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I wonder if the cloud runs on Linux, or just it runs on the most common operating system where you do not have to pay for each individual license? How hard wou
by herge 10y ago
I wonder if the cloud runs on Linux, or just it runs on the most common operating system where you do not have to pay for each individual license?
How hard would it be for developers/IT departments to play around with linux if instead of just downloading a base image from the cloud, they had to deal with buying a license and more importantly managing whatever tool that makes sure you are paying a license for each docker setup you use?
- FussyZeus 10y agoBeing a slowly recovering Windows based shop, I can say with confidence that we don't have issues with paying for licenses, but far more often with getting Microsoft products to activate correctly. We don't here, but I do know that it's a regular occurrence for Enterprise to use pirated versions of Windows and Office while holding many more licenses than they need legally, simply because the activation and licensing software embedded in Microsoft products just straight up sucks. "Need to rebuild a Windows machine? Oh your key doesn't work with this particular version of Windows, sorry. Yes I know it's an identical version but it's an OEM key not a retail key." Steam hacked the motives of most people who pirated games by making the games easy to buy and the licenses totally invisible to the user. Meanwhile I had to format my Surface Pro and had to call to activate Windows. To clarify: I had to CALL SUPPORT, to activate WINDOWS on hardware that Microsoft commissioned, manufactured, and sold under their own brand and that's ABSURD.
- BrockSamson 10y agoI also had to call support to activate Windows on a Surface 3. In total I spoke to 6 Microsoft representatives and only 2 had any idea what I was talking about. I was asked to reboot the computer and go to the BIOS by one of the reps. I was also told that the licence I had was an OEM one so I would have to contact the manufacturer (yes this was from MS licence activation support)
- vertex-four 10y agoOr, in other words, FLOSS software is a good thing and provides significant cost savings for businesses across the globe, reducing the barrier to entry to implementing competitive IT services?
- herge 10y agoBut why aren't we all talking about Solaris then?
- guard-of-terra 10y agoSolaris is typical "too little, too late" IMO.
- kazinator 10y ago"Solaris" + "too little" = irony :)
- mixmastamyk 10y agoBecause it's no longer open source.
- vertex-four 10y agoOr FreeBSD, or DragonflyBSD? Because part of the nature of software is that you get the most out of it when you're using what everyone else is using, and doing much the same thing as they're doing, so that the costs of figuring out how to do a given thing can be paid once and documented for everybody else to copy. That counts whether you're using Windows or choosing to use something else - you'll never hear someone suggesting that you run Apache on Windows, as IIS is standard and what everybody else uses.
- herge 10y agoSo linux's popularity on the cloud has nothing to do with FLOSS, and it's just the most common free OS out there.
- vertex-four 10y agoWithout being FLOSS, GNU/Linux never would've developed to the point where you could reasonably use it as a competitor to Windows in the first place.
- mikeash 10y agoWhat does it matter? Linux is the most common OS where you don't have to buy or fight with licenses, so your two "or" statements are equivalent. The fact that Linux is free (beer and speech both) is a huge point in its favor. Yes, if you took away one of its big advantages, it would become quite a bit less compelling. But that's hardly a surprise.
- DyslexicAtheist 10y agoI love Linux to bits but I think it isn't the best natural technical fit for the cloud. Unikernels like mirageOS seem IMHO a much more elegant tool for the job and might gain traction in future.