Spinning Vendors And Passions On The Net

It’s hard to sell technology and harder yet to sell new technology.  That’s because sellers must not only identify buyers with the right problem (the one for which the technology offers a solution), they must convince those buyers that they want to buy this solution and that they, the seller, are a credible, reliable source.  As if that wasn’t hard enough, all of this often takes place in highly competitive markets where multiple players are aggressively offering their wares.

We don’t mind a little marketing.  We suspect the customers expect (and discount) it, too.  We find factual comparisons of features helpful, if they remain factual.  It’s the provocative rhetoric that attempts to say, “I’m the good guy; he’s the bad guy; buy from me,” and then goes on to spin the facts from a particular (and biased) point of view, leaving out some things, emphasizing others, that is often offensive and ineffective.

This tactic doesn’t belong to any one vendor.  We’ve seen lots of offenders.  All it takes is someone who’s convinced that his competitor is behaving too aggressively or “unfairly” and deciding it’s time to take a balancing action. 

In fact, it’s counter-productive, because customers often look at this kind of noise and react by withdrawing from the conversation or sharply defending their own point of view.

SUN Thinks Linux On The Mainframe Is Not A Good Idea

With that for background, I was disheartened to discover yet another example of the Marketing by Provocation art at Sun’s site recently.  Shahin Khan, Sun’s Chief Competitive Officer, starts off in a normal-enough tone, but soon progresses to the marketing hype.  The message is as clear as the “white paper’s” title:  “Linux on the Mainframe--Not a Good Idea.”

This set off an on-line riot, with multiple communities erupting to put forth their opinions.  For example, Linux developers on Slash/dot.org felt called upon to defend Linux.  VM experts on http://listserv.uark.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0202&L=vmesa-l#76 discussed the issues of managing multiple copies of Linux running under VM on a mainframe and took issue with some of Sun’s claims. 

Sun’s VM experts replied, pointing out that nothing in Shahin Khan’s letter was technically wrong, but that there were some omissions.  For example, it IS possible to run multiple sessions of Linux on an IBM Z-800 without a mainframe operating system (and therefore, without the cost or skills of a mainframe VM expert), BUT this would limit the number of sessions one could run (perhaps making the system less economically attractive), and the management tools available (most of which are in VM, rather than in Linux). 

An IBM VM expert we consulted off the record, as well as Mark Cathcart, an IBMer who volunteered his opinions to Linuxgram, both agreed that Linux on a mainframe – with or without VM – could do more than Sun was giving it credit for.  You can see Cathcarts’s letter at www.linuxgram.com.  There you will also find a Linuxgram article on this subject and a letter from developer Dr. Alexander Tormasov, Chief Scientist of SWSoft, (co-signed by the Linux distributions), supporting the notion that Linux is just fine on Mainframes.

I suspect we haven’t heard the end of this.

Sun was willing to be interviewed – I spoke to Jeff Savit, their VM expert, for nearly two hours, as we exchanged points of view and politely agreed that on some issues we would have to agree to disagree.    So far, IBM supplied technical assistance, but has not commented officially (which may be the right thing to do, since it’s unlikely that further escalation is what’s needed here).  

Put This Into Context – SUN Doesn’t Want Anyone Selling Linux Into The High-End Server Market

Of course, one must view this effort in light of Sun’s recent announcements in the Linux market.  Sun has been offering the Cobalt Qube since its acquisition by Sun about one year ago.  Sun added to its Linux appliance offering with an Intel-based (we should probably say x86-based, since Sun hasn’t announced the processor supplier yet) General Purpose Linux system last month. 

Sun wants to very specifically characterize this system as being a low-end, edge of the network offering. It’s intended to be offered as only a single or two-way processor.  You can see, in your mind’s eye, Sun drawing a line in the marketplace and saying “No Linux above this line.”  That’s because Sun firmly believes that anything serious belongs on UNIX, preferably on Sun Solaris running on SPARC. 

At a press and analysts’ briefing held on March 6, one month after Sun’s Linux announcement, Sun attempted to clarify its Linux position, but only succeeded in making it clear that it was being driven by customer demand into offering more Linux.  We’d doubt that Sun will be successful in keeping Linux in a convenient and non-competitive position any more than HP was able, a few years ago, to keep NT in a conveniently non-competitive position to its HP/UX Unix servers (it was doing that “below the line” thing, too).

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