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Linux wins big over Microsoft in Munich (USA Today)

Linux wins big over Microsoft in Munich (USA Today)

Posted Jul 15, 2003 19:08 UTC (Tue) by pointwood (subscriber, #2814)
In reply to: Linux wins big over Microsoft in Munich (USA Today) by veelo
Parent article: Linux wins big over Microsoft in Munich (USA Today)

I think you misunderstand me.

1. I don't believe they will be using Debian, they will most likely use Suse.

2. They will want to have a support contract. Hard to get that if they use Debian, AFAIK.

3. It's not about whether it's a pain to upgrade or not, it's about whether they can decide themselves *when* to upgrade. They were forced to upgrade because NT wasn't supported anymore. Same thing happens to Suse...and Debian for that matter.


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Linux wins big over Microsoft in Munich (USA Today)

Posted Jul 16, 2003 9:07 UTC (Wed) by angdraug (subscriber, #7487) [Link]

The difference with Linux is that when SuSE or Debian drop support for an old version, the City will be able to support it themselves (maybe that is why local university is involved), or find any third party to do that as long as necessary. The consideration that the City can switch to another support vendor anytime also forces SuSE and IBM into a more fair bargaining position from the very beginning. With Microsoft, there is no other place to go, and they are widely known to abuse that position.

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