"Linux IS NOT FREE..." - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

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By: xml 01-17-00 at 01:26 pm
Reply To: None Post # 1853


How LNUX and others can make it.


Let`s face it, the divide and conquer theory works. That`s why there is all this talk about splitting up Microsoft.


Well look what happened to Linux. Everyone wnat their piece of the pie and no one is sharing or even trying to. Linux is fast becomming what UNIX is. Unique to each distributor. Sure the underlying technology is the same and you can generally run all if you can run one but the average consumer looks at the store shelves and simply buys the only software that is consistent (good or bad). guess what that is.


Without a common theme for marketing, Linux will become exactly what Judge Jackson said it would. A niche product for web servers and small business (in some cases).


The week Windows 2000 is released (big announcement yesterday folks, it`s already being shipped by DELL, COMPAQ, HP etc) they will have more existing orders for the product than Linux has shipped to date. It`s not because Windows 2K is better (maybe yes maybe no) it`s because it is a consistent product in their marketing, sales, and OEM strategies.


Only recently did RHAT decide to promote an open source conduit.


VA Linux had the right idea, market a machine and op system together. What went wrong? First of all, expectations were too high. The stock price went crazy. Pity the fools who bought in at 300 or even close to that.


Yes I know, LNUX jumped a bunch Friday. A mere shadow of it`s former self wouldn`t you say? The rush to pay anything and hope the company`s valuation grows to fill those shoes is crazy, especially in the market of Operating Systems. What ever happened to buying in and then growing with the company and it`s revenues rather than paying up front and hoping it breaks even?


The Penguin is a great idea but where do you see it in stores? RIGHT NEXT TO THE RHAT BOX! So why would anyone buy a VA Linux system?


Don`t be mislead by all the talk of getting the corporate or government business. The true money is where the consumer is. Consumers buy every day. They upgrade all the time. GO into a store and look at the shelves. One one side are the 7-8 Linux distributions. On the other side is a shelf full of Cloudy Blue Sky boxes all saying Windows (doesn`t matter which version). Next to that is Office and on an on.


Now look at RHAT. Another stock offering. Guess what that means? They need money and badly. See some of their management bailing? Off to try some other venture it is claimed. Why is that when RHAT isn`t even off the ground yet?


In the end, the main player of Linux (other than SUN, SCOC etc) will be Corel (I don`t own any). Look at their product line. Corel Linux, Corel Word Perfect, Corel Draw. All flagship products. A single unified marketing potential. The open source garbage was a dream because RHAT, VA LINUX, TURBO LINUX and all the others don`t really believe in it. How can they, it goes against the very concept of what they are trying to accomplish?


Other than poor management, COREL has it heads and tails over RHAT and any other Linux player. As soon as they cure that problem they will simply take the market from VA and RHAT. Notice all the talk about RHAT making an aquisition? You know why; it`s because it doesn`t really own anything but shareholders money and now it wants more.


Linux IS NOT FREE. That bold faced lie went out the window when RHAT released it`s retail product. Ask anyone who goes into a computer store and buys Linux if it`s free. Yes, you can download it. Then what? You think the consumer is going to do that? Think RHAT and VA LINUX want anyone to do that? The answer is simply NO otherwise they will never, ever make money.


So before you think about sinking more money into a Linux operating system (not application or other aspect)player ask one simple question. What have you done for me lately? Do you worry about the stock price? Always look for news? Hope Microsoft tanks? Hope they split Microsoft? Check your stock price all the time?


If you answered yes to any of the above, think about it. People who own MS stock don`t worry about their stock price. They check on the price once a year and then just before retirement.


This is not about Linux versus Microsoft. Linux is killing itself. Microsoft just goes about doing what it`s doing.

[investor_007]

Linux conference foresees global software battle


By Susan Taylor

MONTREAL, April 11 (Reuters) - In an unlikely outcome to a David and Goliath technology battle, a free computer operating system called Linux
has the power to shake up Microsoft`s global dominance, software experts at a Montreal trade show predicted on Tuesday.

Technology gurus suggest the open source system will change the way the world computes -- now dominated by the proprietary Windows operating
system sold by Microsoft Corp. <MSFT.O>.

They disagree, however, on where Linux will stage its victory.

Big business predicts a strong showing in the rich North American market, while other market watchers suggest the system will find its home in
developing countries.

Linux, developed in 1991 by a Finnish university student, already has an estimated 20 million users. It is a "kernel" of computer code that is
continually being modified via the Internet by an international community of developers.

Executives from Ottawa-based Corel Corp. <COR.TO><CORL.O> and Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based Red Hat Inc. <RHAT.O> said at
the Linux Expo 2000 on Tuesday that Linux will build strong business for their companies.

Red Hat, the sector`s best-known Linux distributor, is predicting profitability for the fourth quarter of 2002.

Ottawa based Corel, which is developing Linux versions of its graphics and word processing software lines, and has also released a Linux system
from desktop computers, is not yet predicting a profit.

Corel chief executive Michael Cowpland told reporters on Tuesday that Linux demand is experiencing "a big ramp up."

The company has six "big opportunities" to strike licensing deals with equipment manufacturers that would install Corel`s Linux software or desktop
system, he said.

The head of a Linux trade association that represents about 100 companies, suggests the technology will more likely be embraced by developing
economies, noting that nearly 5.7 billion people in the world are not yet using computers.

"Because Linux is a low-cost alternative to other operating systems, I think that there will be a lot of growth in what I call the emerging countries," said
Jon Hall, executive director of Linux International.

"I think that Linux has a great marketplace in a lot of these countries where they`re certainly not missing the education -- the people are fairly well
educated and they`re very ambitious, but they need capital to be able to get going."

A Linux breakthrough in the rich North American market faces key hurdles, he said, notably the entrenchment of Windows technology in business
and schools.

Red Hat president Robert Young disagrees, pointing out that the benefits to consumers will help push Linux to a bottom-line profit.

"It isn`t better, faster, or cheaper technology. The world is full of great technologies that are gathering dust on some shelf somewhere," Young said in
his speech.

"What`s driving this phenomenon is not the Linux kernel...it`s not any of the tools, it`s the open source movement itself. Because what open source
does for you is it empowers the user."

A corporate forecast of the Linux market evolution may not mesh with the views of developers. But the two groups do find common ground in
praising the promise offered by the technology`s freedom.

"This will allow a redistribution of the computer wealth," Hall said. "I hope that Linux will help me find the next Albert Einstein of computer science."

Young said Linux represents an overthrow of a "feudal" technology, in which restrictive software licenses prohibit any adjustments or improvements.

"If you can figure out how to fix the bug in the software that`s causing your system to crash, or if you can add the feature that your customers really
need, you literally can get thrown into jail," he said.

"It ends up looking like a feudal system -- it`s the way of the middle ages -- the (way) old kings of dukes maintained control over their society is they
wouldn`t tell anyone what the laws where."

[investor_007]

rdent Linux fans have an itch to break Windows


(Figures in U.S. dollars unless indicated) By Susan Taylor

MONTREAL April 13 (Reuters) - You might assume the awe-struck young man asking for "maddog`s" autograph is a pro-wrestling fan until you
remember this is a trade show for the Linux computer operating system, not a knock-`em-sock`-em event.

But in this arena "maddog" is a prime promoter of open-source technology. And he is indeed a superstar.

"I continue to be embarrassed about it," said Jon Hall, who heads the Linux International trade association and was nicknamed "maddog" -- without a
capital M -- by students years ago for his heated debates.

"I`m just somebody who happened to have been in a place at a particular time and I recognized the value of Linux."

Hall, who gave a keynote speech at the Linux Expo 2000 in Montreal this week, said he has autographed compact discs, laptop computers and even
clothing for his admirers.

Technology trade shows attract a different breed and Linux shows, in particular, are renowned for their ardor.

Linux is a "kernel" of computer code used for operating systems. It is constantly being modified by developers around the world who share any
improvements they make. It can be downloaded free.

Linux supporters say the system has the potential to overhaul the computer industry, overthrow Microsoft Corp.`s <MSFT.O> Windows monopoly
and unearth the Albert Einstein of computer science.

LinuxMall.com president Mark Bolzern says the technology represents nothing short of a revolution.

"I liken the general public license to the Constitution of the United States. I liken (Linux research papers) to the Declaration of Independence," he told
Reuters.

"I liken the people who are moving to Linux from the Windows world to be the `huddled masses` that the United States was accepting from foreign
countries."

Hall, whose long white beard flows down the front of his Linux sweatshirt, has traveled from Fiji to Turkey for Linux International to talk about the
technology`s promise.

He shows no sign of tiring from this tour, which takes up close to 220 days of the year, and instead cites inspiring tales of Linux in use.

For example: Cuba connected doctors with medical manuals on a network of cheap PCs that used the Linux operating system.

More impressively, the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil used Linux to string together a super-computer that cut the time for mammogram analysis
from 20 hours to 10 minutes, he said.

Hall, who lost a close friend to cancer, became emotional as he told the story and stopped to wipe away tears. "I said anything I could do to get
cancer eradicated I would."

Not all Linux supporters have such a strong connection to the technology -- but they are unanimous in their praise of the open-source ideals of sharing
for a greater good.

At this three-day show, jokes and jibes at Microsoft boss Bill Gates are too good to resist. "In a world without borders, who needs Gates?" one
organizer quips.

Speakers slip bad puns into their pitches for Linux, while attendees fret that there`s nothing to stop Microsoft from taking over the open-source space.

"The open-source community are not -- I have to use a very bad word -- prostitutes," said Benjamin J. Cox, who heads Linux Fund, an affinity credit
card using a portion of subscriber transaction fees for scholarships and grants.

"People are here because they love the software -- they`re not here because they love the high paychecks," he said.

Cox is a case in point.

He said he could easily have cashed in on his business education with a high-tech marketing job paying $80,000 but was attracted instead to Linux.

"I`m an evangelist -- more than the software, I love the community," he said. "Look, you`ve got a guy over there who looks fairly normal except he`s
wearing these really long boots. He doesn`t feel he`s out of place -- and he`s got a ponytail.

"Everyone here is crazy. Everyone here is off the wall. Everyone is a zealot."

Students make up much of the crowd at Linux Expo 2000, although Hall points out that gray hair has crept in as Linux moves into the business
mainstream.

There are other signs that Linux is extending its reach.

Jose Casas, who took a 22-hour flight to Montreal from his home in Lima, said the technology will play an important role in the computing world`s
future.

The Linux teacher and technology consultant, an employee of International Business Machines Corp. for 16 years, is attracted to the "spirit" of
open-source technology.

"It`s cool -- it`s free," he said on a break from touring the nearly 100 organizations and companies exhibiting at the trade show.

Bolzern, whose Web site offers Linux news, products and services, said Linux is a common language that unites techies.

"This is world-wide," he said.

"Linux runs on smaller, less expensive machines -- things that can`t run Microsoft any more. So these (computers) go to the Third World and...as a
result, this revolution can spread in a way that Microsoft never did."

[investor_007]

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[investor_007]

Something Needs to Happen
7/11/00 1:16 PM ET


I`ve got a really bad feeling about these Linux stocks. I figured they would fly on the news that China is backing Linux over Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq - news - boards).

But when they didn`t I got the same sickening sense that I felt from some of the dot-coms. Maybe it isn`t much of a business to be a Linux provider. If China, something that gets every stock moving that mentions it, doesn`t get these moving, what possibly will?

Disclosure: Long Microsoft!



James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and co-founder of TheStreet.com. At time of publication, his fund had no positions in any stocks mentioned. His fund often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his columns, both before and after the columns are published, and the positions that his fund takes may change at any time. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer`s writings provide insights into the dynamics of money management and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to comment on his column at [e-mail]