VanLUG Email Archive
1) Why Oracle and not IBM DB2, Informix, Adabas-D, mySQL, ... If we
demo one, then we really have to demo them all. We don't have the
resources to do this. We could invite them all to demo in our booth or
we could provide an open literature table, but that would be the extent
of it. Having an "Oracle hour", an "IBM DB2 hour", ... with
representatives from the vendors would demonstrate how "grown up" Linux
is. It's not as if there is just one choice and Linux users are "lucky
to get it" -- virtually every major database vendor has announced
support for Linux. Inviting these companies to participate in our booth
could have side benefits as well (logistics, network connections,
hardware, etc).
2) If we are demoing the software, then there is an implicit
recommendation. This would put pressure on individual volunteers to
"echo the hype" instead of stating their own experiences. The open
source alternatives (eg: postgresql) will get lost in the hoopla.
3) We don't actually know much about these products. If it's true that
Oracle is just using Linux in some kind of "Bait and Switch" scheme,
then it really is vapourware and we would just be contributing to the
hype. If someone in the booth has used Oracle on Linux, they should
feel free to tell how it went. "Oracle hour" could be hosted by an
interested and experienced VanLug volunteer, for instance. As a users
group, we need to remain independent in order to be able to share
accurate information. We also could never do as good a job demoing
Oracle as Oracle itself can.
4) We should try and spread the Linux excitement around as much of the
show as possible and not try to concentrate it all in our own booth.
Linux is a big thing and the more questions, discussion and demos in
other booths, the better. If Oracle knows we will be sending customers
their way, they can be better prepared to answer them.
> > It would be really cool to be able to say that everything we demo on
> > Linux can be used in a commercial environment without per machine or per
> > user licence fees and comes with source code.
>
> So have two machines, one demoing the commerical stuff, and another
> one about which you can say that.
>
Yeah, I came to the same conclusion later in the note with the "local
vendor" station. It seems you want to extend this to "the big boys" as
well.
I think that one of the things we can offer as a users group that has
enormous value to the COMDEX community is accurate information about the
current state of open source software. How far can you go without
paying per user, per machine license fees? It is a lot further than
most COMDEX attendees expect. With all due respect, it is a lot further
along than most "UNIX gurus" expect as well. We can pleasantly surprise
people without resorting to any hype and just demoing things as they are
and the work in progress.
If a booth visitor goes away thinking that Linux is not quite ready for
his/her purposes and it really isn't, this is to the long term benefit
of Linux and a credit to our users group. If they go away thinking it's
not ready when it is OR if they go away thinking that it's ready when it
is not, then Linux and VanLUG lose -- either right away or when the
disappointment sets in.
> > 1) 7x24 reliability. We could offer a prize if any one of the Linux
> > demo machines crashes during the show.
>
> I'm not sure you want to do that; keep in mind that the show is
> probably a rather hostile environment already; you don't want to
> encourage people to try to crash the systems. What if you run into
> a problem that makes the machine crash repeatedly? How many prizes
> are you going to have to give away? :-)
>
I certainly agree that this concept needs to be handled with care. The
"rules" would have to discourage cracking (ie: only counts if we have to
reboot during a "guided demo"). We should probably exempt the
"experimental machine" and the proprietary demos.
The key thing is to set the expectation level right. If we expect some
problems, then the prize should be small (eg: an "I saw Linux crash"
lapel sticker). This would be consistent with our role as a users group
conveying accurate information. If we are super confident, then the
prize could be something bigger, like a copy of Windows NT, but we would
only reward one prize.
Just saying "Linux is stable" is not enough. Even a symbolic prize
means we are willing to "bet on it". The nature of the example prizes
also illustrates that we are willing to "eat our words" if Linux is not
as stable as we think it is. The publicity value of this could be
enormous -- it's on par with Microsoft Executives's demonstrating OS/2
crashing, but without the negativity.
The risks are also great. If the hardware we are demoing on is not
*really good*, then we shouldn't do this. We also shouldn't do this if
it's going to cause us to avoid demonstrating something important. We
should not decide on this or announce it until literally the day before
the show once we've got everything together and can evaluate it.
> Better would be testimonials from people who are serious about 7/24
> uptime. I'd be happy to do something in this regard; Portal runs
> entirely on free software that I set up (admittedly NetBSD instead
> of Linux, but the idea's there) and we have a better uptime record
> than most ISPs running much more expensive commerical systems.
> There must be others out there.
>
You raise an interesting point. I omitted the whole area of experience
and testimontials from actual use. Of course this is very important,
although its hard to present this at a trade show. Having some "poster
presentations" and reprints of the Vancouver Sun article would go a long
way. Of course we will encourage people to join VanLUG to find out
more.
> [SNIP]
> Uh, I don't think you want to separate all the non-Linux open source
> stuff off to the side. You will be able to do demos with XFree86
> only in this little corner, and in fact even things such as /bin/sh
> would be over there. :-)
>
XFree86 and /bin/sh come with Linux distributions. :-)
I don't know how VanLUG as a whole would react to demos of non-Linux
open source operating systems or demos of open source software on
Windows. My personal take is that these are important messages, but
this is not the right venue for them.
We can only convey one very simple message at a trade show. From the
previous posts, I would summarize that message as "Linux is being
deployed today in selected business, research, and software development
settings and is gearing up to attempt being the primary OS of the
future. VanLUG provides 'just the facts' to help members determine when
Linux is ready for their needs".
Have I got this right?
-Brian