[ale] blocked mail (was Re: The business argument for the port) (fwd)
Todd Graham Lewis
tlewis at mindspring.net
Thu Aug 14 02:12:08 EDT 1997
I found this message encouraging. I used to wonder why there weren't more
people using Linux like this, but these days it seems like word is really
getting out. Who knows, maybe there is justice in the world.
--
Todd Graham Lewis Manager of Web Engineering MindSpring Enterprises
(800) 719-4664, x2804 Linux! tlewis at mindspring.net
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 23:46:13 -0500
From: Linas Vepstas <linas at linas.org>
Reply-To: linux-informix at iiug.org
To: linux-informix at iiug.org
Cc: carlton at iiug.org, joelatg at netcom.ca, linas at linas.org, marcog at ctonline.it,
tschaefe at pop.mindspring.com
Subject: blocked mail (was Re: The business argument for the port)
Hi,
D'ayll got email blocking on? I can't seem to post.
I had sent the mail below yesterday, never got it back,
never saw anyone respond. Is my mail that boring?
--linas
Hi,
Here are some angles on the Informix business case:
1) Everyone else is doing it. I just put together a web page:
http://linas.org/linux/db.html -- It covers SQL & tools for Linux:
There are 12 commercial SQL RDBMS's
5 freeware SQL rdbms.
4 SQL RAD rapid application development tools
3 major SQL report generators & assorted minor
10 commercial SQL to Web gateways
10 freeware SQL to Web gateways
>>12 dBase/FoxBase & proprietary format databses
(I don't track these so there are probably many more).
So there seem to be a lot of other companies that think there is a
Linux market. Just follow the crowd.
2) There already is a Linux RDBMS that claims "100% compatibility at
1/10th the price" with Informix. Its called SQLFlex from InfoFlex.
See above web page for details.
3) The last person who said:
> We would have immediately gone with any of the Big Three who had a
> Linux port. The moment there *is* a Linux port of Informix, we'll buy
Informix could single-handedly destroy this fragile multi-vendor
culture that has arisen to meet Linux demands. The mind-set to
pick the most popular thing around, without evaluating the
alternatives, is *very* *very* easy. "Lets just pick Informix
because *I've heard of them!* This mindset is what made Microsoft
wildly successful. My employees all have that mindset.
By appropriately leveraging this mindset, Informix could instantly
dominate >50% of the Linux market. *shudder*. I am not sure I really
want that. As they say, careful of what you wish for!
4) What price range is Informix talking about? $100 $1K $10K ?? more
The Linux DB market is battling for mind share by giving away
"Personal Editions" of thier RDBMS's. Almost all of the
vendors have a giveaway program of some sort. Of-course, the
multi-seat commercial license costs ... median price seems to be
about $200 per seat, although one or two are up in the $1K per seat
range. Most charge less than equivalent product for NT, often at a
deep discount ... less than half of the equivalent NT costs, sometimes
1/4 of NT prices.
The Linux market for a $5K per seat database might be pretty rarified
... that kind of buiness case would be hard indeed.
5) People Like Me.
My company, Intransco, sells retail and wholesale air travel
and services.
http://intransco.com/ Corporate Site
http://teleportal.com/ Retail Air Travel
http://iflyeuram.com/ Discount Airfare Contracts For Travel Agents
We are nearly 100% Linux powered -- the accountant and one of the
artists use a Mac, another artist, a java programmer, and the test
staff use win95. But these guys & gals are in the minority -- the
main servers & production machines are Linux, as are all of the
development machines. We are at 19 employees I think, we keep
growing.
At least one of my competitors in this business is also on Linux.
Another one is on Solaris, I think, possibly Linux. And a third,
who is a real a**h*le, I think he's also on Linux. Sorry, the
competition is getting to me ...
We recently realized that we have outgrown our current database.
We need more & better tools, GUI'd of course, RAD tools, web-based
report generators. I want Sales reports, transsaction browseing,
itinerary summaries, histogram of prices quoted to our customers,
cites from which they are going, etc. I want all of these on web
pages, and I wanted them yesterday. I created
http://linas.org/linux/db.html in search of such goodies.
I've gotta load 100K to 250K new airfare records every week, and
cull an equal amount. The boss says "get ready we are going to
10x that figure by year end." Yikes! I already can't keep up!
Neve mind what'll happen if we get more customers! They're
gonna bang on that database searching for low fares, Ouch!
Ohh, did I mention I have a shoestring budget?
So anyone who says "I've got your solution" I will jump all over
them. I need a solution, and I'd prefer it on Linux. I don't know
if Informix can solve my problems, but I'll consider them ...
It's been rumoured that DBA Resources said:
>
> A question that Informix would ask is Why Linux? Was it technology or price
> that drove the decision?
Yes. Technology, price, history.
1) Technology.
Our main web server hasn't been rebooted in 233 days. Haven't need
to. That's what I call technology.
High availability is crucial to my business. There are so many
components that can fail (and do ... we have about 95% uptime)
that I want an OS that stays up forever (the OS has 99.9% uptime,
including scheduled mainenance).
2) Tools (aka history)
Intransco was started in 1994, on Windows. But the web servers on
Windows were crap, rebooted 5 times a day, had a 512-caharacter
cgi-bin argument limit total crap. Then tried OS/2. More junky web
servers, no ftp, no DNS, no telnet, crappy mail, no NFS, forget about
firewalls, disk mirroring or RAID, bug tracking tools, project
management tools, network tools. OS/2 didn't have the sotftware.
Then a friend forced Linux on me. I mean *forced*, he loaded it,
wrecked a disk partition, machine wouldn't boot, then went home.
About a month later, I was a hardcore Linux fan, and have never
looked back.
3) Price.
Sure ... I *could* buy an RS/6000 ... just still might for our
servers. But it doesn't come preinstalled with all the toys and
goodies that Linux comes with. It's a pain in the neck to manage.
Most of the cool unix freeware hasn't been ported to it yet.
Besides, I'd rather spend that money on other stuff that I also
need. And my shopping list is *very* long, so I gotta stretch
those dollars.
Take a look at http://linas.org/linux/ That is a good sample
of my shopping list. Linux allows me to afford my dream.
To equip an RS/6000 with the industrial strength version of my
dream-machine shopping list would run into the $100K to $250K.
Now, Miscrosoft NT mioght be cheaper ... but not a whole lot.
Maybe half. Maybe a third. With Linux, I get something almost
as good for under a tenth of that.
The problem with NT & commercial Unix is $1K here, $2K there
and pretty soon it adds up to real money.
> What about support for the O/S? Did it bother you
> that there wasn't someone you could point a finger at to get a problem
> resolved?
No. Linux has the best damn support on the planet. What, is this
a sucker punch question? Have *you* ever called a support hotline?
Have you *ever* actually gotten help? Support hotlines offer
shoulders to cry on. They say "geee we feel for you, your right,
its a bug, 3 months from now well have a new release." Usually,
the person on the phone knows less about the product than you do.
On the Linux newsgroups, you get real help from people who know more
about it than you do.
> Given that most Linux licenses are so inexpensive, what would
> you consider a fair price for a DB product and support services?
What does the DB do? Will it solve my problems, outlined above?
--linas
Linas Vepstas
Cheif Technology Officer
Intransco
See URL's above.
More information about the Ale
mailing list