Re: [tlug] Total operational cost... hard stats anywhere?

[Scott Robbins <scottro@example.com>]

On Sun, Aug 19, 2007 at 11:35:24PM +0900, Dave M G wrote:
> 
> I'm not claiming that TOC is high, low, in the middle, or anything else. I'm 
> only saying that no one has shown any kind of proof that can extend beyond 
> specific and highly contextual circumstances.
> 

One problem, I think, is that almost so many companies have not only the
cost of reinstalling and retraining, but various mission critical
applications that will only work on Windows, or at best, Windows and
Mac.  

My former company could be one example.  There was a group that might
have been able to do everything in Linux.  However, the majority needed
to be able to use FilemakerPro8.  It didn't work in CrossoverOffice the
last time I checked.  

Many need various features of Outlook, or feel that they need them.
There was also an application we used, called Accuterm, that didn't work
properly in Cross Over office.  It's a terminal emulator that also shows
images, and I wasn't able to find an equivalent. 

Many of the higher ups make use of Excel pivot tables.  I don't know if
they're working in in OpenOffice now, they weren't, last time I checked. 

Lastly many needed a Nortel VPN client.  This was included without cost
for the Windows version--Mac and Linux versions cost $99.00 each, though
I am sure there might be some discount pricing.  There was a slight
discount for buying 4 Mac licenses, but it was very minimal, perhaps $5
per seat.  The client for Linux only ran on very few distribution, a
particular version of Fedora (at the time I tried it, it was Fedora 4
and wouldn't run on 5).

At any rate, the cost and labor involved would have made it prohibitive.
We did, however, replace several MS servers with Linux or BSD servers,
which was a cost savings, as we had two people there who knew how to use
them. 

Anyway, this is one specific example, and I'm leaving out other details,
but I suspect that such company specific situations are more common than
not, making a changeover difficult. 

Lastly, I always remember one of the BOFH columns--someone installs
Linux on their machine and asks the BOFH, "Where's my paper clip?"  

And this is one reason I think that it's quite true that MS would rather
you used a pirated version of Office rather than no Office at all.  If
you hire a salesman who writes 2 million a year, and he wants MS Word
and Outlook, you get it for him.  You don't tell him, well, if you work
for us, you have to use OpenOffice. 

Not to mention designers--they expect the latest versions of Photoshop
and Illustrator and from what I understand from professionals, the open
source tools aren't there yet on the professional level. (I could be
wrong about that, I'm not a graphics professional, but again, if you're
hiring someone that you want because of their skills, who can find a job
when and where they want, they will expect the tools that they're used
to using.)


-- 

Scott Robbins

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