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Linux Is Cheaper
An anonymous reader writes "ZDNet is running a story on what a lot of us already know: Linux IS cheaper than Windows. This not because it is free. It is because Linux admins, although slightly more expensive, can handle a significantly larger number of systems than their Windows counterparts."
NTFS, while rather robust in its overall operation, CANNOT handle more than one improper shutdown without requiring massive amounts of repair and/or formatting
Really? That's funny... 'cause my computer, for some reason, won't shut down properly - I have to just yank the plug. I've done it dozens of times, and guess what - NTFS is just fine, no problems.
Lets not go making stuff up, eh?
Wow. You're talking about a lot of admins. I handle the functions of systems administrator and network engineer alone for a site that does 2,500,000+ hits per day. If I had to do it with Windows, I'd be swamped. Because I choose reliable hardware and Linux, it doesn't take a lot of time at all.
steve
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
This is all fine and dandy but money isn't the object. It's about what you want to do and how you want to do it. If *nix does what you want and Windows doesn't then the choice is made for you. If they both do what you want but your people are more comfortable doing it in Windows then that's what you go with.
I'm not saying that money isn't a factor at all. Sure it is. But if money was the main factor in the decision for a company, and I were a stockholder in that company, I would be very concerned. If they were switching from Windows to *nix based on cost, I would have to wonder if their eye was really on the end goal.
In my case I operate a public safety system, a 911 dispatch center. Our radio consoles and recording system all use Windows NT and 2K. We KNOW it would be cheaper to use *nix. We KNOW the system would be more reliable. Our CAD system runs AIX and sets a great example to prove the point. All that doesn't matter one single bit. Why? First off it's propriatary equipment and only runs on Windows so we cant change it. Second we couldn't justify the down time for the change and operator training.
It's not about price or TCO. If that's what starts to drive the *nix community then they will lose big time. Focus on doing a job, doing it well, and making it a pleasure to do the job. That will win customers/users in the end, not price.
This comming from a man know by family and friends as a tightwad.
. Quit playing Monopoly with Bill. Switch to one of many non-Microsoft products today.
I'd answer that if I didn't think you were trying to bait me into a failing grade of intelligence.
"Yeah well you're a Windows idiot. All you do is set it up with Linux and it just works!" -- That is basically the response I expect from my answers.
The truth of the matter here is that at the place I work everybody's computer is treated like they own it. They don't act as terminals. We don't have policies about who can install what. You own it. For a company our size, it works. People do upgrades. People install stuff. The computers move around. Etc etc.
My job is to make sure they stay up and running. I don't spend much time doing that. I don't have to do emergency Windows reinstalls. I don't have to do virus cleanup. (Despite popular belief, Outlook 2k is not that vulernable. Outlook express is another story...) I don't have to troubleshoot bluescreens. As a matter of fact, the only bluescreen I've seen in the last year had to do with my Sound Blaster Audigy card that has the worst drivers ever.
I'd be pulling my hair out right now if all the BS that gets spread about Windows was true.
(Note: We all use Win2k and the occasional copy of WinXP, Win95/98/Me was permanently banished from this office for being totally unreliable. Too bad the NT line's reputation here is tainted because of that, despite how unrelated those products are.)