Subject: Re: PowerPC Open Platform Boards

From: "Mark Emmanuel F. Rodriguez" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 13:24:02 -0600

>I don't know of any... and anecdotal evidence aside, it's the hard numbers
>that convince companies to port (or not).

It's hard to give numbers because everyone skews them to their advantage.
 Besides, it requires marketing research no one has really invested in.
Hard numbers really don't mean squat in today's market.  According to the
numbers three years ago, Apple should be dead right now but they aren't.
I'm curious as to why PPC/Linux, Inc., and Terrasoft Solutions, exist as
companies selling Linux distributions if the hard numbers will not
support them as a company.

>Possible... if these machines offer serious price/performance competition
>with
>x86. But that's a very hard thing to do, and requires large volume.
Ummm... there are many small companies building white boxes and they are
doing quite well.  i'll have to dive into my volumes of Computer Reseller
News to give you a list but I guess you can research that on your own.

>Yes, this doesn't count for much. I mean, Debian has a port to *Hurd*. :)
Umm...  I kinda said that in the (parentheses)

>To some extent they already do: CivCTP, Myth II, Eric's Solitaire... though
>I imagine the sales don't justify them dedicating much time to PPC
>exclusively.

I know they have it for those games but not for Quake III.  Like I said
before, "across the product line." That means everything.  Now you asked
me for hard numbers because companies use hard numbers to convince them
to port; yet you are not providing me numbers when you write, "though I
imagine the sales don't justify them dedicating much time to PPC
exclusively." Please, my brother, please...

>Nonetheless...
Fine.  So why on earth is VALinux buying all those content sites?
"Odd...  I see them everywhere.  Perhaps I should a VA Research box.
Since they invest time and money in our community."  Please, Marketing
does wonders for merchandise.  Speaking of VALinux, everyone must have
thought they were crazy selling boxes running Linux two/three years ago.
What the hell was linux back then?

>Games: the PPC kernel has no 3d hardware support. id Software (Quake) and
>Epic
>Games (Unreal) couldn't care less about porting from x86 to PPC, Alpha,
>Sparc... the money's not there.
3d support is a no brainer.  With all the hardware companies jumping on
board the open source band wagon because it is fashionable, they are
releasing the code for their reference drivers.  I believe nVidia
released the drivers for the GeForce under GPL.  Now that the code is out
there, someone could sit there and start porting it.  People should have
told that to the ppl at Terra Soft Solutions and PPC/Linux, Inc, that the
money isn't in PPC.  It's in those intel based systems.  I still stand
firm by my foresight that PPC based Linux boxes will compete head to head
effectively with the Intel and Athlon processors.  Give it two years of
good marketing. BTW OpenGL isn't so hot on the 'more common' platforms
either.

>Consumer: no WordPerfect, StarOffice, or much ISV support past Applix >(which
>we're lucky to have and I'm thankful for). Pray for AbiWord and Gnumeric.
Now why are you using PPCLinux instead of Debian or other distros for
Intel if none of these programs are not for PPC?  That's odd... now why
are these good programmers working on a platform that isn't worth the
time and energy because big businesses don't support this platform.  I
forcast that everything mentioned above will be ported to PPC eventually.
 The time isn't ripe yet.  It's like the chicken and the egg problem that
Apple had.  There are no games for MacOS so ppl don't buy Macintoshes,
but there are not enough Macintoshes to justify a game release so
companies won't make them. Now why aren't you trading in your PPC for a
Pentium or a K6?  You can get a really good price on your box since PMacs
seem to retain their value more than Intel based computers.  Then again,
you'll just tell me that I just gave you facts based on my own personal
experience and not hard numbers.

>Plus overall Linux usability issues. Lacking a *major* advantage of a
>Linux/PPC system, few will want to switch from their (more common)
>platform.
In time that will be resolved.  When I started playing with mkLinux DR3,
the GUI sucketh and it was a pain to play with.  Using a Intel Red Hat
box was much more easier because it didn't have the idyosyncrisities
(gosh, I butchered that word) mkLinux did.  Linux/PPC made my Macintosh
hardware fun. Man oh man... I can get into a Athlon vs. Pentium III vs
Celeron debate but I won't. As each day goes by, something is imnproved
in the PPCLinux based distros.  Last year ppl dismissed Linux as an OS
that was only for servers and now we're seeing Linux everywhere from
Servers to embedded devices.  Infact, there was an email discussion about
adding kiddie games to the Debian distro.  The Linux User Group in
Chicago had a discusssion about Linux in the classroom and who has
implemented it successfully.  Usablility has increased significantly.
Now if only AOL made a Linux version of their software, my ten year old
cousin would have inherited this old box I have...  That will come soon
enough...

Now about the more common platform...  There will always be those
Ubergeeks taht want to try something new and fast.  Then there are the
gamers that want something that out performs their friends rig.  Many of
the Video card makers rely on these people to make mad amounts of cash.
These are the same ppl that might want to play with PPC based boxes to
out do their friends.  Just look at all the gaming sites out there for
Linux, Winxxxx and MacOS x.x.  Then take into consideration all the
Ubergeek sites like 3dextreme or anandtech.com.  Ithink there is a market
for PPC boxes not made by Apple.

Again you give me no hard numbers about ppl moving from one platform to
the other.  The closed numbers I can give you are the stats for the iMac.
 A good number of WinXxxx users did switch to MacOS because of that
product.

Now why aren't you using Wintel since there are no Applications on the
PPC side of the tracks?  Go figure...

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