“When Linux distributions are available for free over the Internet, and for $10-$100 from major companies such as Red Hat and SuSE, why should an organization pay $599 for Caldera’s OpenLinux Server 3.1.1? Because you get what you pay for.” Read the mini-review of OpenLinux at ServerWatch.
OpenLinux, a Full-Featured Server Platform
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
The article claims that OpenLinux is special because of its 7-disc set of software, Raid support, ReiserFS journalling, documentation, and so on and so forth. SuSE is 7-CDs as well. It includes those things. It costs less.
What SuSE does not include is a super-secure kernel and lots of turned off ports. But then, it takes me about 2-minutes to turn off the ports in inetd and disable RPC… so then we are left with the super-secure kernel. Ok, that might be nice. But if the kernel gets an update to it over at kernel.org, and you consider it necessary to have that update, won’t you have to wait for Caldera to include and test that new upgrade – which may take forever? Maybe so, maybe not. I’ll roll my own kernel thanks.
I probably forgot to address something, but really, with an experience Linux admin, do any of these things matter? Do they matter for a difference of at least $500?
Maybe the thing is that big corps *like* to pay more for software – it makes them feel warm and fuzzy or something?
SuSE has a nice GUI for setting up rules to secure ports. That’s no problem. Other distros have secure kernels, and it’s not that hard to compile one yourself. People who don’t know how to do basic admin tasks like that have probably already spent that $599 on Windows. Of course Windows isn’t going to do those things for them either, but that’s another story
You might get what you pay for, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth what you paid! There’s a reason why Caldera stock, which was worth $30/share before they decided to “sell air”, is now worth pennies.
Ok. Companies like paying for software and they also need super secure operating systems.
Hmmm….
How ’bout giving HALF of that money to OpenBSD and using their OS?
I guess with linux being the buzzword in business right now, companies may just want to look hip.
Being a *BSD advocate is so easy…
Half?
I used OpenBSD to develop a VPN solution for my previous employer. It was a no-brainer. All I did was set it up and install the applications. During the time it was used, it ran on the same borrowed PC that I got to do the proof of concept. It filled a T-1 with sensitive encrypted data day-in and day-out for many months.
When I moved on to other projects, the people who took over the VPN (and who only knew Windows) figured that they could do what I did, only more expensive, using Windows 2000. So they worked and worked, and after a year they had put together a system that did more or less what I had built in two days using OpenBSD and free software. So finally I retired my proof of concept box.
And then came Code Red. And once more OpenBSD came to the rescue. I don’t know what happened with their second attempt with Windows, but I can guess that it is still a pain to maintain, having to enter each user record by hand into a GUI (no option for bulk entry or LDAP etc.).
Linux may be a buzzword, but there are many advantages to that. Linux is an excellent platform to use for playing with emerging technologies, because chances are that the first work is done on a Linux box. Stuff like VMware makes it useful too.
“You might get what you pay for, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth what you paid! There’s a reason why Caldera stock, which was worth $30/share before they decided to “sell air”, is now worth pennies.”
That’s not exactly fair because Linux stock in general was way over-valued for a long time. Industry analyists warned about that.
Caldera isn’t the only Linux stock that crashed. What about Red Hat? Red Hat’s stock reach a high of $284 a share. As of right now, it is worth $4.74 a share.
VA Linux is even more of a dismal story. VA Linux stock was once worth $299 a share. Today, it is worth 80 cents a share.