Sun: Linux Users Don't Actually Want Linux (TechWeb)

Sun: Linux Users Don't Actually Want Linux (TechWeb)

Posted Jun 11, 2003 19:32 UTC (Wed) by trimtab (guest, #11812)
Parent article: Sun: Linux Users Don't Actually Want Linux (TechWeb)

Suns commitment to Intel has always been flaky. As someone who used Sun386i's back in 1988 only to watch them kill the line in favor of SPARC a year later, I know that Sun cannot be trusted to support customers on even pseudo commodity (the 386i was essentially an $8000 PC with a 1152x864 19" screen running Sunview with virtual DOS capabilities) platforms.

The 386i was cheap compared to SPARC or Sun3 (68000) systems. (The SPARCstation 1 was introduced at $9999.) The 386i ran DOS, early Windows and Sun applications. It even could run PC software using the large screen that would costs thousands more if used on Sun's SPARC platforms. That coupled witb the ISA bus that made parallel ports and other peripherals $50 rather $500 for the SPARC boxen gave the Sun386i a cost advantage to *customers*. (These are 1988 prices back when RAM was $450 per Megabyte. Before Windows 3.x. When PC screens were 640x480 VGA.)

Sun bought Interactive (a unix SysV on Intel) in 1992. Used some of that technology to create Solaris on Intel. Drove as many Interactive customers to Solaris on Intel as it could and then pretty much killed it by ignoring it. Then reviving it and then ignoring it again. Sun on Intel continues to cycle through these love/hate cycles and customers get whip sawed when they trust Sun.

Historically, the proprietary software and hardware industries have been about convincing customers to pay a vendor to purchase their own handcuffs. Basically, the bargain is "pay us to solve this problem today in exchange for restricting your options tomorrow, unless you pay us more money." It is a bad bargain and has become an even worse bargain as the implied "competitive advantage" offered by the vendors erodes to "no advantage" at a faster and faster rate.

Customers want Linux! Because it places them in control allowing the customer to play the vendors against each other. Sun is fooling themselves if they don't think that customers want that control.

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