Re: Help to Promote Linux! - Economics....

Rene, I think I see where a lot of your perspective is coming from, and much of what you're saying is well said. You should post your comments to our mailing list for linux-informix, and let others who have a serious interest take part in the discussion of your thoughts. If you are not currently a subscriber, please join our mailing list. Please be aware though that much of what you've talked about has already been hashed out and exhausted. We are really waiting on Informix at this point to get the vision. When Informix gets the passion for the market, and this becomes the prime directive, we will once again see the Informix that brought us 7.x. Until then, my image of a company bailing water out of a raft at sea is all I have. We have a pretty clear idea of how the port would work, even regarding the support model, which currently would work similar to the current support models for OWS. On first pass, yes, there is the temptation to bind the OS's value to the db engine, and thus see it as something that must be low cost or free. However, this is not where things are headed. There will be a cost associated with the Linux version, and it will probably be close to what the other platforms are paying, more similar to the NT pricing, last I heard. The big payoff in Linux is that the OS is license free, with source code. Buy the data base, get the OS for free. But, just because the OS is free does not necessarily have anything to do with how much value is placed on software that runs on the OS. Developers have been moving free software of high value around the planet for years. The idea that an OS is somehow so sacred it can not be allowed the same creativity must be overcome, not only in the minds of management, but yes, even in the minds of many fellow developers, who are still confused by the Linux model. For example I had a lot of people tell me not to give away any of my tools, my god man, you'll lose your edge in the marketplace. The contrary is true, and remains the case to this day. The bottom line is that it's just good karma, what goes around comes around. The concept of indirection is one of the most powerful concepts in the universe. As to the viability of the various engines, such as OWS or ODS or IUS on Linux, I would not presume which ones can or cannot be ported. Every effort should be made to please the market. There should be a a sense of customer care and workmanship that allows customers the freedom to use the products in whatever manner they see fit, at a price that builds mind and market share. Every one of Informix's competitors knows how this works. Informix will hopefully port the whole product line, because it is the right thing to do. Informix also has a duty and obligation to it's developers, VARs, and end users to provide them with products that allow them to compete successfully. After all the product is not second best. It is THE best, and should be marketed accordingly. And putting it on Linux is simply a matter of responding to the current marketplace. Informix being non-communicative and ignoring customers and developers is not only bad business, not only bad thinking, but bad karma. What goes around comes around. You ignore the market and the market will eventually ignore you. Ask Sybase... :-) Tim -- Tim Schaefer \\\\|// tschaefe@mindspring.com 6 6 -------------------------------oOOo---( )---o00o---------------------- http://www.inxutil.com ICQ:6358805 http://www.informix.com http://www.iiug.org news://comp.databases.informix mailto:majordomo@iiug.org no subject body: subscribe linux-informix http://securities.stanford.edu/complaints/informix/ ======================================================================