[Beowulf] Oh.. IBM eats Red Hat

[Joe Landman]

On 10/30/18 10:35 AM, Prentice Bisbal via Beowulf wrote:
>
> On 10/29/2018 07:40 PM, Douglas Eadline wrote:
>
[...]

> Yeah, after I posted that, I read more on the topic, and the whole 
> cloud thing was cited repeatedly. I just find it hard to believe IBM 
> is going that way, as it seems antithetical to the direction they 
> moved in a few years ago: selling off the x86 business because they 
> wanted to get out of the commodity computing arena where there was too 
> much competition and low margins and move into more specialized 
> high-margin products. I consider cloud computing to be the ultimate 
> form of commodity computing.


Which problem is IBM solving by buying RH?  Basically its a customer 
base and market penetration, a set of standard software tools that are 
the business defaults, and a cash cow support revenue stream.

IMO, this was a wise move for them.  It was a good move for RH.

I know there are many who think IBM will (eventually) destroy/mess up 
RH.  This may (eventually) be.

However ... IBM would be loath to kill the goose that lays predictable 
golden eggs every quarter.  More likely than not, RH will internally 
"take over" some sections of IBM itself, to increase this cash cow.  IBM 
management has been having a tough time turning a profit over the last 
few years, even as the migrate more of their staff positions to India 
and other lower HR cost geos.

The impact on CentOS will likely, initially, be minimal.  Though, I 
fully expect that IBM will actually start enforcing the license language 
that says that CentOS cannot be distributed in a commercial context.  
They are not going to leave money on the table.

> And yes, those problems could have been solved for less than $34B, but 
> how quickly and easily? It's not uncommon for one business to buy 
> another to address a deficiency quickly, rather than building their 
> own team from the ground up.

I disagree that they could have solved the problems for less. There is 
always a cost to business decisions ... if you decide you really want to 
solve this quick, and acquisition is the right path, you have to accept 
that there are market forces that will help decide pricing for you.  Bid 
too low, and someone will swoop in.  Bid too high, and your 
board/shareholders will revolt and sue you.

All this said, Ubuntu LTS may be the only other (really) viable 
alternative.  And I expect that their phone has been ringing with at 
least 3 players I can imagine.




>
> -- 
> Prentice
>>
>> -- 
>> Doug
>>
>>
>>> Prentice
>>>
>>> On 10/29/2018 02:43 PM, Jörg Saßmannshausen wrote:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> it is not only that, but I saw something about Mellanox today as well.
>>>>
>>>> Not good news in my humble opinion. :-(
>>>>
>>>> All the best
>>>>
>>>> Jörg
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Am Montag, 29. Oktober 2018, 07:42:48 GMT schrieb Tony Brian Albers:
>>>>> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-red-hat-m-a-ibm/ibm-to-acquire-softw 
>>>>>
>>>>> are-company-red-hat-for-34-billion-idUSKCN1N20N3
>>>>>
>>>>> I wonder where that places us in the not too distant future..
>>>>>
>>>>> I've worked for Big Blue, and I'm not sure the company cultures are
>>>>> compatible to say the least.
>>>>>
>>>>> /tony
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Joe Landman
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