[clue-talk] Vmware ESX / VI, WTF?

[David L. Willson]

> Why not?  That's what I'm curious about.
> 
> Is it just a "religion" or is there a good business reason not to in 
> this case?

I think we're closer to a productive statement of points on which we agree and disagree,
so I'll say this, on this point.  The reason why I always choose platform neutral
products when such are available, is because I believe in the power of competition.  If
I let someone lever me into Exchange, or ESX, or MAGIC HDIQ, or Commtouch, or some other
choice-limiting product, I remove from myself, at least to a small extent, the benefit
of competition for my business.  A Linux-based product is ideally positioned to
encourage competition, because Linuxes are so very competitive with one another,
providing unprecedented lateral mobility for users and software makers.  If it were
"just me", then it would be only $100, as you say, but I think of myself as a leader, a
trail-blazer, a hero, an icon in the place where God put me, so I think of every move I
make as a "leading" move, something that others might follow, and that carries a
terrible burden of responsibility.  :-)

>From a pure cost/benefit perspective Linux is not always the best choice, but immediate
cost-benefit cannot be the only consideration, when a little short-term cost buys a
long-term benefit.

Let's take a couple example cases.  You don't have to agree with me on any or all of
them, but they are examples of when ~I~ choose to pay a little more to "do the right thing":

A Chipotle chicken burrito is $6, and they treat they animals nicely before they kill
and cook them for me.
A KFC chicken meal is less bucks, but the animals may not be treated humanely.

Oil is $x per unit of energy produced.
Solar, wood, wind, alcohol, all cost more today, but as people choose to pay a little
more for clean reproducible energy, the benefits of commoditization and competition
become realized and the price difference shrinks.

Throwing away plastics costs me almost nothing, but has a long-lasting and negative
effect on the environment.
Recycling is much more expensive, but minimizes the negative impact on the environement.

Windows is $x, but every person that only uses and only knows Windows is one more
prisoner to MS's interoperability FUD.
Linux is $y and/or z hours of downloading and burning, and any person that knows any
Linux, can change OS vendors with an ease unprecedented in this industry.


-- David