This new Solaris giveaway is a step in the direction that I suggested here a couple of weeks ago. Of course, I think it's a great idea! :)
Unfortunately, there are some glitches, which could cause some backlash if not dealt with promptly. I went to the sign, joined their "club", and then filled-out the survey. Finally got to the "buy it" button, and.... nothing. The order form is broken - the server returns no response to the URL.
I have used Solaris X-86 in the past, and was pretty happy with it, so I'm eager to give it a try on a machine at home. I've been thinking of setting up a Linux box, but given an equal price, I'd much perfer to run Solaris, because whatever I learn translates almost directly to Solaris-Sparc which I see as more marketable experience than Linux.
I think they could get a good number of the programmers and hobbyists that now run Linux to move over to Solaris with this move, and that could actually translate into sales when these people have to recommend a Unix OS at work, particularly if they are in a non-Unix work environment. (e.g. a specific application needs Unix, etc.) I think most people would prefer to go with what they already know in this situation.
Oh, well, helps make me feel better about my decision at the end of the day - in a 48 1/8 in the morning, out at 49 1/2 on the close. Purely technical, though - if I were a fundamental long-term investor I would certainly hold SUNW here.
I would have held over night for a gap, with the strong close, except for two factors:
1. the market was poor, with a DJ30 -500 tick much of the day going into the close. (Though finally managed a 0 tick for the close itself.)
2. Although SUNW had a strong close - the kind of close that almost always spells a gap the next day, it closed on what I see as resistance at 49 1/2. That was actually the target that I had set when I bought in the morning, in fact. Had it gone through 49 1/2 (OK, it made it to 49 5/8, big deal...), I would have held, and probably would have held as well had it never touched 49 1/2 during the day.
I've been trading SUNW and AAPL in tandem, and I think, given a good market, that AAPL has better prospects tomorrow, since it cleared resistance on the close.
You can see that I am very much a short-term trader. But I like to trade stocks that are fundamentally sound, to reduce risk. |
