Microsoft Sells Linux To Wal-Mart

Several readers wrote in to let us know that Wal-Mart is planning to buy SUSE Linux vouchers from Microsoft in the course of building out its infrastructure. These are the support vouchers that Microsoft must distribute to hold up its end of the bargain with Novell. Wal-Mart has been a customer of Red Hat Linux. CBR Online notes that the deal is not entirely unexpected because Microsoft's COO, Kevin Turner, is the former CIO of Wal-Mart.

Maybe is this the reason

Maybe is this the reason Novell and MS wanted that deal of theirs so much?

Ooooh

So they are saying Linux is the Walmart Windows are they? FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Let's Call It...

Let's call it Wal-Lix

Re:Ooooh

So they are saying Linux is the Walmart Windows are they?

At first I thought Microsoft was trying to pull a fast one on Wal-Mart.

Then I realized Wal-Mart would immediately recognize the OS they were running was not Windows when they stopped having crashes.

MS Support

The first thing that popped into my mind upon hearing this was "when they call MS Support, they'll get the Blue Automated Message of Death". Then I realized that the fastest way to get users to dump Linux would be to have them sent to MS' real tech support.

Re:MS Support

"when they call MS Support, they'll get the Blue Automated Message of Death"

That is still an improvement over Clippy!

and so, then Lucy says to Charlie Brown

And then, so Lucy says to Charlie Brown, "Come on Charlie Brown, I promise not to pull the ball back this time when you kick it!"

Does anyone imagine in any way or any context this Microsoft -- Wal-Mart relationship for Linux could be a good thing? I can thing of many reasons and many ways Microsoft can undermine and even try to bury Linux with this Novell Suse bargain (with the Devil?), but I only need think of one.

Suppose as Wal-Mart moves forward doing "stuff" with Linux things go terrible wrong, or get terribly hard. "No problem", says Microsoft... you need only switch to our SQL Server which of course needs to run on a Vista Server, etc. It's win-win for Microsoft.

Microsoft gets additional customer share from Linux, and has a diamond-crusted public whipping boy to prove once and for all Linux can't cut it in the big boys' world (business). We all know Linux can, but with big publicity coups I fear Microsoft gains more purchase in the PR war.

Maybe none of this will come to pass, but do you think for one minute a company that sold out its business partners with "Plays for Sure" (sorry, I know I keep using this as an example...), won't think twice about short-shrifting any value Linux brings to the table? Microsoft has shown itself a predator many times before, there's no reason to think this isn't just one more opportunity for them (and a big one at that).

Re:and so, then Lucy says to Charlie Brown

Fantasy land material. Wal-mart's data centers would eat MS products alive. Recall that every transaction is being logged there. About seven years ago, my university recieved a donation of one of their district processing mainframes: something like an 82 way pentium 2 setup. Fantastic sounding stuff, but it was a) too slow for their (regional) needs, and b) too damned hard to make fast (NUMA).

If Walmart was dissatisfied with Linux, somehow I think Windows would be their last pick. Which makes me wonder, what are they using now? Linux? Solaris?

Dear God

What is the world coming too?

The forces join...

Wal-mart + Microsoft = Linux?

I've seen fuzzy math before, but this takes the cake.

Don't add, MULTIPLY!

Wal-mart + Microsoft = Linux

Wrong operator. Instead of adding, you multiply. Since the prevailing opinion 'round here is that Wal-Mart and Microsoft are negatives, and the product of a negative is positive, the equation makes perfect sense.

Good news!

I've been waiting for a way to run Linux that managed to simultaneously involve Microsoft, Novell and Wal-Mart! Do you think they can get Lotus Notes into the mix as well?

Flying Pigs?

Please don't tell me there is such a thing as a flying pig - there goes my reality check.

Wait for SCO to chime in

We'll they'll have to deal with Daryl McBride and his SCO cohorts for selling their UNIX license without permission. Of course, he'll have to ask them to finance his lawsuit against themselves.

Evil Empire + Evil empire = Super Ultra Evil Linux

If there were a time for Linux to be made into a tool of destruction to wipe out all mankind, to kick puppies, make children cry, steal candy from babies and import illegal aliens into our country to pay them pennies to work overtime, this would be it's opportunity.

Re:Evil Empire + Evil empire = Super Ultra Evil Li

I'd totally install "Super Ultra Evil Linux"

But ...

... can we call it genuine Linux?

The obvious question

Ok I'll ask it. Is seeing Microsoft selling Linux to an insanely large customer a major victory or is this a SCO tax? Do we congratulate or mail-bomb Novell? And wow, eight years ago, running Slackware this was a slightly absurd scenario you would joke about while trying to fix your rc.d scripts after an update.

1 in 5

At least now we know why 1 in 5 dosn't pass certification... [slashdot.org]

I know there's a joke here...

But I'm having a brain fart!!!

WalMart Farming out Server Stuff

I don't understand the internals, but it sounds like IBM like outsourcing.

WalMart is seeking guarantees of 100% uptime, no doubt, and leaving it to the support contractor to deliver, by my guess.

Bo

Classic FUD at work

The company now uses Linux in the data center of its current Web presence but had some trepidation with the idea of expanding it a much larger operation. "To think about using it pervasively, we were very concerned about it," she said. The larger Web operation would have "significantly higher legal exposure."

Fear? Check.
Uncertainty? Check.
Doubt? Check.
...
Profit for MS? Check.

And add some FSF FUD for good measure

OMG Microsoft is only one company away from getting it's filthy hands on the Linux codebase! It's only months before pre-packaged Shaftnix (supported by Novell) hits the market followed by a storm of Novell-specific Linux trojans! This will make Linux people out of (shudder) LUSERS! Why should we taint our beautiful GNU/Linux with the wretched eye-candy that consumers demand?! Attacks on the GPL will continue unabated, and only prostrating yourself at the feet of the mighty RMS and installing Debian will save you from the apocalypse that will come to destroy this unholy union.

so the deal means...

So the point of the deal was that Microsoft is going to start supporting SuSe as it does Windows??

Well if they do as good a job in Linux as they do for their Windows support, than my business should remain unaffected.

Doesn't this also mean that Microsoft has to actually understand the internal workings of a functional operating system before they can "support" it?

Novell thinks...

Novell thinks they made a great deal in cooperating with MS, i think they made a very big mistake. I'm very curious when we can start to pick up the pieces that will be left from Novell.

Good deal for MS

Well I don't see an upside for Linux. The article says

MS gets rid of vouchers without creating another Linux customer. MS wins
MS deprives Redhat of Revenue. MS wins
MS will get some Windows boxes installed at the same time. MS wins

tags?

Did the 'itsatrap' tag get banned or just go out of style?

Wait...

Your allowed to sell other companies you don't own to other companies now? M$oft: Hey Walmart, wanna buy Linux? WalMart: You own Linux? Linux: ...no he doesn't... M$oft: Don't listen to him and his crazy open source communist lies. WalMart: So how much? Linux: I'm not for sale! M$oft: How 'bout $20 and a pack of smokes? Linux: Seriously...I'm not for sale. WalMart: Wait a minute...why would we have to pay...they are open source, right? As in free "everything"... Linux: You can't just take our company... M$oft: Stop listening to his silly lies. Anyways, we claimed Linux first and we are going to put a price on it. $20 and a pack of smokes. Walmart: Fine fine... Linux: ...

One in 5 linux is...

Now, we will see one in 5 Linux non-genuine [slashdot.org].

Tax, influence, support

In Capitalist West Microsoft profits from communism.
In Soviet Union kgb buy Microsoft to track you.

Mb they are trying some form of tax, shape, support.
If you use linux support MS gets a cut.
If you want standards, MS will always have a seat at the table. They can grind away or re direct any momentum.
If you want more support, MS will 'help' you all the way back to MS products.

One in five?

I wonder if Microsoft will find that one in five Linux installs on Walmart computers are not genuine?

This is wonderful!

I already run Linux virtually on a Windows box. I get the ease of use of Linux with the incredible stability of Windows. Now I can add the unsurpassed support only Microsoft can offer.

Walmart is stupid

Linux is free.

Re:Walmart is stupid

No IT manager wants to take the blame for having a critical server crash.

Especially when the only guy they can reach internally just switched from supporting Windows and the guru is on vacation.

And the data center is operating on generator because a tornado knocked out the power.

You get the drift. Non-free Linux == CYA for managers.

Sound business decision imo.

With Vista being incomplete and a high profile customer Microsoft is better off with this decision. Let's say they don't do it, they lose money. Wal-Mart already uses Linux, smoother transition that is easier to negotiate. MS can "upgrade" the support beyond red-hat ...pauses for laughs... With Vista being THE OS microsoft wants to get everyone on board for I feel they just weren't ready and it was either this or lose the deal to someone else. It's not like they're going to gain a whole lot of support from the informed community, but this does set precedence for international sales on those who don't want Windows and want Linux for government applications. Now you're not voilating policy but paying for something you already have, plus a little garuntee of the moon (ie support + uptime). Everyone would love a Vista deal before it's ready, but MS Corp. isn't as stupid as some of their applications. Flexibility is required to stay on top.

Talk about embrace and extend!

This takes the cake. Microsoft Linux is next. I predict within 5 years, Vista will become a legacy product, and all new computers will be shipped with Microsoft's Windows API hosted on a Linux kernel.

For those that don't know, Billy G. made his first big sale of DOS to IBM before he even owned it - or so the rumors go. He bought the rights to what would become MS-DOS from a third party, and then sold it to IBM.

And it shouldn't surprise anyone that Microsoft is selling what doesn't belong to them. I wonder how the Windows developers feel. Imagine if your job could be eliminated by Linux. Microsoft doesn't care, they're going to sell whatever makes them money.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense for Microsoft to sell their desktop, rather than the OS:

• Kernel development is an overhead cost - it isn't seen by the users, and it doesn't sell the OS.
• Why bother with HW issues when Linux already does that for you - for free?
• Microsoft has actually been pretty good at making office software - considerably better than OS.
• Linux has the security Microsoft wishes Windows had.
• Linux doesn't have the spyware problem Windows does.

So if Microsoft can hide the complexities of Linux under a familiar interface, they could produce a very compelling product.

Re:Talk about embrace and extend!

I know you think MS is evil and all, but being evil doesn't erase technical issues. Porting full Vista functionality to Linux would probably take a decade at least and if it worked at all, it would probably be much worse than the real thing.

You buy into the myth that MS isn't capable of writing a an OS as secure and stable as Linux. The truth is they can't write an OS as secure and stable as Linux and still be backward compatible with Windows. Neither can anyone else (not that they want to).

If the day comes when the financial benefits of compatibilty are outweighed by the costs, we'll find out what kind of OS MS is capable of writing when released from the compatiblity chains that currently bind them.

Until then, it will continue to be an Apples to Oranges comparison of OS design skills between MS and Linux.

time to get out

MS to know how to support Linux for Wal-Mart???

Now I know its time to get out of this industry and do something else...

One headline I never expected to see...

* Hides behind the word "open" in front of "SuSE". *

Long time coming

I used to work for wal-mart 5 years ago when Kevin was the CIO. There are many linux fans at wal-mart but they have been reluctant to start large implementation because of the ongoing IBM vs SCO lawsuit. Walmart didnt want to get involved. And they have never done business with Red Hat. Walmart will not implement a product without support, period. Since they currently have so much leverage with Microsoft as it is, and no leverage with Novell, this pretty much comes at no surprise.

Is MS doing to Linux what they did to Netscape?

Is MS doing to Linux what they did to Netscape?

MS-Novell I.P. can be difficult for Linux

the big concern here is Microsofts relationship with Novell. Now that MSs strategy to support SCO has failed, MS has set their eyes on Novell. Novell, probably rightly, claim ownership of Unix.

MS might not have a clear plan, but a close ralationship with Novell can be a way to keep close control over Linux as well.

Imagine a patent/copyright/licencing/enforcement mutual agreement. Now MS sits on the right to enforce any Unix IP rights violation that might occur. MS might also have rights to Linux code released by Novell. Noticing that MS has a lot of money and Novell almost nothing, this or more like a merger, may be inevitable.

If not a direct threat to Linux, this may make it more difficult for Linux developers in may ways.

Should Novell donate the Unix I.P. rights to the FSF or the Linux community before it is too late?

Hmmm...Linux at Walmart...

Okay have to make the joke. Did you hear? Walmart now uses Suse for an OS! It'a saving them tons of money, so you can now get 13 pairs of socks for $9.99 instead of 12! It's an interesting change for Walmart, but not suprising. I bet you'll see more companies change to SuSE that are already *nix based.

Don't you remember Microsoft Xeonix?

Microsoft has already dabbled in the Linux/Unix world before with Xeonix. Maybe their planning on bringing it back and this is just the stepping stone. (Taking another Toke) HAHAHAHA

the evolution of corepirate nazi FUDgePacking

it's not a pretty sight.

1997: It's not a threat

When I was writing a feature about GNU/Linux for Wired magazine, I contacted Microsoft to find out their views on this new rival. At that time, they were so laid back about it, they were nearly falling over. In fact, GNU/Linux was such a negligible threat, they couldn't be bothered coming up with even a mild bit of FUD for me. They just said: "We have a very talented team of developers making sure NT is the most powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use operating system."

1999: It's not very powerful

By 1999, Microsoft's position that GNU/Linux wasn't a threat was no longer tenable. Articles started appearing in the technical press that not only dared to compare GNU/Linux with Microsoft's flagship Windows NT, but actually found it better. One, in a Ziff-Davis title called Sm@rt Reseller, for example, stated: "According the ZDLabs' results, each of the commercial Linux releases ate NT's lunch".

But help was at hand. In April 1999, a performance testing company called Mindcraft issued a press release headed "Mindcraft study shows Windows NT server outperforms Linux". It then emerged that Mindcraft had been commissioned by Microsoft to carry out the study - the first, but not the last time it would adopt this tactic. A fierce argument between Mindcraft and the open source community ensued about whether the tests had been fair, and how to make them fairer.

In fact, the end results of the re-run was not completely favorable to GNU/Linux, but something rather interesting happened. The open source community took the failures and used them to improve GNU/Linux to the point where it was indeed more powerful than Windows. By finding and drawing attention to free software's weak spots, Microsoft actually made it stronger.

2001: It's not very nice

In the face of the Mindcraft fiasco, and the growing strength of GNU/Linux, Microsoft changed tack. Steve Ballmer was wheeled out to bad-mouth the opposition, as only he can. In 2000, he said: "Linux sort of springs organically from the earth. And it had, you know, the characteristics of communism that people love so very, very much about it." In 2001, talking to the Chicago Sun-Times, he expressed himself even more forcefully: "Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches."

Powerful stuff. Unfortunately for the FUDmeisters at Microsoft, this kind of name-calling didn't go down too well with its intended audience. Even Microsoft's own research showed this, as revealed in one of the entertaining Halloween memos leaked to Eric Raymond.

2002: It's not very cheap

Once again, a massive change of tactics was required. Having failed to convince people that free software was either broken or bad, Microsoft decided to "prove" that it actually cost more to use than Windows - the famous TCO, or Total Cost of Ownership, studies. To achieve this, it drew on the "facts" to be found in a number of white papers from various analysts, all of which, by an amazing coincidence, came up with the result that running GNU/Linux was indeed more expensive than using Windows.

But it didn't take long for this story to unravel like all the others. First, it was not always clear whether Microsoft had commissioned the white papers that it liked to cite, or whether they were truly independent. This naturally tended to cast doubts on even those that were produced without Microsoft's input. Just as seriously, the TCO methodologies were often completely valueless, involving estimates of costs several years into the future, or the results were presented in a skewed fashion. When this became clear, people felt that they were being duped by Microsoft, and tended to discount the whole exercise.

The final nail in the coffin of this ironically-named "Get The Facts" campaign from Microsoft is the recent appearance of yet another white paper, which provided cast-iron evidence that GNU/Linux's TCO was actually better than that of Windows (well, as c

Porn?

So, does this mean we'll be able to get linux with gay porn pre-installed? [google.com]

It's simply MSFT getting back at NOVELL

So, MSFT got caught doing something bad with Novell's IP and ended up being stuck with bunch of Linux licenses to sell. And after a couple legitimate high-profile license purchases they finally found a loophole in the contract. So now, instead of making lucrative sales on behalf of Novell to the high tech corporate businesses they opted for the most common denominator consumer market which by and large is the smallest piece of pie when it comes to computer/OS deployment. More so, this is the area most resistant to Linux adoption (think for how long were Linspire and Mandriva available on Walmart shelves and how much of a difference that made), and as such Microsoft's safest bet for preserving market dominance.

I suspect there will be some layoffs in the Novell legal department over this one...

error

"Your instalation of Linux is not genuine.. Pay Microsoft now!"

Time to stop shopping at Wal-Mart!

Given the security-lax, bug-ridden nature of nearly all major Microsoft software products, it would be wise to avoid shopping at Wally-World if you want to avoid having your credit card triple or quadruple billed, don't want MS phoning home with your bank account information snagged from your PC, and do want to enjoy your privacy.

When Wal-Mart and Microsoft gang up on the consumer, one should be VERY AFRAID!

I bought a Walmart Linux PC...

A coupla years ago. The Linux distro on it was trashed - it had a Winmodem, no driver binary. There were Windows drivers sources on the CD, but uh..this is Linux, not Windows. Have no idea if the drivers matched the modem or not, or if they were complete. GCC was missing - no compiler at all on the CD. Also, the NIC card had no driver at all, even in source.
I called tech support 2 or 3 times. Always got the same guy in India or Pakistan. He spent 30 miuntes or so trying to explain to me how to use Windows Explorer to look at network properties before I could get thru to him that the PC wasn't Windows. He said he'd have to talk to his supervisor and would call back. He did, after a few hours, and tried to explain how to download the drivers from the internet - the windows drivers, again using IE. ...it went on for a few more calls, finally he said he'd found some rpm's for me. He emailed them, the files were broken when they arrived. After that, he didn't answer calls.
There is no way that PC configuration was tested before shipping. If WalMart is now partnering with MS (already a Linux enemy) to ship Linux, I'd be surprised if the box arrives with an actual computer inside.

things

There are two things how I think, The first, Microsoft wants to take whole market and kill *nixes on it. In example, customers will take a SuSe Linux instead of other solutions and when the time is coming - micro$oft will bought a Novell and closing the projects. And ... yep, all is ready. The second, Microsoft wants to port and get working their products on the linuxes, and for one or two years we will be looking for the microsoft products running on the linux boxes ones. Or .... it's just a stupid step for killing yet another commerical linux vendor. PS Sorry for my terrible english.

Nothing

The Borg queen is mating with the moties. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along...

MSFT sold UNIX in the past

MSFT used to sell the Xenix version of UNIX in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It performed poorly because UNIX was too bulky for x86 CPUs of that era. At that time MSFT was mainly a languages company and toying around with the OS biz. We all know where that went. They transferred PC-UNIX rights to SCO around 1983.

MS and Novell to figure it out

"That's our direction. That's where we're going, but if we hit a roadblock and we can't go forward, it's up to Microsoft and Novell to figure out what to do about it," she said.

Er... that sounds responsible. MS and Novell can't even agree on whether they think Linux infringes on MS patents.

So, it looks like Wal-Mart bought the MS "undisclosed balance liability" FUD, as they give their reasons for this move as, they were scared to expand Linux for fear of getting patent-sued by MS.

It really is sad that companies feel they have to buy another company's product or they'll sue them.

"Fear is the path to the dark side..."

Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Novell Continued

There's another good article on this story on Linux Insider: http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/LRYJCeEv9bWdeY/I s-Wal-Marts-Support-for-Suse-Linux-a-Tipping-Point .xhtml [linuxinsider.com]. It could be that the customer is driving this.

Re:MOD GP DOWN Re:Interesting

Wow, way to karma whore with that first useless comment. Why do all the high UIDs feel the need to do this?

Because they hope to earn some karma by finishing their sentences with a question mark?

Re:Interesting

Maybe this is a way for Microsoft to keep Red Hat away from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is strong and is likely very willing to play hard ball to get good Windows discounts.

I'm sure Microsoft execs were able to get Wal-Mart to use Suse by continuing to offer them great Windows discounts. This way they aren't really compromising the integrity (sic) of their volume licensing.

Re:Interesting

The new Lindows: SuSE + WGA

Wal-Mart has used UNIX since 1991

I suppose Walmart wants a stable 100% OS to run their system on ...

Wal-Mart installed UNIX-based systems in their stores in 1991. They use common systems and platforms in all their stores world wide. From an IT perspective Wal-Mart has been a pioneering and aggressive user of technology since 1969.

Re:MOD GP DOWN Re:Interesting

just because you suck at karma whoring doesn't mean you need to throw a hissy fit.

Re:This is official...

I dunno.

For some reason, I'm seeing Sergeant Debian marching right up to Private Novell, saying "You're no longer fit to wear this Penguin, boy", and angrily ripping the Tux symbols off Novell's epaulets.

Re:Interesting

Okay, seriously mods, the first comment posted cannot, by definition, be "redundant".

I realize that the parent may not have been the most insightful post, but don't be stupid.

Re:This is official...

... Hell has frozen over.

So has London.

Oh, Wait ...

Re:MOD GP DOWN Re:Interesting

Because all the people with low ones get modded up automatically?