Stuart Herbert

If you want to keep up with the Apache Herd’s work on refreshing the Apache packages, you can follow the meta bug, and read the refresh documentation.

A big thanks to the Apache Herd for everything they’ve done so far!

Gentoo’s recent surprise announcement of a Gentoo/OpenSolaris project will surely be a headline grabber. OpenSolaris is relatively virgin turf - staking an early claim might be a winning move. I certainly hopes it turns out to be a better publicity stunt that Gentoo/MacOS did in its early days.

But what about OpenSolaris itself? The Solaris operating system, and the Sun hardware that it runs best upon, has become more and more irrelevant to more and more businesses. The e-commerce strategy of small and medium companies is built around Windows and Linux running on x86 hardware in the datacentres of people like Rackspace. These places rarely offer Sun hardware, and Solaris/x86 has historically travelled a very rocky road, making it a choice for the brave. In this marketplace, Sun has little to no visibility. If they are competing at all, it’s not working.

Sun needs to make Solaris a real and available option in the hosting market.

Getting hosting vendors like Rackspace to offer Sun hardware as an option is only half the battle. Where are the small ISVs who will be writing the software to run on this hardware? Well, they’re happily making their living in a Sun-free environment. Microsoft’s Certified Partnership scheme is aggressive, looking to hover up ISVs and turn them into Microsoft shops. RedHat’s partnership scheme is much more tame, and offers fewer clear advantages to the ISV. I couldn’t tell you about Sun’s iForce partnership scheme. The webpage is long, but doesn’t actually say a lot. There’s no online sign-up. The only source for extra information is to send an email through to a named contact.

Sun could do more to reach out to the ISVs that write the software that Solaris needs.

Sun’s apparent battle for the hearts and minds of large corporate boardrooms creates the very space that both Windows and Linux thrives in. Most companies don’t need (and can’t afford) the big iron that Sun and IBM excel in. Many companies don’t use IBM products either - making Sun’s recent spat at IBM a curious strategy. At the time of writing, the Solaris 10 specs page states that Solaris 10 on x86 is well suited for companies that are already invested in Solaris expertise and commercial Solaris applications but would like the flexibility to leverage x86-based hardware. There isn’t anything at all about why ISVs should consider adding Solaris period to the list of platforms that they sell software and solutions for.

Sun seems content to fight for a corner of its existing market. And whilst it does, much of the world is content to think of Sun as a company that isn’t relevant to their IT strategies and purchasing decisions.

It was freezing cold inside the Millenium Stadium yesterday, but the Tsunami Relief Concert was well worth it

I’m currently not spending much time on Gentoo bugs.

I missed a key deadline over Christmas for the PHP book I’m writing for Marco, and am desperately trying to get Part 1 finished and out the door. The chapters are written; I’m just editing them and getting the style and tone consistent across all of them.

I’ve also been busy getting the Gentoo UK 2005 Conference together. Gareth Bult from Flash Linux will be speaking at the event. Turns out that he lives five minutes down the road from me too, so I think a pint or two’s in order later this week

Registration for the event is now open. Register in advance, and it’ll cost you five pounds. Turn up on the day, and I’m charging a tenner. The money is to cover the cost of hiring the venue. I need about 60 people to register in advance to break even.

Yes, this is a shameless plug, but it’s what friends do for friends

Easy-Cap have just started importing and selling the Mecrom Easy-Cap replacement petrol cap into the UK. I wish I’d had one of these back when I owned a diesel car. I used to hate it when I got diesel on my hands accidentally; the paper towels you find on the forecourt just don’t do the job of getting the stuff off.

Anyway, the whole point of these new fuel tank caps is that there is nothing to unscrew and remove. The cap is a spring-loaded trap; stick the nozzle in, fill ‘er up, and that’s it. They’re easy to fit, and they fit most cars on the road today.

You should be hearing a lot about these over the coming year.