[svlug] mission critical computing and air safety

[Karsten Wade]

* James Sparenberg (james at linuxrebel.us) on [09-22-04 12:57] bespoke:
 
> Here's the rub, and the way M$ gets around this.  They can accurately
> claim that they have continued to support most OS's for at least 5
> years, Some closer to 10.  Then they will show the life cycle of a linux
> distro Say SuSE as being a new OS every 6 months with a life cycle (by
> their own words) of 18 months.  Big difference.  It doesn't matter if
> you can easily migrate (Debian and MDK are good at this) a system, or
> that you can actually run a Linux system for years.  The numbers on
> paper look scary.  What they seem to say to someone who doesn't know the
> insides but does have the ability to write checks is.  "This product
> won't last as long as my hardware, (Typically a 3-5 year cycle based on
> how long it takes to write off the cost.) But Windows will.
> Unfortunately this leeks over into the BSD's and Solaris as well.  

Your insight speaks directly to the ideas that made Red Hat start an
Enterprise Linux line.  Customers, ISVs, and IHVs like to nail things
down for a long period of time, and a solution such as RHEL gives them
a slower moving target.

Wherever you go in life, have sympathy for the Red Hat engineers who
help maintain the 2.4.9-based RHEL AS 2.1 ... the lifecycle there is
comfie for the long-life customers such as the Feds, but unthinkable
to regl'r Linux users.

- k'
-- 
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                 http://www.costofwar.com/
                  http://sco.iwethey.org/
            http://www.crunchweb.net/87billion/

< >  Karsten Wade           < >    "As sharp as the leading
 |   karsten (at) phig.org   |     edge of a ball bearing."
< >   			    < >              - Dallas Dobro