Microsoft, one of the biggest
advocates of anti-piracy legislation, appears to be playing on both
sides of the fence. Apparently Microsoft was convicted of violating
intellectual property laws (to use the term Microsoft uses: piracy) in
France. What is really surprising in this turn of events is that
somehow this conviction escaped notice by the press. You can read more
about this here...Microsoft
convicted of software piracy..
In the Microsoft case, much to Microsoft's dismay, Judge Colleen
Kollar-Kotelly decided to allow a late entry from the states that are
continuing to dispute the remedy's already agreed upon by Microsoft, the
DOJ and 9 of the original 18 states involved in the suit. Apparently a
modular version of Windows is not only possible but already exists, in a
test form. In fact Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has decided to admit
this evidence stating that this is information that is important for the
court to have. Read more here..Judge
sets scene for battle over modular Windows
by Jay Fougere / iEntry Staff Editor
Recent studies have shown that using Linux throughout your enterprise
can lower IT costs (TCO- Total Cost of Ownership) for your organization
by as much as 34%. In fact, because Linux does not require hardware
upgrades nearly as frequently as proprietary systems, even more savings
can theoretically be achieved over the long run.
These are the results of a study performed by Cybersource, an
independent consulting agency (cyber.com.au). In fact, contrary to Microsoft's claim that initial licensing cost amounts to only
about 8% of the TCO of software (see
Microsoft's letter to Congressman Villanueva),
Cybersource shows in their study that over a three year span (the average life
cycle of proprietary operating systems and software) that the initial licensing
costs can make up as much as 28% of the cost of maintaining these systems, if
purchased with new hardware. That figure climbs to over 38% when existing
hardware is used. These are not the trivial figures which Microsoft would have
you believe.
The whitepaper, available from Cybersource (see
Linux_vs_Windows) is thorough and gives full explanations
of how the results of this study are calculated.
Licensing is only one small part of the big picture when one is considering a
major transition in infrastructure. Many other factors come in to play, most of
which are more of a concern to today's IT shops.
Security and Liability
One issue which comes to mind is security. Security has become a buzzword in the
IT industry lately. First of all, let me say that no software is 100% secure and
comparing two different software programs in terms of security is very
difficult. No security professional can honestly say that one system is more
secure than the other. The security of a system depends entirely on how well the
system is configured after it has been installed. Even after the initial
installation, patches and fixes will need to be applied once they become
available.
Rather than try to compare apples and oranges with regard to security, you
instead may want to have a closer look at liability. Many software vendors
(Microsoft) would have you believe that because there is no single company that
owns Linux, there is no accountability in the case of a security breach or other
system problem for that matter. What Microsoft neglects to tell you is that if
you adhere to their EULA (End User License Agreement-- look at
SystemrootSystem32eula.txt on your Windows system), they are no more accountable
for lost productivity, lost data, or any incidental or consequential damages
than Open Source software. In fact, other than replacement of defective media,
Microsoft claims no responsibility for anything that may happen as a result of
using their software.
Support
Support is an issue that many IT managers are (rightly) concerned about. I know
that most distributions will offer some installation support (usually 60 or 90
days by email), but will also offer enterprises pay-per-incident and pay by the
hour support. In fact, I recently read a very informative article by Network
Computing that gave a very positive impression of companies that offer Linux
support. You can find that article here...(see
'Team' Work Pays Off for Linux
). It sounds as though Network Computing had much better luck with their Linux
support issues than I received from Microsoft the two or three times that I
called (just for the record, those of you Windows zealots who claim that getting
a lost CD replaced by Microsoft is a walk in the park, you must enjoy things
like gargling with razor blades; five phone calls to different numbers and two
hours on the phone and there was still no help to be found).
Applications
Another argument that I hear very often is that Linux has a limited number of
applications. This depends entirely on what you intend to do with your
computers. There are many applications now available for Linux that integrate
Linux desktops into Windows networks. The first that comes to mind is
Codeweaver's CrossOver plugin. This fine little piece of code allows Linux users
to run Microsoft Office 97 and 2000 on Linux machines (you can find out more at
Codeweaver's site...(see
Linux Users To Run MS Office & Lotus Notes Without Windows).
You can also look to Ximian for their Ximian Connector; a similar product to
Codeweaver's Crossover plugin, Ximian's Connector allows Linux users to access a
Microsoft Exchange server for email, calendaring, etc...(see
Ximian Connector for Microsoft Exchange).
There are other ways of running Windows applications on Linux as well. The Wine
project, although not near perfect, has made improvements by leaps and bounds in
the past year. Wine and its associated documentation can be found here...(see
WINE).
If you need a little more versatile version of Wine, Transgaming's Winex does a
really nice job running Windows applications. Winex is based on Wine (although
Winex is proprietary) and was designed to allow gamers to play their Windows
game releases on Linux. However, it is not limited to games and it may be the
answer for that one Windows application that you or your users cannot live
without.
Directory services is often times a necessary application for large networks. If
your business depends on directory services, the only option that I know of is
(not free or Open Source) Novell's eDirectory. The one really nice feature of
eDirectory (in my eyes) is that it runs on several different platforms, greatly
reducing the burden of integrating Linux and Windows workstations. This may be
worth consideration. You can find out more at Novell's site...(see Novell
eDirectory 8.6.2).
If you have custom software that was written for Windows on which your business
depends, Linux may not be a good choice for you. On the other hand, porting a
custom application can often times be much less expensive than the costs
associated with a Microsoft upgrade (especially if hardware is involved). If you
have developers working "in-house" you can have them porting software to Linux
and testing it long before you intend to migrate.
Migration From Windows to Linux
Speaking of migration, one of the biggest arguments from the Windows camp is
that the cost to migrate from Windows to Linux is prohibitive. In response, I
would like to mention that those costs are not going to go down in the future,
but Microsoft is going to keep forcing upgrades which will probably far outweigh
the costs associated with a migration. It seems to me that biting the bullet now
can prevent you from being locked into a situation you can't get out of later.
Also, there are many tools available that can assist you with your migrations
from Windows to Linux...(see
LSP: migrate from Windows NT to Linux).
Quality/Usability of Applications
The quality of applications for Linux has improved dramatically over the past
few years, so that the argument that Open Source is simply not on par with
commercial software is a blatant falsehood. If you don't believe me, would
you believe Microsoft? An internal memo was leaked around the end of October,
1998 which described the threat of Open Source software (OSS). In the memo,
which later became dubbed "The Halloween Documents", Microsoft personnel claim
that "Recent case studies (the Internet) provide very dramatic evidence in
customer's eyes that commercial quality can be achieved / exceeded by OSS
projects." and "Another barrier to entry that has been tackled by OSS is project
complexity. OSS teams are undertaking projects whose size & complexity had
heretofore been the exclusive domain of commercial,
economically-organized/motivated development teams. Examples include the Linux
Operating System and Xfree86 GUI." You can find the original Halloween Documents
with commentary here...(see The
Halloween Documents).
Now, I used Linux back in 1999 and it was nothing like the Linux that is
available today, in terms of graphical user environments and end user usability.
The Kompany, a German software company, has recently released the third
evolution of their KDE (K Desktop Environment). The reason that I mention this
piece of software is that it is every bit as intuitive as Microsoft's offerings,
and much better looking by many accounts. If you are worried about the learning
curve involved with moving your employees from Windows to Linux, you should not
have a difficult time getting users to adjust to this great desktop environment.
I wrote an article discussing KDE3 in which I tried an experiment. I invited my
good friend Peter Thiruselvam to try out a brand new KDE3 installation. Peter
had never before used Linux and what he had to say about it may quell some of
your worries. See the article here...(see Introducing
KDE3).
If KDE3 is not up your alley, there is always Ximian's Gnome desktop. This is
another easy to use desktop environment that will require very little training
to bring your end users up to speed.
In Closing
If you are seriously considering a transition to Linux, below are some links
that will get you started. For ease of integration I would suggest testing
several different distributions to see which have features that you will rely
on. For instance, Lycoris Linux (formerly Redmond Linux) has a very nice
interface for browsing Windows networks set up by default. If ease of
installation is an important factor, there are several distributions available
that I can easily recommend as being as easy or easier to install than Windows
products. Lycoris, SuSE, RedHat, and Mandrake come to mind immediately, although
there are many others as well.
If rolling out large numbers of preconfigured desktops is important to you,
RedHat may be a good choice. With it's very easy to use KickStart configuration
tool, setting up automated installations is a snap, whether you are installing
from CD, FTP or an NFS file share.
You may find that one distribution suits one department in your organization
while another distribution may work better in another department.
Interoperability will remain consistent (within reason -- KickStart files are
not going to work with distributions other than RedHat, naturally) so you can
make that choice if you need to. That is the beauty of Linux -- choice.
With the involvement that many large vendors are promoting, it only makes sense
to consider Linux. It is not just a geeks toy anymore, but rather a powerful,
secure, and stable operating system. But don't take my word for it, check out
Linux offerings from IBM, HP, Dell, Compaq and many, many more. Linux is coming
to the desktop whether you are ready for it or not; be ready.
In summary, when you consider the cost, security and liability, support and
usability of Linux when compared to other operating systems, you can quickly see
how a move to Linux can be beneficial to you and your company. Considering the
options, all that you may be giving up is proprietary file formats and an
endless cycle of "upgrades" that may or may not offer any value to your users.
iEntry, Inc. provided
this and many other very useful and informative articles through their free news
letter. Take advantage of it and order it for yourself. This one was
of such significant importance that I preserved it here for your use.
The world gets crazier and crazier everyday, doesn't it? The world that many
of us thought was there, isn't. The bottom has dropped out of everything. The
illusions have been revealed, we have found out who has been pulling the strings
behind the scenes. Millions have lost their jobs, have mortgage
problems, credit card issues, credit
repair problems and
foreclosure. What can be
done? Amazingly, we have been mislead. We have been taught that we can control
government by voting. The founder of the Rothschild dynasty, Mayer Amschel
Bauer, told the secret of controlling the government of a nation over 200 years
ago. He said, "Permit
me to issue and control the money of a nation and I care not who makes its
laws." Get
the picture? Your freedom hinges first on the nation's banks and money system.
It's all about 'commerce'. Freedom is connected with Debt Elimination for
each individual.Is
your credit rating bad for reasons that seem out of your control? There are
ways of credit repair,
so you can men those broken fences too. Do you want to keep your children protected
from outside forces, there are ways of protecting
your children. Do you want
to keep your sons and daughters free from 'the draft'? Check this out.
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