Well, it can't be too bad, because it mentions Mission Critical Linux ;-)
Seriously, although in general it's OK, it does make some false
assumptions, including that Red Hat has 70% of the market. Even IDC
admits they can't figure out what the real market is (since everyone only
counts licenses sold, and we all know what that means for Linux). I saw a
survey recently that Mandrake is the best seller in the US right now. Of
course, none of these things say anything about Debian, because they don't
sell there distro!
Also, although alluded to early in the article about Linux being around
for the long haul, it misses the most important aspect of this: Because
of the Open Source nature of it (the source is available, modifiable, and
mods can be distributed along with the original source), Linux can never
be killed. As long as anyone is willing to work on the code (pay or not),
Linux will live.
It's good that the distros/companies are focusing on profitability now
(the failure of most of the dot-coms was any kind of business plan to
actually make money). However, the article didn't go into enough about
how a variety of distros is actually good, and not just because of
competition. By specializing in various areas, the the distros allow you
to get a version that matches your needs (and is why people should try
multiple distros before choosing one).
jeff
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Jeffry Smith Technical Sales Consultant Mission Critical Linux
[EMAIL PROTECTED] phone:603.930.9739 fax:978.446.9470
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Thought for today: BQS /B-Q-S/ adj.
Syn. Berkeley Quality Software.
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