InsideTech

Have you noticed, in your personal IT experience, any new trends that seem to be developing?

There seems to be a trend of organizations switching away from Linux and PHP and over to Windows and ASP.NET, which pretty bad for Open Source. I hope it does not continue.

digioz says ...

There seems to be a trend of organizations switching away from Linux and PHP and over to Windows and ASP.NET, which pretty bad for Open Source. I hope it does not continue.

That may be true for the smaller web apps and home-grown stuff, but I am still seeing the big enterprise apps running on UNIX/Linux and utilizing JEE platforms.  I'm thinking here of the SAP and Oracle product suites.  Granted, there are some Windows-only offerings within those suites, but that is due mainly to M&A activities.  For example, many pieces of the Hyperion product suite are Windows .NET, but that's because Oracle hasn't re-plumbed them yet.  I expect those things to be ported/rearchitected to make use of the WebLogic server.

Now that Oracle will be the chief steward of Java, I expect things to get shaken up a bit.  Sun's weak marketing department was not up to competing with anyone, let alone Microsoft.  Oracle is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, and they are heavily invested in Java.  .NET may be enjoying a resurgence for now, but I think it will be short lived if Ellison has anything to say about it (and he usually does).

Then there is project Harmony and the backing that it receives from IBM.  I am hoping they make some waves in the near future as well.  The Oracle/Sun deal may inject some life into that project as well.

Anyway, a move to Windows is not necessarily a complete abandonment of OSS.  MS is trying to be more competitive with its server OS licensing (look at the 4-for-1 deal on Server 2008 for example).  They will get quite a few takers from IT shops that are heavily virtualized.  But people will still run Java apps on Windows; you might be surprised at how many instances of Tomcat are running in the Fortune 500.

Animation has come a long way since the original Mickey Mouse. Animation has become so lifelike that you have to do a double take to inspect whether it's actual or virtual. The first time this happened to me was the animated short called "Animatrix" just before one of the Matrix series movies. It took me a while to figure out it was actually animation and not real. The graphics were so believable that at first I thought it was live action! Since then, this same animation technique was used in the movie "Beowolf". I can't wait to see improvements on this technique because this will enhance the CGI already used in movies. What I'm trying to say is that between CGI and this new animation technique (computer generated as well) there is a new dawn unfolding in cinema. High budget movies will cease to exist as CGI reigns supreme in the entertainment industry. Why pay Tom Cruise 20 million dollars to be in a movie when you can create a hero with CGI to do more than he can and look better doing it? Why pay for two cruise ships to collide when you can just use CGI to cut the cost. I think I'm on to something here...stay with me...this new technique that I'm speaking of is actually several subprograms running simultaneously. There is a program that makes hair move with the body, there is a program to add skin imperfections to the character, there is a walking program, a talking program and a blinking program. All these programs run together seamlessly. As this technique advances we will be getting closer and closer to virtual reality, folks! Isn't that exciting! Now movies will no longer be hampered by cost overruns, as a matter of fact, they will be able to cut their costs and drastically improve their profit margin on ticket sales. Woo Hoo! That means more fantastic movies and more movies from independent film producers. And, of course, more fun for moviegoers.

mustangbarry Says:

Now movies will no longer be hampered by cost overruns, as a matter of fact, they will be able to cut their costs and drastically improve their profit margin on ticket sales. Woo Hoo! That means more fantastic movies and more movies from independent film producers. And, of course, more fun for moviegoers.

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Give it a little while Barry.......I'm sure they will outsource it to another country due to budgetary constraints.

Sorry to be so jaded regarding Hollywood, but my previous parent company/employer, which was Hollywood related was of

a dubious character. Lots of fraud, wasteful spending, and tax evasion; however, I'm sure( or I hope ) they aren't all similar.

True, but I see fewer and fewer new organizations joining the Open Source Application User base. And a lot of the existing ones seem to be switching over to .NET Framework reliant Applications.

Pete

mrpumpkinguy says ...

digioz says ...

There seems to be a trend of organizations switching away from Linux and PHP and over to Windows and ASP.NET, which pretty bad for Open Source. I hope it does not continue.

That may be true for the smaller web apps and home-grown stuff, but I am still seeing the big enterprise apps running on UNIX/Linux and utilizing JEE platforms.  I'm thinking here of the SAP and Oracle product suites.  Granted, there are some Windows-only offerings within those suites, but that is due mainly to M&A activities.  For example, many pieces of the Hyperion product suite are Windows .NET, but that's because Oracle hasn't re-plumbed them yet.  I expect those things to be ported/rearchitected to make use of the WebLogic server.

Now that Oracle will be the chief steward of Java, I expect things to get shaken up a bit.  Sun's weak marketing department was not up to competing with anyone, let alone Microsoft.  Oracle is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, and they are heavily invested in Java.  .NET may be enjoying a resurgence for now, but I think it will be short lived if Ellison has anything to say about it (and he usually does).

Then there is project Harmony and the backing that it receives from IBM.  I am hoping they make some waves in the near future as well.  The Oracle/Sun deal may inject some life into that project as well.

Anyway, a move to Windows is not necessarily a complete abandonment of OSS.  MS is trying to be more competitive with its server OS licensing (look at the 4-for-1 deal on Server 2008 for example).  They will get quite a few takers from IT shops that are heavily virtualized.  But people will still run Java apps on Windows; you might be surprised at how many instances of Tomcat are running in the Fortune 500.

I see it as a very dangerous and disconcerting proposal even under the umbrella or maybe better said....the guise of security.