Comment Re:Lets take an objective aproach. (Score 5, Informative) 718
If you going to consider OpenOffice and other OSS then why not consider one of the Linux distros....If your going to use OpenOffice then you are half way there .... Take some time learn one of the Distros (RedHat, SuSe, Mandrake) or customize one yourself. It is truly your option.
I have come from many Microsoft Shops .... Hell, I was/am a Microsoft Sys Admin for 8years. My point is that busnesses do not fork out thousands upon thousands of dollars to Microsoft and turn around and use Open Office. They follow the "support/ compatibility" trail and buy Office, SQL, Exchange, and the development tools recommened by those same vendors.
An OS is used to deliver applications that is what Linux does. It is not a vehicle for big companies to try to sell me something everytime if I open a browser. yeah yeah I know I can get pop-up blockers and such ....But there again I have to rely on third party vendors to solve this problem.... Not a simple little button click like mozilla.
Is Linux ready for the Desktop?
It Is if you want it to be.... I am completly MS free on my desktop .... was it easy the first time ? No ....Is it easy now? Yes. All it took was time and effort (and no money).
My tools are free..... My Skills are not. If my customer has to by my tools before I can go to work (XP, Office, Ghost, WIN2K server, etc) that means less money for me and makes me noting more than service tech. (Like the copier guy)
If I bring my tools with me ie..Linux, Apache, MySQL, etc, etc. Then that money comes to me in the form of my skills. Why should the client care what it runs as long as it runs.
THAT IS WHERE TRUE TCO STARTS.... It takes the same skills to manage MS and Linux..... But the middle man (Microsoft) gets a third of you potential income/revenue....
There once was a cluster of 450 Win2k servers on Dell Servers running a coputational application.
They could run a 100 nodes with a 75% reliability and anything more it crashed and required a FULL DAY to reboot the servers.
I was tasked to convert those server to RH7.3.
Once I had Kickstart figured out I redeployed those same servers with Linux, ready to run production jobs in A DAY.... And I did at no cost to the company.... It was so successful the company is now trying to get there money back on the MS licenses. (FAT CHANCE) but they felt so betryed by MS that they felt it was at least worth the effort.
Choose your tools well my fellow craftsman... Choose the ones that will benefit you not relagate you just a handyman for Microsoft.
You can argue perfomance and ease of use all you want but at the end of the day it comes down to money and how much you get. And if the company you work for uses a Microsoft for thier tools, that makes you Microsoft's bitch. Microsoft gets paid first.
I have come from many Microsoft Shops
An OS is used to deliver applications that is what Linux does. It is not a vehicle for big companies to try to sell me something everytime if I open a browser. yeah yeah I know I can get pop-up blockers and such
Is Linux ready for the Desktop?
It Is if you want it to be.... I am completly MS free on my desktop
My tools are free..... My Skills are not. If my customer has to by my tools before I can go to work (XP, Office, Ghost, WIN2K server, etc) that means less money for me and makes me noting more than service tech. (Like the copier guy)
If I bring my tools with me ie..Linux, Apache, MySQL, etc, etc. Then that money comes to me in the form of my skills. Why should the client care what it runs as long as it runs.
THAT IS WHERE TRUE TCO STARTS.... It takes the same skills to manage MS and Linux..... But the middle man (Microsoft) gets a third of you potential income/revenue....
There once was a cluster of 450 Win2k servers on Dell Servers running a coputational application.
They could run a 100 nodes with a 75% reliability and anything more it crashed and required a FULL DAY to reboot the servers.
I was tasked to convert those server to RH7.3.
Once I had Kickstart figured out I redeployed those same servers with Linux, ready to run production jobs in A DAY.... And I did at no cost to the company.... It was so successful the company is now trying to get there money back on the MS licenses. (FAT CHANCE) but they felt so betryed by MS that they felt it was at least worth the effort.
Choose your tools well my fellow craftsman... Choose the ones that will benefit you not relagate you just a handyman for Microsoft.
You can argue perfomance and ease of use all you want but at the end of the day it comes down to money and how much you get. And if the company you work for uses a Microsoft for thier tools, that makes you Microsoft's bitch. Microsoft gets paid first.
