Software's 'stack wars' (ZDNet) [LWN.net]

ZDNet considers the latest corporate buzz, providing "stacks" of software that include the operating system, middleware and user applications. "Just this week, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison told the Financial Times that he would "like to have a complete stack." Oracle makes billions of dollars selling databases and business applications. In recent years, the company has bought up many other companies, including rivals like PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems. "We're missing an operating system. You could argue that it makes a lot of sense for us to look at distributing and supporting Linux," Ellison told the newspaper."

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I hate marketing speak

Posted Apr 20, 2006 22:30 UTC (Thu) by kornak (guest, #17589) [Link] (5 responses)

I don't know if anyone else feels the same way, but, I am annoyed by the
new "marketing speak" referring to software "stacks". For me, the term has
always referred to the networking layers (OSI model) rather than some
arbitrary software bundles. I hate when marketing appropriates a technical
term and uses it incorrectly.

I hate marketing speak

Posted Apr 20, 2006 22:54 UTC (Thu) by proski (guest, #104) [Link] (4 responses)

Actually, "stack" is a common non-technical word. Computer industry is not its natural territory, so it's expected that the word may have several meanings dependent on the context, just like "core", "bundle" or "command". It's much worse when marketoids misuse technical words like "broadband". People generally expect such words to be well defined, and when they are told that it means "faster downloads" they expect that to be the sole meaning of the word.

I hate marketing speak

Posted Apr 20, 2006 23:08 UTC (Thu) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link]

Hey, yeah... my blazing-fast 56k modem is broadband too.

...compared to my 300-baud acoustic coupler. (Anyone remember "WarGames")? Actually mine never worked reliably past 110 baud... must have been a cheap model, but then again I was only accessing The Source and later Compuserve (logging in through Tymnet). Ah, the old days...

I hate marketing speak

Posted Apr 21, 2006 3:56 UTC (Fri) by kornak (guest, #17589) [Link] (1 responses)

You are correct. But, I actually was referring to the context in which
"stack" has been used in software. Another example would be "rootkit" or
yes even "broadband".

I hate marketing speak too, but...

Posted Apr 24, 2006 18:13 UTC (Mon) by haraldt (guest, #961) [Link]

As far as I can see, they use "stack" as "software components layered together", the news here being Linux as the bottom layer. Instead of MsWindows or some Unix.

Can't see any problem with that.

I hate marketing speak

Posted Apr 28, 2006 17:18 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link]

I hate marketing speak too, but I actually don't think marketing speak tends to misuse words like that. Marketing tends to hold on to the accurate terms until the misused terminology is so pervasive that the marketer's message won't be understood without it.

I think it's because they know they might be held to the correct definitions -- they can't promise broadband if they aren't actually delivering it. ("Broadband" isn't a risk anymore because it's commonly understood to mean "fast internet.")

The scourge of marketing speak, on the other hand, is making up new, vague terms all by themselves instead of using the existing well understood ones. They do that to present an appearance of selling something new (same reason corporate management does), and to sell an image in preference to something concrete, whose value can't be manipulated.

Software's 'stack wars' (ZDNet)

Posted Apr 21, 2006 1:15 UTC (Fri) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link] (1 responses)

Some have speculated that Ellison and Oracle are trying to intimidate Red Hat with the threat that, if they continue to support FLOSS alternatives to Oracle, and start attacking higher-end applications, that Oracle will either try to compete with them as a Linux distro (how?) or try to take them over (how again?).

Oracle is certainly welcome to take a Linux distro and fork it if it will optimize the platform for them. Oracle has been known to do hostile takeovers, but only for the purpose of destroying a competing app by taking it off the market, and that wouldn't work with Red Hat; the employees would just quit and move to Novell or Ubuntu or whoever, taking all their software with them, since it's open source.

Software's 'stack wars' (ZDNet)

Posted Apr 21, 2006 8:48 UTC (Fri) by alonso (guest, #2828) [Link]

Absolutly right! We are waiting to see what they would do with InnnoDB.