News.com article: Apple's X11 is overture to Unix community

[lmalave]

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-981495.html?tag=fd_lede2_hed

Article basically says how X11 gives Apple legitimacy within the business community (well for those that use Unix, anyway), and also gives legitimacy within the Mac community for developers working on X11 applications.

The article says how Linux is still in the forefront for businesses looking to replace Unix. But I think they're wrong! For Unix-centric shops looking to switch, I see Linux on the server side but Macs on the client side. The article correctly pointed out that being able to run Microsoft office on the Mac is a huge attraction. If a company switched from Unix to Linux, they would still have to keep Windows machines to use Office. Mac OS X is the desktop Unix that the market has been waiting for for at least 20 years. I just hope more Unix users come to that realization.

 

[Ambrose Chapel]

There's an article in the NY Times today about the Linux conference about to start, and in it they mention that Linux might be a more attractive alternative to Windows than Unix (they never mention Mac OS X by name, but it's implied).

From the article:

Still, the rise of Linux is a more imminent threat to the commercial versions of Unix. Linux is the open-source offspring of Unix, an operating system developed at Bell Laboratories in the late 1960's and early 70's. The leading commercial versions of Unix today are made by Sun Microsystems, I.B.M. and Hewlett-Packard. The Unix flavors run on costly, specialized hardware, while Linux was designed to run on low-cost hardware from the PC industry powered by Intel microprocessors or Intel-compatible chips. And software applications that run on Unix can be moved over fairly easily to Linux.

and

Earlier this month, Goldman, Sachs issued a lengthy report titled, "Fear the Penguin," a reference to the Linux mascot. "Linux-on-Intel appears likely to emerge as the dominant platform in corporate data centers," the report predicted.

Here's the link for those who are registered:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/20/technology/20LINU.html

oops - the article is a couple days old, but still free on the site

 

[lmalave]

Originally posted by Ambrose Chapel
There's an article in the NY Times today about the Linux conference about to start, and in it they mention that Linux might be a more attractive alternative to Windows than Unix (they never mention Mac OS X by name, but it's implied).

I don't think this article implies anything about OS X. I really think the author was thinking about Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, etc, and just ignoring Apple. In fact, the author specifically states: "The leading commercial versions of Unix today are made by Sun Microsystems, I.B.M. and Hewlett-Packard". This ignores the 5 million copies of Mac OS X sold. This just means that Apple needs to market its Unix capabilities better with the business and tech press. It has to walk a fine line, though, because the average consumer will be scared away by Unix if they even know what it is.

Anecdotally, though, "alpha geeks" are moving to Mac OS X in droves. This won't immediately impact market share since it's a small segment, but as a result of their influence, Mac OS X will gain market share from Unix and Linux. Why? Because these geeks are porting Unix apps to Mac OS X with the same fervor that they had previously reserved only for Linux. Getting the support of alpha geeks means gaining the support of IT departments down the road (Linux took a similar path from "alternative" technology for uber-geeks to mainstream acceptance). Apple's path is even easier, though, since it is already an established name, not to mention the fact that its products are superior quality and easier to use.

 

[sparkleytone]

Apple's X11 implementation makes it no harder to run X11 applications than it is to run Classic apps. Combine this with the power that package managers like Fink give the user, and you have a viable client platform for just about any argument you can put forward.

As of right now X11 is just a beta, and it is extremely quick compared to other implementations.

It is exciting to see Apple trying really hard to clog up any potential holes in its viability as a do-it-all platform.