Archive for September, 2009

Malware

Published by Robert Pogson September 30th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

With all the problems of that other OS, it is hard to choose what is the worst:

  • DRM
  • Bloat
  • lock-in
  • lack of interoperability
  • cost of licences and maintenance
  • malware

In terms of costs malware has to be one of the biggest. Some folks pay more to delouse that other OS than to license it.

A recent report from Panda suggests that 59% of PCs are infected. Viruslist shows there are a thousand times more malwares for that other OS than for GNU/Linux. Even if it were only the ratio of malware that mattered, it would be smart to run GNU/Linux. We know it is more than that because most of the attacks on systems running GNU/Linux are rootkits resulting from weak passwords. That other OS has so much complexity that finding vulnerabilities in it is a large, growing industry.

If people must use that other OS they should send the bill for securing it to M$.

- Robert Pogson

IBM

Published by Robert Pogson September 29th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

IBM is big. In my whole life IBM has been big. IBM is getting bigger. IBM’s latest annual report states,

IBM solutions typically create value by reducing a client’s operational costs or by enabling new capabilities that generate revenue. These solutions draw from an industry leading portfolio of consulting, delivery and implementation services, enterprise software, systems and financing.

Revenue was $103 billion with net income of $12 billion. They are not a monopoly. They make money the old-fashioned way, by earning it.

Recently there was a lot of talk about IBM and its relationship with GNU/Linux on desktops. This stemmed from Bob Sutor’s keynote address at LinuxCon.

I wrote to IBM and received a prompt reply to the question of IBM’s vision of GNU/Linux on the desktop. I received back links to Bob Sutor’s Blog where the context of his remarks was given more completeness. Some assumed discussing possible eventualities including failure was predicting failure. Bob Sutor may have stated that GNU/Linux was not a “drop-in replacement” for that other OS but we already knew GNU/Linux is not that other OS, thank Goodness.

Some have criticized IBM for picking the low-hanging fruit but they are a business and maximizing return on investment is part of business. IBM was ahead of the field in cultivating business in BRIC countries. That reduced their exposure to the recent downturn when those areas showed growth. Good for IBM and the world. Closer to home, IBM has lent its reputation for GNU/Linux for businesses large and small. Businesses that do more than push for sales in the current quarter appreciate that IBM has been working with GNU/Linux for many years and will be around no matter what happens. IBM does more than install PCs. They design complete integrated systems ensuring no calamities.

Clearly, IBM has been an important contributor to the GNU/Linux community and has played a major role in facilitating adoption of GNU/Linux in business. They are playing in the same league with Red Hat, Novell, SUN, and Oracle but they are the biggest. IBM do supply other technologies as well so it is not their role to promote GNU/Linux above all but it is their role to supply solutions. As long as GNU/Linux is such a good solution, they will continue to support and improve GNU/Linux. Recent moves by Red Hat with desktops shows business is ready to accept GNU/Linux. Papers on IBM’s site show that GNU/Linux is a good fit where needs are simple, where needed apps are available and when a browser can be used to access web applications. Typically, 80% of tasks can be done with GNU/Linux and a lesser number of staff positions but on a large scale the migration is worthwhile when a sufficient number of staff positions can use GNU/Linux. We have seen this in many places.

We should be grateful that IBM has taken an interest in GNU/Linux. Whether or not they actively promote GNU/linux on the desktop they will likely set up more desktop systems than the dozen next smallest such businesses. In ten years I have probably installed 1000 PCs with GNU/Linux and introduced a few thousand people to GNU/Linux. IBM in a similar period of time has completed deals with 15000 businesses, many of them larger than my total influence. Thank you, IBM. You are making the world of IT a better place.

Links about IBM:

- Robert Pogson

FLOOD of FUD

Published by Robert Pogson September 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

WOW! There were tons of attack/criticism articles on the web this week. I tend to enjoy attacks on M$, but there were tons of attacks on

It seems all one has to do to be attacked is successful and outspoken. IBM, RMS, and Shuttlewrth have all invested heavily in FLOSS with their personal capital. RMS started GNU/FSF and made an environment where it became possible to escape monopoly. IBM invested a $billion or more and provided manpower and clout with business to promote FLOSS where it works, which is almost everywhere. IBM uses GNU/Linux internally for much of its business as an example and because it makes sense.

IBM has never abandoned GNU/Linux on the desktop. Virtualized desktops are just the latest wave of adoption. IBM gets it. Some of their customers have tens of thousands of desktops and individual thick clients just do not work for them. Try managing a hundred or more thick clients and you will soon see that all those moving parts and software are a real pain and costly. GNU/Linux is a truly networked OS. It pays to use the networking features of GNU/Linux to maximize the advantages of GNU/Linux. Sutor has clarified his remarks, pointing out that quotes were snippets taken out of context.

“be certain of one thing: the Linux desktop is not to be discounted” – Bob Sutor

Ubuntu had its start in Africa. Canonical was helping schools secure labs in apalling conditions many years ago while folks on the other side of the digital divide were enjoying the good life. Africa is a special place and needs FLOSS to minimize costs and to maximize performance. Government, education and business are all heavy users of IT and burdened by huge problems of poverty, disease and ignorance. They do not need the problems that other OS brings. Criticising IBM or Canonical for bringing to Africa good things that are taken for granted elsewhere is a cruel joke.

RMS tends to call a spade a spade and he does not accept fluff as substance. M$’s posturing as being open to FLOSS is absurd. No matter how many millions they contribute to FLOSS, they are not a friend of FLOSS-loving people. Repeatedy they have shown a willingness to buy out the competition rather than to out-compete. RMS is not a great diplomat but neither is he often wrong.

- Robert Pogson

HEADLINES

Published by Robert Pogson September 21st, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

I have been the victim of headline writers once. “North End Goes Nuclear” was the headline about my little workshop in the back yard… Nothing nuclear about it of course. Well, here is a “nuclear” headline from The Register: “IBM Linux chief: Chasing desktop Windows a ‘dead-end‘“. Sounds like GNU/Linux on the desktop is going nowhere, eh? But the article is about segmenting the desktop market and carving it up one piece at a time. GNU/Linux is good at that because it performs so well and is so flexible.

I am not qualified to second-guess the “IBM Linux chief” but he is taking a few obvious facts and coming to the wrong conclusion. We, the FLOSS community and users of IT of all kinds are bigger than M$ by a long shot. M$ has not enough money to buy us all off. We can gain a large share of the desktop just by doing what we have been doing. Exploiting niches like the netbooks will bleed M$ dry if they try to pay off OEMs to block GNU/Linux everywhere. M$ cannot afford to provide free IT to the world. Netbooks alone cost them $2 billion in 2009 so far. It could be five more quarters before “7″ gains traction in business. M$ will be a  normal corporation by then, not an overbearing monopoly.

If GNU/Linux wins on the netbook, which is inevitable if M$ attends to business, the world will see what can be done with GNU/Linux on the notebook and desktop, too. The effect of netbooks so far has been to show most of the world that there are alternatives to that other OS. When the hot ARM netbooks come on stream, M$ will have nowhere to hide. Even Intel is getting on the netbook bandwagon pushing Moblin.

What IBM does not seem to understand is that the FLOSS community is many times the size of M$ and can specialize in a dozen areas and take share. IBM is pushing virtual desktops where GNU/Linus shines, but there are also netbooks, education, low-cost entry-level systems, and systems free form malware, and embedded systems, servers, etc. GNU/Linux does well in every niche except perhaps gaming. That is a small niche. We can leave it to M$ until gaming industry recognizes that GNU/Linux has been mainstream for awhile.

Further, IBM and Red Hat have seemed to accept that business will cling to M$ no matter what. That is not true. Business did not accept Vista and many businesses made plans to migrate to something from XP. Virtualization shows that it does not have to be “7″. Web applications show that it does not have to be “7″.  It is crazy for an IT industry worth trillions of dollars to be dependent on a single source of supply for anything. Business wants multiple sources with open standards for compatibility. GNU/Linux gives them what they need: low  cost, efficiency, compatibility, and openness. Some businesses may not see that yet but their competitors do. If businesses in USA do not see it, businessses in the rest of the world do. By the time “7″ sorts itself out, the monopoly on the desktop will be done.

- Robert Pogson

ARMed

Published by Robert Pogson September 16th, 2009 in technology. 0 Comments

“Cortex A9 dual core processors that are capable of running at up to 2GHz.

The processors, which feature hard macro implimentation, are built using the TSMC 40nm-G process and draw less than 250mw per CPU under full load, making them ideal for embedded applications and portable devices where heat, size and battery drain are crucial issues.”

Read that, Wintel. The end of the monopoly is at hand. How many days can a CPU run from a battery at 250mW? A lot longer than it can with x86… GNU/Linux runs on it, too. This is a very good year. Not only for netbooks. These things will soon take over desktops and servers. TSMC can crank these things out by the millions per month on 600mm wafers. When 22nm comes out, they can produce four times as many for the same cost. Commodity computing anyone? These CPUs cost less than the memory, less than M$’s licence, and less than Intel’s margin. AMD could be missing the boat on the netbook, thin client and desktop because they still cling to the belef that the netbook is a fad. What does it take to convince folks?

UPDATE – PC Pro has more information like this nugget:

“ARM also claims its processors will be better for manufacturers and consumers, because it won’t place restrictions on netbook specifications in the same way that Intel does with Atom. “It [Intel] has restrictions on screen size and USB ports and other artificial limits – we won’t do that,” he said. “We’re allowing our diverse partnerships to go and innovate.””

see  ARM launches attack on Intel’s netbook stranglehold

UPDATE – There’s more. Samsung has just released a Cortex A8 processor for Christmas netbooks. Merry Christmas, Wintel.

- Robert Pogson

Nowhere to Hide

Published by Robert Pogson September 15th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

M$ will continue to bleed on netbooks and the fight against GNU/Linux. To hide its shame, M$ is going to report FY 2010 results showing combined “Live” revenue with “Client” revenue. That will make the sagging client revenue sag less. Nice try, M$…

see “Microsoft to detail planned changes in its fiscal reporting structure” by Mary Joe Foley

Netbooks are not going away soon. ARM is taking off. “7″ will burden netbooks with higher prices. Nowhere to hide.

It remains to be seen how long M$ can cut prices for XP or whatever it allows to be installed on netbooks before investors wake up to the reality that they must compete on price and performance in every segment, not just netbooks. That will happen because folks will find the netbooks work well enough that they do not have to pay the price for a regular PC. When they do that they can also open their hearts and minds to ARM and GNU/Linux. Wintel has nowhere to hide, not just M$.

The huge momentum of netbooks is coming from telcos who supply cheap client machines to customers. They will want the cheapest machines, ARM running GNU/Linux. This is commodity computing, folks.

- Robert Pogson

Fast Servers

Published by Robert Pogson September 13th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Some foolish young men enjoy fast women or fast cars. I am long past that. I enjoy fast servers.

Today, my eye was caught by a story about SUN/Oracle combining for a product involving fast servers, storage and database management software. The story mentioned the possibility of using SUN T5440 servers in combination with SSD storage and Oracle database. For fun, I thought I would look up the specs of such a server:

  • $54 – $156 K CAD
  • 1 to 4 – 8-core Sparc T2+ CPUs
  • 32 – 128 gB
  • 4.5 KW supply

That would run more than 1000 simultaneous desktops for $100+ each. That is more expensive than my typical x86 solution per user but it is still far less expensive than the usual thick client solution with one hard drive and one or more software licences per seat.

Sigh. Anyone have $100 K they can donate?

- Robert Pogson

No More Licences From M$!

Published by Robert Pogson September 8th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

This week, the last subscription from Munich expired and they will not renew. That is a huge savings, forever. They have switched to FLOSS apps and are in the process of replacing the dsktop client OS. It truly is the year of GNU/Linux in Munich.

- Robert Pogson

Red Hat is BACK!

Published by Robert Pogson September 7th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Red Hat is a distinguished name in GNU/Linux.

  • They have made a successful business on a subscription model for servers.
  • They gave back in a huge way by being a major contributor to the Linux kernel, K12LTSP, RPM, suing SCO, fighting FUD, supporting a huge knowledge base and providing resources to many mailing lists and projects.
  • Almost single-handedly (they are modest) they made GNU/Linux mainstream with business.

There is more, no doubt. The biggest contribution they have made is to step up and answer the FUD about GNU/Linux not being ready and able to supply mission-critical needs in business.

They are also distinguished by appearing to wave the white flag over the battle for the desktop. Statements like

“First of all, I don’t know how to make money on it,” Whitehurst said. “Very few people are running a desktop that’s mission-critical,” so they do not want to pay the company for a desktop OS, he said.

Times have changed. Virtualized desktops make sense and GNU/Linux can virtualize with the best of them, so Red Hat is back. Check out their website: www.RedHat.com/rhel/desktop/. Business sees a role for GNU/Linux on the desktop and Red Hat is stepping up.

Features of Red Hat’s system that appeal to business:

  • scalability, handling 10000 desktops as well as a few
  • huge reductions in cost of deployment/service
  • flexibility: multi-OS virtualization, workstation, multi-OS virtualized workstations
  • natural immunity from malware designed for that other OS

I know from experience with thin clients (a poor man’s virtualized desktop) there is joy in maintaining a few systems to provision many. This is a huge factor in reducing workload for IT. Virtualization works. Keep the highest of the high-end systems working hard and let the less expensive equipment idle to conserve capital, energy, and manpower. It works.

Welcome back, Red Hat! I would make a wager that this development could be one of the largest with respect to future development of the GNU/Linux desktop. I think this is another landmark making 2009 the year of the GNU/Linux desktop. Red Hat has thousands of customers with many desktops. If 80% of those desktops convert to GNU/Linux we could double the number of GNU/Linux desktops in a year or two. I would wager that what Red Hat makes standard for a large proportion of GNU/Linux desktops will set the pace for many of the distros now struggling to make sense of too many desktop environments, window managers and themes. I would wager a lot of desktop bugs will be fixed.

Is there anyone out there who still believes GNU/Linux is not ready yet?

Anyone?

No. I thought not.

UPDATE

Already I have feedback from readers. One suggested the following points were missed:

  • Applications – Remember the FUD about applications not available in GNU/Linux? If millions of desktops go with Red Hat to GNU/Linux, will this not motivate Adobe, Intuit and others to port their pet applications to GNU/Linux? Yes. If business finds their desktops cost less with GNU/Linux they will want to go that way and there will be demand.
  • Migration – Many businesses will be spending 2009/10 figuring out whether to migrate from XP to “7″ or MacOS or GNU/Linux. The number of desktops looking for a place to go is 100 million or more. Red Hat will be in position to take a large percentage of those. Deployment of virtual desktops is faster, cheaper and more sure than going to thick clients again. Just the cost of defending the new systems against malware could justify giving Red Hat lots of business. Can they handle the volume? Remember the scalability? Yes they can. Only a few months ago Red Hat was publicly timid about the desktop. I would wager they wanted to wait until just before the release of “7″ to take the wind our from M$’s sails. Red Hat is tiny in terms of total revenue, but I think Red Hat sees a lot of growth coming from the end of life of XP and its workstations. IBM and Red Hat both getting into the virtual desktop business at this time is not a coincidence but bold strategic moves to take back the desktop from the monopoly.
- Robert Pogson

Streaking

Published by Robert Pogson September 5th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Running naked in public for a few seconds is an exploit of the demented/drunk/incapacitated. I suppose it is fun or causes a bit of excitement. Doing it for days could be tiresome.

M$ still has a few servers out there vulnerable to a DOS attack. Run IIS? With FTP? Then you are toast until M$ gets around to issuing a patch next Tuesday. Why not wave a flag at all the malware artists and script-kiddies out there?

When will people learn not to trust M$ in IT? If they produce a bug by accident with this magnitude of consequence, they should be able to issue a patch faster than that. GNU/Linux can do it. If they did not have all kinds of hidden agendas involving their software they would be able to issue code with fewer bugs. GNU/Linux can do that.

- Robert Pogson

Selling What the Customer Wants

Published by Robert Pogson September 4th, 2009 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

I have been disappointed by Dell. They started selling a few models with GNU/Linux a couple of years ago but managed to hide them on their website deeply and never offereed a clear choice side by side with that other OS.

There is news that Dell has finally learned that the world doesn’t like what they have been doing.

Dell puts Linux and Atom in Vostro PCs for emerging markets

…

Where Dell previously designed products for developed markets, and introduced them later in emerging markets, the focus has shifted to designing products exclusively for emerging markets, Felice said.

…

The products run the Ubuntu Linux distribution and have been engineered to provide the basic features required by customers in these market segments in emerging economies, said Steve Felice, Dell’s president for the Asia-Pacific region and Japan, in a Webcast from Beijing

Isn’t that refreshing? Instead of selling the same old stuff they will actually design and build systems the customers want. Maybe, just maybe, Dell will be able to keep up with the fast-moving Acer. Why did they wait years before making this move? We have been telling them this for years. Where did they release models with GNU/Linux first? In the USA where it is wanted least… Well, better late than never.

They still do not get that low price is a key feature for these emerging markets. $500 is too much for many millions of customers they could have buying netbooks. In China, more netbooks are being sold than notebooks. For Dell’s sake, they had better ramp up production of netbooks with GNU/Linux.

- Robert Pogson

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My Mission

My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. I do not care whether my solution is the same as yours. I like to think for myself.

My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. I have been blessed by working in schools where students and school systems have benefited by good, modular software easily installed in most systems.

I have shown GNU/Linux to thousands of students and hundreds of teachers over the years and will continue in some way doing that until I die in spite of the opposition.

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