october 29, 2006This is a follow-up post for my "Uncompatible Linux" post...
I'm getting into my CEO Armchair right now and will attempt to give Larry Ellison some advice for his Linux aspirations. I will break it down into bullet points since I know executives like Larry don't have much time to read:
- Stop the FUD. Don't put out lies like "Red Hat only provides bug fixes for the latest version of its software." People are smarter than you think and you will be called on that.
- Fork or Don't Fork. Make up your mind. If you take Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the base for your own OS, more power to you. But, if you make changes, then it is a fork. Again, don't make statements like: "We think it's important not to fragment the market," when you really are. If you are going to fork, then fork.
- Support Open Source. If you choose not to fork, then why not put some money, hardware, bandwidth and resources behind an good project? Try CentOS.
- It's The Support, Stupid. Following along with the above: You're selling support, not software. Why not distribute a good RHEL clone for free, then sell your support for it? Leave the Red Hat Enterprise Linux cloning to someone else.
- Stop Being A Jerk. Kiss and make up with Red Hat. Work out some sort of deal with them. Work together to "speed the adoption of Linux".
- Get Out. Go concentrate on what you are doing: Databases. Leave Red Hat to do what they do best: Linux.
Ok, that is it. Oracle screwed up out the gate with their Linux initiative. They have shown that they are not really ready. So, now they have to make some tough decisions. I am sure arrogant Ellison will not listen to a blogger like me, but it is worth a try.
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