> I just don't think they have been successful at attracting the cream of the programming world > for twenty plus years now, IBM - I am seeking a role as an HPC expert at the moment. Do please contact me!
Four years ago I was seeking a similar position. I had a phone interview with the UK manager. I had a phone interview with the EMEA manager. I had a phone interview with the worldwide manager. During the weeks which these took to be set up by HR, a small UK company scheduled a single face to face interview with me and made a firm offer of a job. As I say - IBM - I will still happily work for you. But make me an offer! On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 at 17:49, Robert G. Brown <r...@phy.duke.edu> wrote: > On Tue, 30 Oct 2018, chuck_pet...@selinc.com wrote: > > > Cringely has some interesting observations... > > > > "The deal is a good fit for many reasons explained below. And remember > Red > > Hat is just down the road from IBM?s huge operation in Raleigh, NC. > > Slightly backwards. RH is back on NC State's campus (where it began), > having moved out of Durham a few years ago. IBM is in the Research > Triangle Park, which is a bit closer to Durham (closest) and Chapel Hill > (second closest) than it is to Raleigh, but is basically in "neutral > ground" in between, with these three and surrounding suburbs and urbs > all three acting as bedroom communities for RTP. > > But there is plenty of room in all three corners of the triangle plus > RTP plus the surrounding countryside for expansion and/or unification. > The interesting question in my mind is whether or not RH will stay > inside NCSU at all now that they are bought out. I could easily see > them moving into a shiny new building in RTP or out on the east side of > Durham. They both draw extensively from the congruence of Duke, UNC, > NCSU, and NCCU (four Universities within twenty miles of RTP and about > 25 miles of each other) and the fact that this is a really good place to > live, with a very high percentage of the population having at least a > bachelor's degree and a very high percentage having a graduate degree as > well. At one point, the Triangle had the largest concentration of MDs > and PhDs per capita in the world, but that's been diluted by migration > and changes in the economic profile so that research, medicine and > education, while huge, are smaller proportions of the overall > population. > > > > > "Will Amazon, Google, and Microsoft now run out and buy SUSE, Ubuntu, > > Apache, etc? Yes. > > > > "Will there be a mad rush to create new Linux distros? No. I think that > boat > > has already sailed and further Linux branding won?t happen, at least not > for > > traditional business reasons. > > Google already has one. It's called "Android". Microsoft has been > flirting with Linux for the first time in forever as every one of their > efforts to compete with Android and IOS has underwhelmed, if not > flopped. At this point Linux actually owns a substantial chunk of the > desktop, in the form of Android on tablets that have largely replaced or > augmented actual computers, and is just under Apple in the phone market > with M$ a joke down near the bottom in both domains. But Android is > vulnerable -- lots of people dislike it and dislike the play store and > all that goes with it and with iOS. IBM has the resources to actually > make an OPEN tablet/phone OS if they choose to and are at least as > likely as M$ is to be able to step into the market and steal away > mindshare from Android and iOS -- if they couple it to a slick AI > component, maybe semi-proprietary, they might even jump to the head of > the line as Alexa and Siri etc leave a great deal to be desired. > > > "These big questions have yet to be answered, of course. Only time will > > tell. But we?ll shortly begin to see hints. What happens to Red Hat > > management, for example? There are those who think Red Hat will, in many > > ways, become the surviving corporate culture here ? that is if Red Hat?s > Jim > > Whitehurst gets Ginni Rometty?s IBM CEO job as part of the deal. That?s > what > > I am predicting will happen. Ginni is overdue for retirement, this > > acquisition will not only qualify her for a huge retirement package, it > will > > do so in a way that won?t be clearly successful or unsuccessful for > years to > > come, so no clawbacks. And yet the market will (eventually) love it, IBM > > shares will soar, and Ginni will depart looking like a genius. > > > > [SNIP] > > > > "In the end the C-suite of IBM may be finally admitting to themselves > what > > you and I have known for several years ? that their strategic imperatives > > are not doing as well as they promised. They also know they?ve invested > way > > too much in stock repurchases and way too little in the business. So with > > this Red Hat deal they?ve basically bet the farm to get themselves back > in > > the game. > > > > "With Whitehurst at the top of IBM, the company will not only have an > > outsider like Gerstner was, it will have its first CEO ever who won?t be > > coming with a sales background. This is very good, because IBM will have > a > > technical leader finally running the show. > > > > "Let?s review: > > > > "Ginni Rometty is past the age where IBM likes to retire CEO?s, which is > 60. > > > > "Jim Whitehurst is 51, the age when IBM likes to hire new CEO?s. > > > > "I don?t see Whitehurst moving to Armonk, I do see IBM moving to Raleigh. > > I'm not sure about that -- NYC is still the center of the financial > universe. I'd love to see it happen, but they don't have to "move", > they can just create the tech vice-capital of IBM in the park (where > they already have a strong presence) while still leaving the bookkeepers > and stock brokers and sales people in Armonk. > > > "I do see Whitehurst as CEO of IBM in six months or less. > > > > "The Red Hat team will expand their products into new areas. IBM > executives > > will retire in droves because they can?t compete and will resist learning > > something new. > > That's the interesting possibility. IBM used to be right up there with > Bell Labs in their research capabilities and investment. RH isn't > really all that creative IMO, but they are arguably one of the two or > three main poles in the Linux universe, and IT feeds on an enormous > global bank of very smart people making many small, and some large, > contributions. I would bet that Linux absolutely dominates the > activities of the world's best programmers by numbers if not by talent > -- even if M$ and/or Apple hires a pile of them, the pile isn't close to > the number that work on Linux for free or as a paid position. IBM STILL > has some very, very smart folks working for them, and I could see a lot > of synergy in the union, if they don't let corporate wonks divert them > from their creativity. > > rgb > > Robert G. Brown http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/ > Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 > Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 > Phone: 1-919-660-2567 Fax: 919-660-2525 email:r...@phy.duke.edu > > > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf >
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