Re: IIUG - Linux and Informix

In article <5kd646$646$1@news.xmission.com>, DBA Resources <dbaresrc@xmission.xmission.com> wrote: >The issues surrounding the technical viability of a Linux port can be raised >**politely** during the Ask The Experts session the IIUG is sponsoring during >the 1997 Informix Worldwide User Conference. With Tim Shetler, VP of Product >Development and Don Top, Director of OnLine Kernel Development available to >respond, you should be able to get a better perspective of the issues from >Informix's point of view. > >Carlton Doe Without speaking for anybody else... it seems to me that the key areas of Informix involved in such a decision would be a) the group that selects are prioritizes ports, generally based on commitments with hardware vendors and on business cases (e.g. those who have "shown the money"), and b) Platform Engineering (who would actually be doing the work). I don't even know who's in charge of "group a" above, nor what its title is anymore, but I doubt that it's under Tim or Don's realm, and Platform Engineering isn't either. Therefore, while taking up the subject of Linux issues with them is a good starting point, please don't get angry with them if you find them unable to make specific commitments or give much detail on the Linux issue, as it isn't really their area. Try to acknowledge that fact going in, and rather than beat on them for specific answers, get them to have the responsible parties in "group a" and Platform Engineering follow up to the Linux audience in some manner after the conference. (Perhaps an interested party could fire up an Informix-on-Linux-SIG listserv.) Also, keep in mind that supporting a platform for ANY length of time creates a longish-term commitment to supporting a product line. Also, since in this case you don't have a software vendor to work with (or, ahem, go after) when you run into operating system or compiler problems, you add risk to the project. The Linux faithful certainly think that Linux has a lot of productive years ahead of it (as do I). However, history has shown that "free" O/Ses can be abandoned as quickly as they are adopted (I don't read much about 386BSD anymore, for example). People here seem to be made most angry by the lack of Linux support to date because they view the technical/porting issues as solvable. (Heck, I ported the servers and tools on *Consensys UNIX* once upon a time.) The *problem* is, the technical issues are the LEAST important factor (generally) in choosing to support a new platform/environment. The disparity in available versions/options/patches of Linux actually *complicates* matters rather than simplifies them. Disclaimer: I speak only for myself and the voices in my head, not for Informix in general nor Platform Engineering in particular. -- Alan Denney aland@informix.com yosemite@netcom.com Informix Platform Engineering "I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." -- James Madison