I have to agree with the troll(Yes, you, routermonkey). After working on Cisco routers/pix/switches/etc- all they are are intel boxes with standard nic's in the end. They are commodity hardware. The value that Cisco adds is in giving functionality to IOS.
They charge us about 60K a year just to allow us to upgrade this functionality. That hardware isn't anything special comparing apples to apples. It's the ease of managing large amounts of commodity hardware that makes Cisco's products/services worth more than Linksys.
I don't think that Cisco losing it's code is bad though. I think the demand for service is still there because most folks want their stuff updated and will pay for it to be done. Linux distro's do this now- Clarkconnect, RedHat, etc.
I just don't think Cisco realizes that they can win on this one. They are such tight asses, I doubt they will ever see it. And their design philosophy is a full embrace of the hidden and sometimes completely stupid(Enterprise VOIP Phone Centers running on Microsoft Exchange?!?! WTF are you Smoking!). And I think they shitcanned their last linux VPN programmers. '2.6 kernel?! Wha Wha'z that Bozz?' You get the jist...
Another case in point- ever try to navigate through their http site? Holy shitballs.. you need a priveledged account just to download a free patch from 2 years ago. It's insane- but everyone having their code now may make them more receptive to consumer access and consumer pressures.
We'll see. It can end well- but again, I don't think Cisco can see past the panic of the proprietary. I hope they prove me wrong. They do try to provide good service to their customers- so they already have one foot in the right direction. Whether or not the other foot kicks themselves in the ass remains to be seen.
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Re:fud
Posted by: ThoreauHD on May 18, 2004 07:12 AMThey charge us about 60K a year just to allow us to upgrade this functionality. That hardware isn't anything special comparing apples to apples. It's the ease of managing large amounts of commodity hardware that makes Cisco's products/services worth more than Linksys.
I don't think that Cisco losing it's code is bad though. I think the demand for service is still there because most folks want their stuff updated and will pay for it to be done. Linux distro's do this now- Clarkconnect, RedHat, etc.
I just don't think Cisco realizes that they can win on this one. They are such tight asses, I doubt they will ever see it. And their design philosophy is a full embrace of the hidden and sometimes completely stupid(Enterprise VOIP Phone Centers running on Microsoft Exchange?!?! WTF are you Smoking!). And I think they shitcanned their last linux VPN programmers. '2.6 kernel?! Wha Wha'z that Bozz?' You get the jist...
Another case in point- ever try to navigate through their http site? Holy shitballs.. you need a priveledged account just to download a free patch from 2 years ago. It's insane- but everyone having their code now may make them more receptive to consumer access and consumer pressures.
We'll see. It can end well- but again, I don't think Cisco can see past the panic of the proprietary. I hope they prove me wrong. They do try to provide good service to their customers- so they already have one foot in the right direction. Whether or not the other foot kicks themselves in the ass remains to be seen.
-Thor
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