Microsoft decided this week to drop Linux and Unix support for customers running FAST’s Enterprise Search Platform.
Lucid’s Chief Executive Eric Gries told Register’s Gavin Clark that 80 percent of FAST customers are running Linux or Unix.
“This news is the final nail in the coffin,” Gries told the Register’s Gavin Clark. “I’m puzzled by the thinking at Microsoft. But for us it definitely helps. Customers who were on the fence thinking about staying with FAST and Linux and moving to Solr – their decision is very clear.”
Clark reported that according to Gries, Microsoft’s decision will mean that businesses who’d been unsure about whether to use FAST or another open source solution like Lucene or Solr will now move elsewhere.
“There are other alternatives,” Clark reported, “to those who don’t want to become dependent on Window, Office, or SharePoint or be locked into a single vendor such as Microsoft or even rival Oracle that offers its Secure Enterprise Search. These options include Google’s Search Appliance and also Sphinx.”
Clark said that Microsoft’s decision is a gift to the open source community.
