Charity Shuns Open Source Code 115
brown-eyed slug writes, "The BBC has an article explaining Christian Aid's decision to use Microsoft software in preference to Linux. It re-opens the classic debate about the total cost of ownership, highlighting the wider availability of Microsoft skills, as well as the beneficial pricing policy of the Seattle giant. From the article: '...one of the things that we find is that Microsoft is viewed as the big, bad organization — but they've actually got some good corporate social responsibility. If you're a charity or an educational institution, you pay pence in the pound for the license, compared to what a major bank might pay.'" While the Christian Aid spokesman makes some good points, he seems to miss totally the idea of open code — confusing code with data.
Lots of cheap software (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.techsoup.org/stock/category.asp?catalo
http://www.techsoup.org/stock/category.asp?catalo
Let us pray (Score:5, Funny)
A good but goofy point (Score:5, Insightful)
eh (Score:5, Insightful)
i work for a very large non-profit. we get huge breaks and we still spend a lot (to me anyway) because there is some stuff we do that justifies the cost. when we can - and when the tool best fits, we use open source. just like a big for-profit company should do. a person who writes off open source completely without analyzing each situation is really just hurting themselves. often OSS might not work, but when it does it can really be a great cost saver. especially if you can train volunteers or existing staff.
is OSS free as in beer completely? no - of course not. does it cost more than a closed source solution? it really depends on so many variables that change from situation to situation that there is no way to make a blanket statement.
my organization just got oracle to give us a huge break on some stuff. it was a huge deal to get them to do it. they had to be sure that it wouldn't violate some of their contracts with the government. (by giving someone else lower prices or something-- i'm not involved at a level to know the details) it went through, we saved an insane amount compared to the 'list price' but it was still expensive. and getting skilled people is not a walk in the park. but we think it is the tool that will best meet our needs in a specific area. we also use linux (server and some desktops), we use some OSS project management tools, we use a ton of stuff all over the place that is open source. and we use windows. but i don't see the windows stuff as saving us a ton of money. shoot, we had a virus problem the other week that caused a lot of issues. i think part of that was because we run a.v. that isn't the greatest - but it was cheaper (not in the long i don't think, but that's not my area). on my aix and linux servers-- i don't have to pay for or worry about a.v. and they don't even address the cost of compliance management.
so there you have it -- on charities pro-oss story to balance out anothers con-oss story.
pence in the pound (Score:5, Insightful)
Suuuure.. as if major customers don't get huge volume discounts and other incentives to remain MS shops. The people who end up having to pay full price are the home and small business types who can't get volume discounts- they are the ones that get raked over the coals. It is from screwing the endless little customers over that MS gets fat and rich, then gives back a tiny percentage to charity to get all the glory for having "social responsibility".
It's the classic answer, really (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not like people are going to suddenly develop a love of programming en masse. The ability to modify the operating system, or anything else for that matter, is about as important to most people as the color of the motherboard.
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That said, I can see the point about there being a larger pool of worker-bees who can just sit down at a WinXX machine and go straight to work.
Linux has arrived, and in a big way. It'll just take time to spread and that spread will be aided by the coming glut of wi
Irony? (Score:4, Insightful)
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And rather that complaining about non-profits, how about the warez leaches? People who steal are subsidized by you too, and they contribute nothing...
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how about the warez leaches?
This story wasn't about warez leeches.
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Me: Joe stole a cookie.
You: Oh yeah? Sue stole a cookie!
Me:
Sometimes the Puppy Analogy is true (Score:5, Insightful)
The article quotes the charity as saying: So its easier and less expensive for them to find both volunteers and employees who already know how to use MS software as opposed to having to go through the time and expense of training them anew on something different. That is a valid concern if they are trying to operate on a shoe-string budget. The noted that the licensing cost for the charity is "pay pence in the pound for the licence" (i.e. cents on the dollar). So the training and support become major expenses.
Um. (Score:3, Insightful)
Linux works better than charity (Score:2, Interesting)
O.k. if a person can attempt that first, the person should also 'be able' to and 'optiona
"Re-opens"? (Score:4, Insightful)
It re-opens the classic debate about the total cost of ownership
I must have missed something: when was this debate closed?
Guilty as charged (Score:5, Informative)
If I tried to put Linux on the desktops, erm I'd probably be sacked.
There are sooo many little 'bits and pieces' we use in this organisation which simply wouldn't work in Linux. Funders often provide their own software, for example, that we are expected to use in order to capture data and return facts and figures. Sometimes it's written in Access, sometimes VB or something else - but 99 times out of 100 it's for Windows.
Just recently we had to roll out some health and safety training software for our young trainees who we get paid good money for. Interestingly it's mostly written in Shockwave which is available for Linux I believe, but it's all wrapped in a
OpenOffice isn't quite there yet either - we did try it a few years ago (to be fair it'll have improved since), and aside from the staff saying "I'm not using this because I'm not used to it, put Office back on please" there were often so many little formatting/translation issues that didn't work properly when people took work home to their MS Office based computers.
Digital cameras are a big part of our work, for collecting training evidence. Unfortunately the departments were 'let loose' in buying their own digital cameras from those above me and so inevitably we ended up with a bunch that have a proprietary USB interface (as opposed to mass storage) and are not supported in Linux.
With the diversity of our projects, the project leaders just so often need a piece of custom software. Until Linux becomes more widely adopted, or WINE something resembling useful (sorry but it *still* doesn't run most of the software I throw at it) it is simply not viable. As much as we'd love to save the money, it turns out that the money is actually worth spending.
Unfortunately, although there is a religious crusade behind the basic existence of our charity, it's the one called Christianity - not the one called Linusanity
I would think... (Score:1)
These people might as well have leprosy (Score:1, Insightful)
Shun oss in favor of MegaEvilCorp. Check.
I guess this explains the torrent of negative and condescending comments. Is there anything these people could have done more wrong in the eyes of the slashdot collective? Maybe sued RMS in a Rev. Phelps styled lawsuit?
Microsoft's "Charity" (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you think MS is doing that to support higher education? I doubt it. I'm more certain that they see it as a cheap way of indoctrinating people to use MS products so that when they get out of college they are so used to using MS, that they don't even stop to think of anything else existing.
Bah! TCO (Score:3, Interesting)
TCO, like most statistics is skewed toward the biases of the people putting the numbers together listening carefully and intentionally including the biases of their employer. In this case the TCO will never come out in favor of Linux because of the organization's biases.
I think this is a good thing though. The more biased and irrational the PHB the more likely they will listen to Dvorak/Microsoft craziness. The more that hyperbole is abused the better for Linux.
Meanwhile, the more rational PHB will look at the tools available for the job and decide which is best. In increasingly more and more situations, Linux will be the better tool.
re-opening the classic debate (Score:5, Funny)
sczimme [slashdot.org] said [slashdot.org]: I must have missed something: when was this debate closed?
Oh man, you did NOT miss that thread!!! we resolved the TCO debate, Mac v Linux, Security models, and even Emacs vs Vi.
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Pence in the pound (Score:1)
Yeah, contact me when private individuals can pay "pence in the pound" too, please. I remember once wanting to upgrade from Win95 to XP, only to find that I couldn't. I had to either pay the "full retail price" for a non-upgrade version, or pay for a "discounted" upgrade to windows 98 and then pay for another "discounted" upgrade from that to XP. Also, since then, I've pur
Re: A Good but goofy point (Score:4, Funny)
Thats why I am an advocate of free hardware.
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Shun oss in favor of MegaEvilCorp. Check.
I guess this explains the torrent of negative and condescending comments.
Thank you, Mr. Ironic.
Not necessarily. (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember, it is in Microsoft's long term interest to prevent people from moving to Linux.
So, for a charity, Microsoft could give their software away (free as in beer) and still come out ahead because it would be another instance where Linux was denied.
This gets back to the "piracy" argument. "Piracy" helps your company if it gets people who would not normally purchase your product to use (and learn) your product rather than use (and learn) a competitor's product.
There's no loss on sales because they wouldn't have been able to afford the purchase price in the first place.
I've often wondered why companies don't just give away licenses for their product that are 2 generations old or older. Get the people hooked on the free stuff and then they'll pay you when they get money. Just like the drugs.
As a cynic (Score:1)
Revelations (Score:3, Funny)
what a tool (Score:3, Interesting)
Because of course its better to have JUST the black hats looking at the code... they'd never steal from a charity would they? I'm sure we can trust criminals. This is idiocy of the highest order. And then he goes on to say;
"But one of the things that we find is that Microsoft is viewed as the big, bad organisation - but they've actually got some good corporate social responsibility.
"If you're a charity or an educational institution, you pay pence in the pound for the licence, compared to what a major bank might pay."
He previously said that there were training costs because the staff didn't know how to use non-MS software, why can't he see that they do this as a way of enforcing their hegemony so that people HAVE to use their software. Freedom might not be free, but it is important
They made a choice. That is all it is. (Score:5, Insightful)
This was just a choice the charity made. Perhaps it isn't what this crowd wants to hear. Instead of complaining about it, figure out what made them be dissuaded, and evaluate whether their complaints are legitimate. If they are, then fix the underlying problem. If they aren't, then disregard it and move on. You don't need to sit there and whine endlessly about it.
ummm (Score:2)
Maybe he had more important things to work on? [christian-aid.org.uk]
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Inertia resists change (Score:4, Insightful)
No disrespect to the guy, but I don't think he understands what OpenSource actually means.
In fact, I get the impression that he hasn't really considered using OpenSource software.
To be fair, if you are already busy trying to maintain the systems that you already have, then experimenting with OpenSource alternatives can seem a lot more hassle than it is worth. ... should I think about replacing all of my existing (working) services with a completely new set of (unknown) services".
How often does an IT manager sit down and think "Ok, looks like I have some spare time
Unless there is a policy change from higher up, then the only way that change will happen is if enough techies within the department discover OpenSource for themselves and begin to suggest alternatives.
woolley-jumpered amateurs (Score:2, Funny)
Well you sure proved wrong a misconception I never made.
*slaps suspenders*
Foundational software (Score:3, Interesting)
This is something we in the Free Software community need to address, soon, assuming we want to help nonprofits standardize on open code. Does anyone know if a viable solution that currently exists and would not be scorned by thier leadership?
I'd like to see something that does the same things, but runs on Linux and has ties to OpenOffice, Firefox, PostgreSQL, etc.
wow i guess fud works on charity organizations (Score:2, Informative)
you dont have to pay for support contracts, and your system is not wide open for anyone to look at... ofcourse anyone with have a brain (most of the people on slashdot) already knew that
it comes down to that guy being unaware of the subject and wasting money
RE: Fake topic because threading is broken (Score:3, Insightful)
It is frustrating (Score:2, Interesting)
Missing the point (Score:2)
It is not about whether or not people will be coding. That was just a stupid comment. Most people don't code and never will. The fundamental importance lies elsewhere.
If you use a proprietary system, then they decide to change something, and you don't like it, you no longer have the choice of keeping current without accepting the things that you don't like.
If you use a proprietary system, then they change things, but it breaks what you are doing, unless you have deep pockets you have no choice but to s
Re: (Score:1)
still good reasons to use M$ (Score:3, Insightful)
trained people available than for Linux. They may have an easier time getting
support and they probably won't have to train anybody using the computers.
(What software is running on the computers in your kid's school?)
They are wrong about security, open source does not mean their computers
are open to attack (wonder who put THAT idea in their heads?)
from the article.. (Score:3, Interesting)
I really don't follow this logic..
That doesn't make any sense.
He seems to think that if you are using open source software, it means your data server's admin account is available to anyone?
They run Linux on their webservers (Score:3, Interesting)
Seems a bit strange to me.
Tom.
Charity loves free software (Score:3, Informative)
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/3355/469 [europa.eu]
FAIR is an international non-profit NGO with its headquarters in Norway, aiding developing countries by supplying resources within ICT, such as hardware, software, training, information and support. By combining brand new hardware with first-class second-hand computers and the latest software upgrades applicable, FAIR aims to become a premier ICT supplier providing world leadership in cost effective computer networks and communication solutions.
http://www.fairinternational.org/ [fairinternational.org]
The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research has founded a report about free software in schools. It covers planning and deployment of Skolelinux/DebianEdu that currently includes 234 Norwegian schools, 33,000 client machines, and 101,000 pupils and teachers. It cover technical issues, economical and organisational issues. There are also feedback on how teachers uses free software in teaching.
The report basicly says that Skolelinux/DebianEdu has 30-40 percent less Total Cost of Ownership compared with proprietary solutions. This is based on experiences with free and propretary software at many schools operated centrally.
http://developer.skolelinux.no/artikler/2006-04-0
How is this relevant? (Score:3, Insightful)
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And someone, somewhere laments the use of the Goatse man as the logo for their Linux distribution. It just goes to show you there *is* such a thing as too open.
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And how much of a discount does the little customer get for Red Hat Enterprise Linux? Oh, wait... they get screwed over too. Your nice anti-Microsoft rant, while probably deserving of a +5 Kool-aid mod, misses the point that most for-profit businesses operate the same way, whether their software is open source or not. If Red
In reply to "They run Linux on their webservers" (Score:2)
What's so surprising about that? Linux is a very good OS for running webservers. For working with (i.e., sharing files with) other organizations and recruiting people who already know how to use applications and an OS, Windows is clearly the OS of choice. That may change, but right now that's the way it is.
aaaahh digg... (Score:2)
Do you think MS is doing that to support higher education? I doubt it. I'm more certain that they see it as a cheap way of indoctrinating people to use MS products so that when they get out of college they are so used to using MS, that they don't even stop to think of anything else existing
They do the same thing at my Uni, and guess what, the newspapers do the same. I have seen a lot of people coming
Complaint to the BBC (Score:2)
This story reads as if it were a scripted Microsoft sales promotion. Indeed it probably is. No doubt MS is providing Christian Aid, through Mr. Buckley a discount on MS software if he promotes it against Linux and Open Source software. Since the BBC does not carry advertising it is all the more important that advertising does not creep in under the net and appear as content, It appears to have done so in this case.
The only value in this story is to warn
I'm surprised they chose this route considering... (Score:2)
Pro-Choice (Score:2)
Funny how the open source movement is about choice until you decide not to use them. ... People aren't always going to use what you think is best. They may have different requirements than you. Heck, they may just want to get stuff done without dragging ridiculous debates on software distribution into everything.
I have no problem with anyone at all choosing to use non-free software. As you said, they have different requirements than I do.
What irks me (and most of the people who get pist about this) is
Misses the idea? (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course he does. He's not a geek. Yesterday I convinced one of my customers to use OpenOffice.org over Microsoft Office. The only selling point she heard? "Free". Not "Free as in speech", but "no cost to acquire." And her next door neighbor is Ward Cunningham (this [wikipedia.org] one, not this [wikipedia.org] one,) yet she still didn't quite get "open source". The average person doesn't understand open source, nor do they care enough to learn. It's just the way the world works.
It is disappointing that Linux couldn't make more inroads at a nonprofit, but as the article says, it's much easier to find cheap Microsoft help than Linux help. (For example, my on-site consulting company charges 50% more for Linux work than for Microsoft work; simply because we only have two of us that know Linux.)
I believe you .. (Score:3, Interesting)
"We have to hire both linux and windows IT people", InsaneProcessor
Is it possible for someone to have both linux and windows skills in the one brain?
"Linux is next to worthless on our desktops", InsaneProcessor
What version? Why are you running both desktops. As an IT services company what exactly is difficult about the 'Linux' Gui?
"Every time a new version or upgrad comes out (new hardware isn't supported by older versions) too many things become broken", InsaneProcessor
What compels you to upgrade? As a professional IT shop I would imagine you set your own upgrade agenda. Why do you install the 'old' version on new hardware when as you say, there is a newer upgrade available. What kind of a shop are you running there?
"Windows is far cheaper to maintain and support", InsaneProcessor
According to this MS sponcered report [vnunet.com] from 2002 it takes three people to support a Linux server and two for Windows. Anyone who know anything about Unix knows this to be absolute nonsence. An average ISP need hire at most two Linux sys admins regardless of the number of machines. Once some automated scripts are in place baring a hardware failure, there is minimal maintenence.
X-Fud-Status: Yes, score=7.0 required=2.5
InsaneProcessor (869563)
was Morons that miss the point completely (Score:1, FUD)
Morons that miss the point completely [slashdot.org]
not confusing code with data (Score:1, Insightful)
What he seems to be *trying* to say is that you don't want to get into a situation where fixes things depends on just "anyone" fixing the problem (which is how most OSS bugs will get fixed -- volunteer effort, ya know?). Instead they want to pay someone for support, someone they can rely on to actually help them resolve problems. The point is,
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Same here (Score:1)
Although I've moved to OS X for most of my general purpose computing needs, I've been involved in the Linux/OSS community since the mid 90s. I would love to be able to recommend Linux/OSS solutions to any of the organizations I work with
Keep your pious paws off my code (Score:2, Funny)
I, for one, would rather see spammers using my free software than a religious org of any flavor (spammers, in my opinion, have a less detrimental effect on society in the long term and their forms of torture are at least tolerable... plus they've yet to start a war or blow stuff up).
I'd be much more tolerant if these charities weren't just public relations stunts--I mean, unless "Christian's Aid" is really to help some guy called Chris...
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Patiently Waiting.. (Score:1)
Open Source software doesn't move at the pace that Microsoft does. Good software takes time! Everyone in the world could switch to M$ based products three times over and it wouldn't bother the true OSS developers. We don't need advocacy; we need people with heart and skill. While others are being pushed through the bovine lines at colleges there are others that believe in what they do and do it the best in the world.
It's not going to be for Grandma for years to come. Until then, patience and contribu
Social responsibility? Try price discrimination! (Score:1)
Depends on what they want to use it for (Score:1)
re: Keep your pious paws off my code (Score:1)
Mind your own business! (Score:1)
First of all, a person should not do business with Microsoft. Microsoft buys out people's souls: a person purchasing something from Microsoft is as deluded as a zombie, with an illusion of expertise, under the Devil's wing(command).
I try not to act as a conventional customer because in all ways I would behave in the way of a Microsoft customer.
And if a person pays Microsoft money, there's no reason for he or she to be concerned as a customer with what they do with the money bec
You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. (Score:3, Interesting)
You don't spit in the face of those closed source companies, and put down their product. You smile, but the reduced cost copies, and say good things about closed source companies.
Anyone grumpy about a slashdot story is not in your target audience anyway.
Corporate Charity (Score:3, Insightful)
almost sounds like a troll (Score:2)
""Open-source doesn't mean free," he told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme."
Does not mean free as in beer.
"...you have a support contract that goes with it - it's an essential part of operating that software."
Why *that* software? I fail to see why a contract is needed for an OSS solution when it is not needed for a proprietary solution. This may be the case if OSS is inferior; that is asserted *implicitly*, not good. I personally do not think that statement is true or
Open to whom? (Score:1)
It's not "cost of ownership," it's the cost of utter confusion. When you're perpetually under-resourced financially, the only th
You go with what you know (Score:1)
I'm the IT Manager for what was a medium size company (around 30 people). When I arrived and kicked off the IT department, since I had Linux skills, using Linux for our servers was a no-brainer. Cheap, robust, reliable, flexible... all of that. However using Linux on the desktop is still a long way off. Even trying to go for Windows based OpenOffice met with a good deal of resistance and was abandoned.
Recently we were purchased by a large multi-national, and the message coming down from their managemen
Re:It's the classic answer, really (Score:1)
Thats the last time (Score:2)
Re: Microsoft's Charity (Score:2)
My college age nephews began with Windows 95 when they were eight years old.
The Geek needs to wrap his head around th
Re:What's next (Score:1)
Data vs Code? Ever heard of lisp? (Score:1)
Bullshit (Score:1)
They have destroyed way lot more that what they have buildt.
That cannot be said about open source.
If open source does not give money, it is because open source does not have money.
Of course, the churrch has always knew what they care about...
Re:It's the classic answer, really (Score:1)