4 ms·

Red Hat basically made linux on the server a reality. It provided a solid and serious corporate backing to that idea, providing not only software implementatio

by znpy 4y ago

Red Hat basically made linux on the server a reality. It provided a solid and serious corporate backing to that idea, providing not only software implementation and bug fixes, but also (and maybe more importantly) guidance, training, consulting. Basically bridging the tech world with the corporate world. All this in a time where the computing industry was divided among Microsoft and proprietary unix vendors. Anybody not acknowledging these points would be dishonest at best.

ghaff 4y ago
IBM's big endorsement in early 2000 made a big difference as well. But whether or not you you accept the premise that an open source "unix" was inevitable, a lot of companies in the late 90s were at least hedging on a world where Windows basically conquered all. (Sun being the notable exception among the systems companies.)
- pjmlp 4y ago
  And the company that shouldn't be named on HN, Oracle.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Oracle came later though. IBM was in 2000. Oracle Linux didn't come until 2006.
    - pjmlp 4y ago
      I wasn't talking about Oracle Linux. > 1998: Many major companies such as IBM, Compaq and Oracle announce their support for Linux. -- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux
      - ghaff 4y ago
        Lots of companies "supported" Linux. IBM's big announcement in early 2000 was significantly higher profile than what most large companies were doing at that time however.
        pjmlp 4y ago
        I can assure you that "runs Oracle" meant quite a lot during the .com wave.
        antod 4y ago
        From memory of back then, what made IBM noteworthy in the press was the scale of their investment and the number got repeated a lot. Dropping a billion dollars on some commie hippies made quite a splash that long ago.
- znpy 4y ago
  > But whether or not you you accept the premise that an open source "unix" was inevitable Bryan Cantrill had a great talk[1] on this topic, recalling the efforts of (and the mistakes in) open sourcing Solaris (and the immense disappointment in seeing it get back to closed-source by Oracle). Of course we can only fantasize about how things would have gone if Solaris had been open source earlier. [1] I think it's this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc (LISA11 - Fork Yeah! The Rise and Development of illumos) I recognize it from the disclaimer "The views and opinions expressed in this video..." on the side :)
  - ghaff 4y ago
    I did a podcast with Bryan and SJVN debating this topic. https://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/04/podcast-if-linux-didnt-exist-would-we.html https://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/04/podcast-if-linux-didnt... Bryan was basically of the opinion that if Linus hadn't written Linux, BSD would have come to the fore somehow in spite of its baggage. (I also cut that discussion into a longer series: http://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/05/podcast-was-open-source-inevitable-part.html http://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/05/podcast-was-open-source...)
einpoklum 4y ago
One could argue it has offered GNU/Linux distributions which, in order to manage, require their guidance, training and consulting. So, yeah, basically bridging the tech world with the corporate world, but in both directions :-(

by znpy 4y ago

ghaff 4y ago

IBM's big endorsement in early 2000 made a big difference as well. But whether or not you you accept the premise that an open source "unix" was inevitable, a lot of companies in the late 90s were at least hedging on a world where Windows basically conquered all. (Sun being the notable exception among the systems companies.)

pjmlp 4y ago
And the company that shouldn't be named on HN, Oracle.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Oracle came later though. IBM was in 2000. Oracle Linux didn't come until 2006.
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    I wasn't talking about Oracle Linux. > 1998: Many major companies such as IBM, Compaq and Oracle announce their support for Linux. -- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux
    - ghaff 4y ago
      Lots of companies "supported" Linux. IBM's big announcement in early 2000 was significantly higher profile than what most large companies were doing at that time however.
      - pjmlp 4y ago
        I can assure you that "runs Oracle" meant quite a lot during the .com wave.
      - antod 4y ago
        From memory of back then, what made IBM noteworthy in the press was the scale of their investment and the number got repeated a lot. Dropping a billion dollars on some commie hippies made quite a splash that long ago.
znpy 4y ago
> But whether or not you you accept the premise that an open source "unix" was inevitable Bryan Cantrill had a great talk[1] on this topic, recalling the efforts of (and the mistakes in) open sourcing Solaris (and the immense disappointment in seeing it get back to closed-source by Oracle). Of course we can only fantasize about how things would have gone if Solaris had been open source earlier. [1] I think it's this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc (LISA11 - Fork Yeah! The Rise and Development of illumos) I recognize it from the disclaimer "The views and opinions expressed in this video..." on the side :)
- ghaff 4y ago
  I did a podcast with Bryan and SJVN debating this topic. https://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/04/podcast-if-linux-didnt-exist-would-we.html https://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/04/podcast-if-linux-didnt... Bryan was basically of the opinion that if Linus hadn't written Linux, BSD would have come to the fore somehow in spite of its baggage. (I also cut that discussion into a longer series: http://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/05/podcast-was-open-source-inevitable-part.html http://bitmason.blogspot.com/2020/05/podcast-was-open-source...)

einpoklum 4y ago

One could argue it has offered GNU/Linux distributions which, in order to manage, require their guidance, training and consulting. So, yeah, basically bridging the tech world with the corporate world, but in both directions :-(