I'm unclear as to why any Hercules engines would pop up at all...

Wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume that the users would just install
Linux images native to whatever platform they had? There's nothing magic
about the 390 platform in relation to Linux that would make the end user
want to emulate it. The fact is that Linux will run, by itself on probably
any platform they had.

The user isn't asking for a Linux/390 image. And the single user isn't
probably asking for multiple Linux images. They just want a Linux to do some
specific task. Intel or 390; doesn't matter to them. Single image on the
iron, or multiple virtual guests; again, it doesn't matter to the user, as
long as he gets "his" Linux. He isn't worried about economy of scale; his
scale is "1".

What the user is interested in is the ease of use of the Linux system he
receives. No matter if the need is real or perceived, he's probably going to
want to control the Linux software that lives there. If he can't get that
control from you, he'll use real hardware to get it. And you'll have lost
your economy, and your credibility with your user.

Now, there are some users that will jump at the chance to have you manage
their Linux image so that they can get on with the business of their
application. And they'd appreciate that even if they were running on an
Intel. Make use of that, and show them that having their Linux managed by
you is an advantage. Maybe the others will take notice and things will drift
your way over time....

----
Robert P. Nix                            internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mayo Clinic                                  phone: 507-284-0844
200 1st St. SW                             page: 507-255-3450
Rochester, MN 55905
----
"In theory, theory and practice are the same,
 but in practice, theory and practice are different."


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nick Laflamme [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 8:11 AM
> To:   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject:      Re: many Linux guests under vm. how to manage.
>
> John Summerfield wrote:
>
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
> > >  Some of your users, I'm sure, need complete control of their Linux
> > > image to make sure they know how real live customers would work with
> > > their product. You have to offer these users this option, or they'll
> > > go behind your back to get this kind of access. Do you really want a
> > > flock of Hercules-powered penguins in your shop? :-)
> >
> > And what is wrong with a flock of Penguins on Hercules?
> >
> > It doesn't have to be hard to manage.
>
> My point, which I clearly didn't make well enough, is that if the original
> poster
> doesn't offer a way for his clients to control their own Linux images, the
> users
> will put up their own Linux images on servers (boxes) the IS organization
> doesn't
> control, and they'll lose the economies of scale they may aspire to by
> going to
> Linux guests under VM.
>
> In other words, if he doesn't offer a "full control" option he won't have
> as many
> "Linux guests under vm. how to manage", which is, after all, the subject
> of the
> note.
>
> The question isn't whether there's anything wrong with running Linux under
> a
> Hercules image; the question is how many Hercules images would spring up
> outside
> the data center, away from the VM system they mean to use as the rookery
> for the
> Penguins.
>
> Nick

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