Subject: [Homestead] Linux. Microsoft must compete or die
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:52:52 -0700
In the U.S. market, that is. By trying to put off the evil day in which
Microsoft has to compete against Linux, Microsoft has already lost the
huge Asian market.
*About a third of businesses plan to migrate at least some Windows
machines to Linux, according to a recent survey, but adoption will
continue to be both slow and cautious, as companies evaluate a maze of
economic factors.*
In a report on total cost of ownership for the Linux, Unix and Microsoft
Windows operating systems, research company The Yankee Group found that
only 4 percent of businesses planned to migrate Unix servers
<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5323487.html?tag=nl> to Linux within
the next two years. A total of 11 percent intended to move Windows
servers to Linux, while 21 percent proposed to add Linux servers to a
predominantly Windows environment.
On the desktop, 36 percent of businesses expected to have a few Linux
PCs <http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5202145.html?tag=nl> in their
business, but only 5 percent planned a total migration to Linux. A
majority--57 percent--planned no changes for Windows on the desktop.
The report cites a number of factors for corporate caution in moving to
Linux, most notably the increasingly complex calculations required to
determine whether such moves are cost-effective
<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5185069.html?tag=nl>.
"All of the firms would like to reduce the amount of up-front capital
expenditure dollars they spend on expensive Windows and Unix software
licenses," the report found. "However, they also recognize that in
certain instances, a wholesale or significant switch to Linux might
reduce up-front costs but result in higher overall costs."
Factors to consider in such a cost analysis range from interoperability
with existing applications to the relative scarcity of trained Linux
support personnel. "The establishments that have or are seriously
considering Linux bemoaned the present dearth and high cost of skilled
Linux administrators, even as they praised the open-source operating
system's ease of use," the report stated.
Such concerns may loom larger if a company is governed by a central IT
strategy, which would discourage a piecemeal approach to technology
adoption, Yankee analyst Dana Gardner said.
"The position companies need to look at is whether there's a tactical or
strategic role for Linux and open source," Gardner said. "They're
looking at what would be a strategic platform that's fully integrated
and supported."
The report found that even businesses that were relatively satisfied
with Windows are making some use of Linux, however--as a bargaining chip
in negotiating with Microsoft on further purchases. "We have no
intention of switching to Linux," an unnamed MIS manager is quoted as
saying in the report, "but we do find it useful as a stone to throw at
Microsoft."
[Homestead] Linux. Microsoft must compete or die,
Tvoivozhd, 08/31/2004