Another Crack In Oracle’s Unbreakable Strategy
So IBM just announced that they are not certifying Unbreakable Linux to be compatible with their software. This spells trouble for the struggling “distribution”. Oracle was already having difficulty getting people to sign up to their bargain basement rebranding of RedHat Enterprise, with this announcement even more doubt will be cast on the advisability of going with Unbreakable.
Despite Oracle’s claims that Unbreakable will be identical, IBM is taking a wait and see stance. If their clients start demanding support IBM will reconsider. Of course this is, most likely, a winning argument for them since even fewer people will switch to Unbreakable w/out IBM’s support.
It seems fairly clear that this is not primarily a technical issue. IBM has been a long time booster of Open Source and has a vested interest in it’s continued success. Oracle has been attacking Open Source companies and perhaps even the model itself recently. It looks to me like IBM has made this move as a defensive one to protect it’s interests and it’s a pretty risk-free move at that. It drives another nail into Unbreakable’s coffin, but the wording is so mild should Unbreakable actually become a success IBM can easily change directions.
