Linux users rate stability over TCO (Australian IT)

Posted Jul 15, 2003 12:54 UTC (Tue) by davidl (guest, #12156) [Link]

Linux reliable? Stone me. I didn't see that one coming. Although reliability has something to do with the Linux kernel, obviously, a lot of it has to do with the surrounding GNU and open source software as well, so saying it's all to do with Linux is a a bit short-sighted.

"People are tired of having their servers go down," Mr Greenblatt said.

Wow.

The IDC (and Aberdeen) study is old and discredited news. I can't believe Microsoft still uses it. How many studies have been made on Linux's TCO without backing from Microsoft? Lots, and they are all lower than Windows, not to mention the freedom of choice that people get as to what they do and how they upgrade.

Microsoft is still under the bizarre assumption that people think that open source is something for nothing, money-wise - no one believes that now except Microsoft. It's funny how they're obsessed with money. People are simply waking up to the fact that they no longer need to be held to ransome and that they choose to make decisions about their IT. The article about the City of Munich going Linux is hilarious. Microsoft's backtracking and the incredible study they produced showing that most people don't use all the applications in Office, apart from Word, which Microsoft charges for anyway as part of the bundle. It merely highlighted more how much people are actually getting ripped.

Forty per cent of installed Windows servers were still running NT, she said, representing a huge opportunity for Windows Server 2003 sales.

Microsoft would like to get Windows 2003 server everywhere to enable a lock-in to their so-called digital rights management extensions for Internet Explorer and other components, which of course is not available for any other browser or platform - I've seen the paper on it. It also conveniently connects to a central Microsoft server for verification. It's about a lot more than money. Personally I can't see anyone using, or even wnating to know about, the 'features' that Microsoft talks so much rubbish about.

I also find Microsoft targetting the SME market amusing, as SMEs physically can't afford IT.

Microsoft will also embark on a wide marketing campaign to encourage home users to do more with their PCs, and expects to launch Office 2003 in September.

I will be, but not with Microsoft software.

It's reminiscent of a scene from Robocop where that large robot is trapped, kicking and screaming in a stairwell. Good stuff.