I know know if this is old news or not but it''s good news for the Linux community, especially for HP and Red Hat. Oh and thanks to them, Linux might be getting some new toys. Read it. Article from Newsforge.net "And that''s the bottom line cause I said so!" Cyberdrek danielc@iquebec.com Founder Laval Linux /(bb|[^b]{2})/ that is the Question -- ThinkGeek.com Hash Bang Slash bin Slash Bash -- #!/bin/bash

quote:
from Article
The switch to Linux, though, offered big returns as rendering was cut from three hours down to nearly real time.

That is impressive. This is good news for HP, RedHat and Alias/Wavefront as they will be better able to serve up Linux solutions. This is bad news for Unix hardware vendors like SGI and Sun, since this will cause them to lose market share on their high end graphics workstations.

Linux will get new toys, but they wont be free. I somehow doubt Maya will start giving out Maya for Linux.


University is a fountain of knowledge, and students go there to drink.

quote: Original post by Big B
This is bad news for Unix hardware vendors like SGI and Sun, since this will cause them to lose market share on their high end graphics workstations.

I know you said "high end", but I felt I should point out that both Sun and SGI sell low end Linux workstations (unless Sun stopped for some reason).

quote: Original post by Big B
Linux will get new toys, but they wont be free. I somehow doubt Maya will start giving out Maya for Linux.

Even if they cost money it''s still good. Actually, it''s probably better if they cost money, since more people will see Linux as a more commercially viable platform than they otherwise might.

Null and Void: Even if they cost money it''s still good. Actually, it''s probably better if they cost money, since more people will see Linux as a more commercially viable platform than they otherwise might.

I think the real best solution (and current trend for lots of software) is releasing a core part of the program to the community to modify freely, but reserving right to reintegrate it into their commercially available software. Netscape does it with Mozilla, Codeweaver''s and Transgaming do it with Wine, Sun does it with OpenOffice. Companies tend to be willing to buy the commercially available versions since they come with user support, while individual users are free to pick whatever free implementation they want and still have a fairly professional feel to it.

Ok, at least 3 people read the thread which isn''t that bad. Now, starting a who''s going to get the better end of the market discussion wasn''t really my point but hey, who am I to stop you. Anyhow, all this to say that what I meant was simply that since DreamWorks and other Animation factories are starting to use Linux, that might force some companies like Adobe and All to start porting some of their tools. Might be on a commercial basis, might be free, I don''t really care if they charge, I just meant that maybe more people will see Linux as a more viable solution to Windows if we do get the right tools. Seeing as the dependencies problem is slowly being corrected by major linux distros, tools of the trade are what people( ie: Normal Users ) want.

"And that''s the bottom line cause I said so!"

Cyberdrek
danielc@iquebec.com
Founder
Laval Linux

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quote: Original post by Null and Void
I know you said "high end", but I felt I should point out that both Sun and SGI sell low end Linux workstations (unless Sun stopped for some reason).

Sun has embraced Linux, so much so that Scott McNealy dressed up as Tux for a shareholders meeting (if anyone could find the video, id be very thankful). This seems to be like Sun is shooting themselves in the foot though as they make most of their money from hardware running Solaris. The Linux workstations are a way for people to transition to Solaris if they want more performance. They can get the base model running Linux, or the high end solution running Solaris, at a higher price. Problem is that if the market demand shifts mostly towards low end Linux clusters, Sun will have little to compete on except for price, which will kill their profit margins. Of course, if they resist, they stand to fall behind as to where market trends are going. This will be bad for Sun either way, so it will infact hurt their business.

As for SGI, Im not too sure. I havent followed their progress or any announcements they have made. Thing is that they used to be king as far as graphics used to be, but offering a Linux solution will have the same effect as Sun, making their higher priced solutions less attractive. This will only enable other Linux vendors to get into the market, lowering profit margins, and reducing marketshare. All in all, not to good for SGI.

quote:
Even if they cost money it''s still good. Actually, it''s probably better if they cost money, since more people will see Linux as a more commercially viable platform than they otherwise might.

I agree.


University is a fountain of knowledge, and students go there to drink.

It''s time for some of those behemoths (and I mean Sun and SGI) to restructure. Current economic conditions require greater market mobility than either of them seem to possess. Sun stands to lose much more due to its significant investments in proprietary technology (Solaris), and, as Big B said, if all they compete on is price, they stand to lose all their business.

SGI has a better outlook. Their core business of supplying high-end tech platforms for graphics workstations is still fairly lucrative, but once the break-even point between networked rendering across several low-end PCs and one high-end workstation is attained (for the same cost or cheaper) they''ll be in big trouble. Perhaps they should start to invest in developing "low-end" workstations that operate over a custom, high-speed network to accelerate rendering and far outperform similarly-priced alternatives?

It just seems that services is where the money is in America today. Manufacturing is moving overseas where capital costs are lower.

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!

It''s a bad move for neither Sun nor SGI. SGI and Sun no longer have the overhead of maintaining their own operating system, and they gain a trendy name and some applications that might not have worked on Solaris or Irix.

They''re all in the business of hardware. They can simply sell hardware the runs linux on it, like IBM does, and HP did according to the article. These solutions are still high-priced, it''s simply that the high-prices buy hardware, and not software. The hardware is the reason why people buy their solutions. Solaris and Irix were never superb and spectacular, but the hardware they ran on was.

The burdens of creating their own chips(Sparc and Alpha) are getting to the same point that the operating system was, and they can no longer afford to continue R&D on them. Linux provides a perfect way out because it runs on Sparc and Alpha, as well as the more common and cheaper x86 processors.

A side benefit is that their operating system can have whatever features they need their solutions to provide, and simply leach the improvements others provide, and none of them need to suffer a huge burden for maintenance. They can also outsource operating system support to RedHat or another company, further cutting down their costs.

All in all, it means they can cut their operating system, support, and chip divisions while still providing high-quality hardware at high prices to their customers, which satisfies both parties.

The only bad news for either company in this is that HP is providing the hardware, cutting Sun and SGI out of this huge client.

quote: Original post by Oluseyi
It''s time for some of those behemoths (and I mean Sun and SGI) to restructure. Current economic conditions require greater market mobility than either of them seem to possess. Sun stands to lose much more due to its significant investments in proprietary technology (Solaris), and, as Big B said, if all they compete on is price, they stand to lose all their business.

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!

Looks like you''re right, I just( this afternoon) caught news that Sun would seem to be in deep sh*t as they are loosing employees and also their no.2 exec, and alsothat Stephen DeWitt, the vice president of an important business unit that leads Sun''s efforts with the Linux operating system. The company confirmed it today. Guess they really needed a restructuring as you mentionned.

Anyhow, if you want to read the article about it, here''s the link.
NYTimes



nb: in order to read the article, you need to subscribe to their web site.


"And that''s the bottom line cause I said so!"

Cyberdrek
danielc@iquebec.com
Founder
Laval Linux

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Hash Bang Slash bin Slash Bash -- #!/bin/bash