We, the PowerPC Linux user community and other concerned individuals, would like to express our support for a viable alternative to the Intel architecture. Apple's failure to come to an agreement with Motorola and IBM concerning clones and the buy out of Power Computing has caused many of us great concern.
We would like to propose that a PowerPC hardware manufacture support Linux as an alternative to the MacOS. Because of the lower price of the PowerPC chip versus Intel chips, we believe that PowerPC machines have the potential for a better price-to-performance ratio. Until recently, the only large market for PowerPC machines were systems running MacOS. With the increasing popularity of Linux-ppc, MkLinux, and Be OS, there now is a market for non-MacOS systems, just as there is a market for pre-configured Intel-Linux systems.
The computer industry has historically chosen open systems and consumer choice over proprietary systems, even though the proprietary systems may have had technical or other advantages. Look no further than the IBM PS/2 for an example. Linux is the definition of an open system. All of the source code to create the OS is available for anyone to look at and use. Any user with the knowledge can contribute what they feel is valuable, not what is deemed to be marketable. This allows users choices never before seen in the computing industry.
If PowerPC hardware is available at competitive prices, it will offer even more options to the Linux community. Porting an application from Intel Linux to PowerPC Linux is as simple as recompiling the source code. This makes the processor the OS is running on irrelevant. Then the major factors in choosing a system are reliability and price to performance. We believe the PowerPC has a clear advantage in this area.
The Macintosh platform is currently limited to one processor, and the whims of Apple. The future of the Windows platform is limited to the Intel architecture for the foreseeable future, as most applications are released as executable binaries. The future of Linux, because it is a totally open system, is limited only by the programming abilities of its users. Linux also requires no licensing fees. The only costs associated with building machines for Linux are providing specifications and hardware to key developers.
So, we strongly encourage the PowerPC manufacturers to take a chance and try Linux. Simply selling the machines for the cost of production will cost less than throwing away the huge investment in research and development, not to mention the inventory already produced. Never forget that the most important people to your company are your customers, and your customers want Linux!
As Red Hat, a popular Intel-Linux distributor, is fond of saying: Join the revolution!
Please send any other comments to my personal address below. If you are concerned about privacy, the list collected will only be used for the purpose of this petition.
Thank you for your support. Together we can make a difference.
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Primary author: Troy Benjegerdes.
This document was written and composed in its entirety on a Linux System
with 100% free software, running on a Power Macintosh 7100/80. It is web
served by a 486 class machine, running Red Hat Linux 4.2
Minor grammar corrections made on 10/2/97