On: Why Linux Succeeded

[sys_64738]

They didn't. They extended the life for eight more years and still make a profit from Sun hardware sales today. If you looked at the alternatives: IBM or stay independent then those were not going to end well. Oracle gave Sun life for eight more years.

[rhabarba → sys_64738]

Now, did it end well?

[sys_64738 → rhabarba]

Oracle was the best think to happen to Sun in 2010. You have to understand the market dynamics at UNIX vendors at that point. Look around. There are zero UNIX server vendors any more.

[jjtheblunt → sys_64738]

Amazon and Azure and Google etc are UNIX server vendors: what they vend is just for rent rather than purchase.

[rhabarba → jjtheblunt]

They mostly run on Linux though, not Unix.

[rhabarba → sys_64738]

To be fair, IBM still has them. But IBM doesn’t care about AIX much anymore either.

[sys_64738 → rhabarba]

Mostly they have a sustaining team, just like Oracle. Solaris is still supported but purely in a payed sustaining mode for legacy customers until 2034.