look at
it.""
(Log in to post comments)
What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek) Posted May 9, 2007 3:06 UTC (Wed) by jimmybgood (guest, #26142) [Link] "When people say they want Linux, they don't actually mean they want Linux. What they want is the Linux userland user environment and the Linux business model. They want choice. They want the Linux distribution and I'm the Linux distribution guy."
No when I say I want Linux, I mean I want the Linux kernel, the Linux development model, the Mac userland user environment and the Windows business model.
I use Debian because I want Linux not the other way around. If Ian is responsible for apt, I am grateful for that. When I think of Debian, after "great package management" the phrase "bureaucratic bloat" comes next to mind.
What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek) Posted May 9, 2007 3:35 UTC (Wed) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link] Nope.
He is not responsible for apt. He is responsible for Debian and the DFSG.
Apt came later.
What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek) Posted May 9, 2007 4:38 UTC (Wed) by donbarry (guest, #10485) [Link] The current culture of Debian also came, by and large, after he left. He's on record for calling democracy in Debian (with some hint of a distaste for it in general) a bad thing. Considering his record, it appears he has little use for projects over which he does not exercise control. That may clash with the Sun culture, though money has been known to lubricate many things.
What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek) Posted May 9, 2007 17:43 UTC (Wed) by vmole (subscriber, #111) [Link] I've been a Debian developer since Ian M. left (and was a user before that). While I think that the constitution was probably the best solution for Debian as it was (and is), I don't think it's something I'd recommend to other projects. I suspect the best governance for a free software project is the BDFL model, but it requires one person who combines technical excellence (and taste), a strong personality who is also able to listen to others and admit being wrong, and finally, they must be obvious person to be the BDFL, which almost always means the project founder. Debian didn't have anyone to fill that role after Ian M. left. OTOH, I suspect Debian is going to make a hell of thesis project for quite a few political science majors in coming years.
What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek) Posted May 9, 2007 17:34 UTC (Wed) by vmole (subscriber, #111) [Link] Nope. The DFSG came after Ian M. left.
When was the DFSG written? Posted May 10, 2007 0:26 UTC (Thu) by coriordan (subscriber, #7544) [Link] I went looking for the date of when the DFSG was written and published but couldn't find anything. Got any pointers?
When was the DFSG written? Posted May 10, 2007 9:09 UTC (Thu) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523) [Link] <http://www.debian.org/social_contract.1.0#guidelines>
"The concept of stating our "social contract with the free software community" was suggested by Ean Schuessler. This document was drafted by Bruce Perens, refined by the other Debian developers during a month-long e-mail conference in June 1997, and then accepted as the publicly stated policy of the Debian Project."
I mean I want Linux Posted May 9, 2007 5:03 UTC (Wed) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] When I say I want Linux, I mean I want Linux. I mean I want to run software written by developers who don't only worry about deadlines. I mean I don't want to change userspace software if I change my wireless card or video card. I mean I don't want to give kernel access to 3 year old drivers from some poorly made vendor's site across the globe. I mean I want to install software and be sure that I can uninstall it cleanly. I mean I can report bugs I find and be heard by people who wrote the software. I mean I can fix the bugs if nobody does is for me. I mean I can recompile everything without needing a supercomputer and tools I cannot immediately download.
I mean I want Linux Posted May 9, 2007 12:40 UTC (Wed) by zzxtty (guest, #45175) [Link] Most people who use computers would not know what a kernel was if it jumped up and bit them. When most people work with computers the only thing they see is what linux refers to as userland tools. Therefore I would agree with Ian when he says they want "the Linux userland user environment". I would disagree about the "Linux business model", unless by this he means free (as in beer). As far as choice goes I would say it is a pain in a multiuser environment.
I have worked with many operating systems, I find the Solaris kernel the most stable and it functions phenomenally well under heavy loads. The userland tools are often way behind those found on a linux system, and the package management is a train wreck. From a Solaris point of view any improvement in userland or package management will be welcomed. As far as our users go, and a lot of them are very technical people who write a lot of code, they dont care about the flavour of the kernel.
It's all about catering for mainstream users, and mainstream users use computers as tools to get jobs done. They care about the jobs that they do, not the tools that they use.
I mean I want Linux Posted May 9, 2007 16:45 UTC (Wed) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] Somebody saying "I want Linux" is already talking about tools.
I definitely want a Linux kernel Posted May 9, 2007 14:44 UTC (Wed) by emk (subscriber, #1128) [Link] More than anything, I want my *nix boxes to talk to my hardware straight out of the box. And Linux hardware support is surprisingly good these days.
Now, if Sun has a better laptop install than Ubuntu--and provides no less freedom--then I might be interested. But AFAIK, they're a long way away from that.
What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek) Posted May 9, 2007 18:59 UTC (Wed) by landley (subscriber, #6789) [Link] Answer: "Trying to replace it with GNU/Solaris".
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