“The tall art deco building in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood could easily be a courthouse, or some other seat of power. Signs in its windows proclaim “the awakening of the slumbering giant.” If power can be described as the encapsulation of energy, power does reside there. And if the giant can be thought of as awakening for the first time, it’s all perfectly consistent. For in this renovated relic of the first half of the 20th century resides Ximian, Inc.” Read the report at LinuxAndMain.
Men at Work: the Ximians in Their Aerie
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Dallas, TX, April 28, 1997 — Wealth and wonderland combine when computer game developer ION Storm moves into its new office space high atop Dallas, Texas. ION Storm plans to create a high-tech gaming utopia in the penthouse suite of the Texas Commerce Tower. One of the city’s architectural landmarks and tallest buildings, the glass-roofed 55-story skyscraper is home to many of Dallas’ finest financial, legal and oil executives.
Led by industry vanguard John Romero of computer game DOOM and QUAKE fame, and the company’s other co-founders Todd Porter, Tom Hall and Jerry O’Flaherty and biz guys, Mike Wilson and Bob Wright, ION Storm is the industry’s hottest new game design company. According to Mike Wilson, ION Storm’s 26-year-old chief executive officer, “We are designing the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory of the computer gaming world. This space is an architectural dream. Once the construction is completed, it will be the epitome of what a gaming company’s offices should look like.”
The capacious office with 40 ft. glass ceilings, loft spaces and industrial staircases is ideal for the game designers as it encourages open collaboration among the artists and programmers and the sharing of resources. The “crystal palace” will house more than 60 artists, designers, programmers, both male and female, and the biz guys.
==
Ah, nothing like the ebullience of youth.
We wait for wonders yet to be unveiled.
“We’re asking business users what they need, and then we’re providing it,” Nat continues.
Great! Finally a non-RedHat Linux company that understands the basics of marketing! This is the only way to get in the business desktop, not “Microsoft is bad, everyone hates them. They are evil. Now spend thousands of bucks to migrate”
I totally agree with you. As an example, at a place I worked a year or two ago, some local company came in and demonstrated Linux and then asked us what we would like in our desktop environment. We told them. About a month later, they came back with exactly what we asked for. We paid them an hourly consulting fee to come in and install everything and guess what; everyone in the office was happy.
To my knowledge, they are still using Linux today. I think if people want to see Linux on corporate desktops, this is the way to go (although a good Microsoft bashing can be fun).
We have a Linux company here in Malaysia. Called InterPlay. Sure, it isn’t like Ximian, they just redistribute. Some time ago, their web site is nothing about how good Linux is, but how bad Microsoft is. (And it was quite obvious they was using FrontPage for the site. Later checks showed the site using IIS/Windows 2000).
My father’s company for example had been approached by these Linux guys before. My father’s office gave them a list of features they need in an Access altenative they need on Linux. They enevr heard from the guys again. 🙂
Not trying to be a jerk, but how is that relevant to Ximian? Sure, there’s a bad Linux company in Asia. I worked for a company renting out Windows machines to the corporate types in Atlanta (such as CNN, Coca-Cola, and many others). They went out of business for failing to deliver on several large contracts. That may or may not be interesting, but 1) it has nothing to do with Windows and 2) it has nothing to do with Ximian.
Or were you trying to say that because Linux can’t replace EVERY Microsoft tool in existence, it’s useless?
Because this (obviously poorly managed) company couldn’t replace Access, Linux is not a viable alternative?
And this was just some little unimportant company … so they were using IIS/Win2k for their server, huh? Would you happen to remember this:
<<From CNET’s News.Com>>
“A Web site sponsored by Microsoft and Unisys as a way to steer big companies away from the Unix operating system is itself powered by Unix software.
The site, dubbed “We have the way out,” runs on Web servers powered by FreeBSD, an open-source version of Unix, along with the Unix-based Web server Apache, according to Netcraft, which tracks Web site information. Both pieces of software compete with Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The Microsoft/Unisys site solicits names and contact information in exchange for research reports on data center trends.
Representatives at Unisys and Microsoft weren’t immediately available for comment.”
I just bet they weren’t. Available for comment, that is.
For the full story:
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-872266.html
I guess even Microsoft and its valued partners understand what crap IIS/Win2k is, huh? So they went with FreeBSD and Apache. Smart move, wouldn’t you agree?
Because, this is what happened AFTER the “mistake” was brought to public light, and Microsoft/UniSys switched the server from FreeBSD/Apache to IIS/Win2k:
<<nwfusion.com>>
“An anti-Unix campaign funded by Microsoft and Unisys Tuesday went offline, just as the site switched to run on Windows 2000 instead of FreeBSD.
The “We have the way out” campaign is a joint effort between the two companies to promote Unisys’ ES7000 Enterprise Server, which can run a data center version of Windows 2000. The server/operating system combination is being promoted as an alternative to Unix-based server products.
<<redunant stuff from previous article skipped>>
Then, on Tuesday, the site disappeared. Attempts to access it bring up an “Error 404, file not found” message. According to Netcraft data, the anti-Unix site was migrated on Tuesday from the FreeBSD operating system to Microsoft’s Internet Information Services 5.0 software on Windows 2000.
Neither company was immediately able to comment on any connection between the switch and the disappearance of the site.
“I’m aware that there’s a problem, but can’t tell you any more than that at the moment,” said Jill Pearcy, a spokeswoman for Unisys in the U.K.
———
Again, no comment. That second little gem was from
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/0403unixwin.html
————–
And from
http://www.eastsidejournal.com/sited/story/html/87723
“The industry got a belly laugh yesterday at Microsoft’s expense.”
And
““I hit the roof when I first saw the ad,” said Fromm, a senior Unix systems engineer at Redmond-based Medtronic Physio-Control. “All the things they’re saying about Unix are really what I would consider attributes of Windows. It kind of irritated me.””
Nothing better than FUD, so Microsoft says, but to USE the enemy’s own tools (which you are trashing all to heck and back) instead of your own (which, you know, suck for pretty much anything but virus distribution — which is why Gartner suggests moving away from IIS altogether –> http://www3.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=101034 ) … how smart was that? =)
And here we see how Microsoft supports its partners and stands up to take the heat when it screws up:
“Sadly, no one at Microsoft cared to debate the matter, which got handed around like a rotten egg. Microsoft’s public relations department told me to call a person with the company’s outside PR firm. That person, in turn, gave me a name to call at Unisys as the company heading up the campaign.
That came as news to Marty Krempasky, director of media and analyst relations for Blue Bell, Penn.-based Unisys. Krempasky, who said he knew almost nothing about the ads or the Web site before yesterday morning, expressed surprise at finding the egg in his lap.
He did say that an outside marketing company had created the site. “It’s not a Unisys Web site,” Krempasky stressed. “Our Web sites are all Microsoft.”
When first asked why the site was running on Unix, his reply was a terse “It won’t be soon.””
And indeed it wasn’t … after the switch to MS servers, it wasn’t running … period.
For a giggle:
http://www.wehadthewayout.com/
So, what was I saying again? Oh, yeah, that little “Linux” company you mentioned … they weren’t a “Linux” company, they were simply some fools trying to make a buck hawking Linux, obviously without knowing what they were doing. Big deal. At least it wasn’t Linus himself … or Red Hat … or (back on topic) Ximian … I guess they figured they’d leave that kind of idiocy up to Microsoft. =)
One last little link:
“After it is revealed that Microsoft and Unisys’ anti-Unix site is running on Unix, the site changes to Microsoft software. But it now appears to have crashed
When it comes to Unix, Microsoft and Unisys are suddenly silent.”
From
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2107640,00.html
LOL. I bet they were. =)
Rajan: Before you even tell me how wrong I was, let me go ahead and apologize. I kind of jumped all over you for nothing. Sorry. I don’t know what came over me … I just had a REALLY bad day and my fingers were typing without the benefit of any input from my brain.
I think it’s this whole 9/11 thing … It’s all anyone is talking about (I live in Florida, USA) and it gets kind of tiring. People have been blowing each other up for as long as they’ve known how to make things go boom. Why does it suddenly become a world-shattering event just because it happened in the USA? NOT that I’m saying it wasn’t a horrible, big, important thing that needed to be addressed … but … it just doesn’t seem right. So many people have died at the hands of terrorists all over the world for so long … it’s as if we Americans are saying, “It was okay when you barbarians were blowing yourselves up, but now you’ve gone and made it personal. Come on, everyone else in the world. You’re either for us, or you’re against us … and you REALLY don’t wanna be against us …”
And the government is using it as an excuse to take away our rights, one by one … for the first time ever, at least that I know of, the US government can lock American citizens up anytime they want — no due process, no phone call, no right to a lawyer. It’s scary. But. Enough ranting. And, before anyone clobbers me for this post, I DO love my country, I swear I do, and that is precisely WHY this is bugging me so much. I just can’t escape the feeling that … we’re going about this all wrong.
Now, if Eugenia would be kind enough to mod this post and my previous one out of existence, everyone can go on their merry way … nothin to see here …
=)
– I was complimenting Ximian as a Linux company. It knows basic marketing, and that’s why I’m sure it would succeed. I gave that Linux company as an example of an company opposite of Ximian.
– I’m not trying to say Linux is useless. You are putting words in my mouth. Yeah, so what if it doesn’t suit a certain need…
– My father’s company isn’t poorly managed. It, unlike many companies now, manage to survive two economic crashes, and current is thriving in an industry where recession is taking place. Using the best tool for the job won’t make you a poorly managed company. Even if the tool is from Microsoft, which you so dearly hate.
– I don’t really care about Microsoft and Unisys in its campaign against UNIX. Heck, I ridicule the campaign. Microsoft is constantly shooting itself in the foot. But unlike smaller companies, Microsoft can afford to take serious blows.
– Besides, the campaign against UNIX is targeted at Sun. The colour of the site and the documents given by We Have A Way Out show that is the case. For example, the theme colour of it is purple, Sun’s corporate colour.
– Besides, I wasn’t comparing IIS/Windows NT with Apache/UNIX. And in regards to this topic, does it matter. And by the way, the people at blame here is the contract agency hired for the job. Obviously, Unisys and Microsoft no longer hire them.
– Stop trying to pass yourself as an idiot. You know the saying “It is better to be silent and to be thought as a fool, than to speak and remove all doubts”. Your post is completely irrevelant, almost completely off topic.
Dang, my unlucky day. Didn’t see this post before i submited my reply (angry reply).
No hard feelings?
I guess it’s a draw between you two, anyway, I’m sure you both will laugh at this
Back on topic, has Ximian announced any of its figures? are they getting enough benefits to keep going for some years?
One thing I hate to do is fight with someone else on a message board who has an inteligent opinion, though most of it I don’t agree.
Well, that’s what we humans go through: misunderstandings.