Would Microsoft buy Red Hat?

May 11, 2005 Leave a comment

To answer Doc's questions – No, I don't think Microsoft would buy Red Hat. There are just too many obstacles. The potential anti-trust issues involved would be one (Microsoft already has a near OS monopoly and then buys the leader in the Linux market? The deal might not even be approved). Next are the culture issues. How much talent would Red Hat lose if this happened? My guess is a lot, as Red Hat has a ton of people who breathe Open Source. Also, how many of Red Hat's clients went with Linux to get away from Microsoft. Lastly, the damage this would do to the ego's of some high Microsoft execs surely couldn't be tolerated. I can think of a couple more reasons, but in the end, while anything is possible I think this one is HIGHLY unlikely. As I mentioned earlier though, Microsoft has been a bit more open to the competition, and this is a trend I think will continue. Will it go as far as some sort of MSFT/RHAT partnership some day? Only time will tell.
–jeremy

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Sys-Con Taking Some Heat – Update

May 11, 2005 2 Comments

As a follow-up to this story, it looks like Maureen O'Gara will no longer be writing for sys-con. In addition, old material is being removed from the sites. Good to see that sys-con came to their senses and kudos to the LinuxWorld editors who chose to take a stand on this.
–jeremy

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Sys-Con Taking Some Heat

May 9, 2005 Leave a comment

…and deservedly so. Seems they may even lose a couple of writers, which says a lot since writers for that mag aren't paid. Why? It's over Maureen O'Gara, who has recently posted an article about Pamela Jones of Groklaw containing home address, phone numbers and a variety of other info. The article also contains some disparaging remarks. Evidentially, for this kind of material, sys-con will pay. Once again it's sad to see that things are written seemingly just to make a story. I'm glad to see that Pamela seems unphased by this. A little while ago I was asked to contribute to LinuxWorld Magazine. I turned the offer down due to time restraints, but had in the back of my mind that I'd submit an article at some point. I'm with the two other authors on this one though, and certainly never will if my article would appear next to content like that.
–jeremy

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Michael Dell, $100M and Red Hat

May 9, 2005 Leave a comment

Looks like Michael Dell has pumped $100 Million into Red Hat. The investment was made by MSD Capital LP in the form of $99.5 million worth of debentures that were converted into 3.89 million shares of RHAT. Those shares are valued at roughly $43 million (it's not necessarily an immediate loss as the debentures could have been purchased using a strategy called “convertible arbitrage”). This could be taken a couple of different ways really. I don't think there is an acquisition in the works here as him investing personal money in a company and then having Dell Inc. acquire it would surly draw SEC attention (at a minimum). That SEC attention makes me wonder if Dell Inc. has any plans to change their Linux strategy or relationship with Red Hat. It may just be Michael Dell making an investment, hedging his other investments, etc. It may even just have been something he did in response to a recommendation from his investment company. Either way, I think it shows some confidence – not only in RHAT, but in the viability of the Linux market. That is a good thing. We'll have to watch this one closely.
–jeremy

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Microsoft Funded Benchmark – Again

May 8, 2005 2 Comments

I don't know why these benchmarks keep getting publicity. Yes, that claims Windows 2003 is easier to admin that RHEL 3 (which is now a full release old). Yes, it was sponsored by Microsoft. Yes, it's the same company that did the much criticized Samba benchmark. I didn't have time to read the whole thing (it's 62 pages), but almost every page I read contained at least one skewed or outright ridiculous claim. A couple examples:
– The “skilled/prescreened” Linux admins admitted they didn't like writing scripts (these are not real admins then)
– The tape drive selected came with 2003 drivers, but not Linux drivers
– The Linux admins seemed to have no OpenLDAP experience, but it was a required task. The report then goes on the point out that OpenLDAP is confusing and lacks integrated management tools. Indeed it does, which is why Red Hat bought Netscape Directory Server and will be dropping OpenLDAP
You get the idea. The fact that the measured action item here was how long it took a couple of admins to complete a couple of task is almost ludicrous anyway. That is so dependent on individual talent that it doesn't even give you a cursory indication of anything, except how long it took those couple of admins to complete the indicated tasks. Not too useful is it. At this point, I have to think that these funded reports are doing at least as much damage as they are doing good to Microsoft. The education level of consumers is growing at an astounding rate and most are quite sensitive to feeling duped.
–jeremy

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Running kernel.org

May 3, 2005 Leave a comment

KernelTrap has an in-depth look at what it takes to run kernel.org. It's always interesting to get a behind the scenes look at what really goes into running a large site. H. Peter Anvin, Nathan Laredo, Kees Cook and team do a fantastic job. Kudos to them and ISC, who donates two Gig-E Internet links. As Linus says, “I have been very happily relying on others to do all the work with kernel.org.” He went on to say, “I've literally never needed to lift a finger for kernel.org maintenance, which is wonderful”. Wonderful indeed.
–jeremy

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Interview with Mandriva (ex Mandrake) Linux Founder Gael Duval

May 2, 2005 Leave a comment

Just posted an interview with Gael Duval over at LQ. Some interesting topics covered IMHO. Thanks again to Gael – he had the responses to the questions to me in about 24 hours, which is insane as I know he's quite busy.
–jeremy

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Microsoft Reaches Out to Open-Source Community II

May 1, 2005 Leave a comment

I've seen some people say that this is just a knee jerk reaction to Microsoft uncharacteristically missing their Wall Street projections. While it's possible, I'd say it's fairly unlikely. Microsoft traditionally doesn't do too many things in a knee jerk fashion. They don't have to. Even when they miss the boat like they did with the Internet, they don't panic. They about face, and get to work. They have enough cash at this point that they still don't have to worry. As I mentioned before, it's possible that they think they can make more money long term by not completely ignoring that Open Source exists. Don't forget also, to really be able to compete with something you need to understand that something (keep your friends close and your enemies closer also comes to mind).

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Microsoft Reaches Out to Open-Source Community

April 30, 2005 Leave a comment

It appears that Microsoft is reaching out to the Open Source Community. While my immediate response was something along the lines of “What are they up to now?”, after reading the entire article and thinking about it for a bit – I think they may be genuinely interested. Why? First, the culture over there has slowly been changing. With a company the size of MSFT this may take a long time, but it's a change that is coming from the inside out. That is, developers within the company are leading the drive. I've talked to numerous Microsoft employees at recent conferences that really some to “get it” and that's encouraging. Second, I think at a higher up level they are starting to realize that, from a business perspective, it's in their best interest to cooperate at this point. They aren't going to be able to squash this Open Source thing as easily as they probably thought they could. There is finally a case where cooperating may help them ship more units and it appears they may be willing to do so. I'd guess it's the middle tier in the company that will be the last to understand all this, but isn't that what you'd expect? So, in the end I would welcome open dialog. In fact, if anyone from Microsoft reads this, I'd even be willing to participate in open dialog. One final note, if you really want to “extend an olive branch”, how about proving that you are serious this time? Opening up document formats would be an outstanding start.
–jeremy

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BPLUG Presentation II

April 29, 2005 Leave a comment

The BPLUG presentation (mentioned here) went well (at least I think it did). There were quite a few other presenters and I learned a bit from each of them, which is always good. If you're in the area I'd recommend you check out the next meeting.
–jeremy

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