Re: Help to Promote Linux! - Economics....

Michael Segel <Mikey@NOSPAM.KingofMyDomain.MAPSON.Segel.com> writes: > Well, if we really wanted your opinion, we would have given you one. Classic. 8^) > You need to do this in a cost effective manner. Meaning that you want > the solution which is not only optimum but also delivers the lowest > TCO or total cost of ownership. What you need to keep in mind is that MIS people _in general_ (I'm an MIS person myself) do not really do much programming at all - they look at spec sheets and price lists. Linux doesn't really register with these types yet... but the situation is improving. The younger people i.e. college kids and even high school kids, who can't afford MS stuff, are using Linux. They will eventually graduate and start implementing corporate solutions. And Linux will be used more and more as a result. The other issue is "mindshare." It is a bit fuzzy, but the PC industry has spent the past 15 years looking at Microsoft operating systems only. Plus most software is Windows software. So you will see mostly microsoft on magazine covers and on the shelves in stores. This makes Microsoft's success self-perpetuating. > The TCO for Linux is always going to be better, even if the price > were the same for the informix. You are saving the 1K to 2.5K that > you don't have to buy in the OS. > > Over 100 or more sites, that's a lot of money. This is true. But the people who run these networks are ultra-conservative in general. They want the "bandwagon" solution because it lowers support costs to use Windows and MS Office because plenty of people already know it. Training costs and time that is spent learning a new operating environment is expensive.