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Microsoft Windows: A Lower Total Cost of 0wnership
bahamutirc writes "Dave Aitel of Immunity, Inc. has written an excellent report detailing the lower Total Cost of 0wnership Microsoft Windows has over Linux. Dave takes a unique approach in comparing the two operating systems, and the results are not surprising. The paper was submitted to Bugtraq today and is available in PDF and Open Office."
Finding a vulnerability is like finding a fish. If the pond is overfished, it's harder to find them. Hackers are rather evenly split between running Linux and running Mac OSX. As much as few professional NASCAR drivers drive Dodge Neons, a negligible amount of skilled hackers use Windows as their primary OS.
Hmm, I don't see any source listed for this particular tidbit. I have a feeling that there are plenty of "skilled hackers" out there that do run Windows as their primary OS. Perhaps he means "skilled programmers" that refer to themselves as "skilled hackers".
Notably, this protection does not prevent Linux from being 0wned when a third party program is installed.
I try to read on in his document but I keep coming to "0wned" and I realize that I am not dealing with a professional. I suppose his intended audience (Bugtraq) might be familiar with how 31337 he is but I just can't believe he would bother to spend the time writing up a "paper" with those stupid misspellings.
I love his show on Comedy Central!
Best Buy can have you arrested
as one who has written more than I care to count, you can almost always make a case for the choice you want by inserting some things and leaving out others.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
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The whole thing -- both Microsoft coming up with bogus TCO and Linux people coming up with bogus TCO -- is ridiculous. You can't say "X is the TCO of operating system Y". It depends overwhelmingly on your particularly circumstances. If you:
* Have a set of people that already know Windows well
* Use a set of Windows-only custom apps that would have to be run in WINE or rewritten for Linux
* Have high turnover and want to take advantage of the larger number of people that know how to use Windows and Windows-based apps.
* Have a network that is entirely seperated from the Internet, so security is less of an issue, and stuff like Microsoft's RPC/filesharing mechanism being on isn't a problem.
All these things could easily push TCO in favor of Windows. If you:
* Run open-source software already
* Have employees familiar with programming or scripting that can benefit from having an environment oriented towards easily scripting or programming
* Have existing Linux/UNIX expertise
* Run apps that run on Linux or UNIX
* Want to use thin clients
TCO may be tilted in favor of Linux.
It's so ridiculous to try to come out with bogus claims. The reason people don't *like* Microsoft is because they have lied to and burned their customers for many years. Trying to just do the same to "compete" with them is idiotic. Let them make whatever TCO claims they want, and then point out how absurd it is to make non-application-specific TCO claims, instead of just making equally ridiculous TCO claims.
May we never see th
I can understand that Microsoft Windows has a lower cost of ownership than Linux. However, I feel that the REAL issue is the cost of ownership of a perssonal computer! Sure, computers (the hardware and software) are significantly cheaper to PURCHASE. But regardless of what operating system your computer runs (any flavor of Windows, UNIX/LINUX, or Mac), the cost of owning a personal computer today is extravagent, and the problem is only getting worst. It is not as simple as learning how to type, how to operate a web browser or a word-processing/office suite, but you have to be concerned with viruses, spyware, malware, security holes, software patches, and a whole plethora of other issues.
Dude, this is a very unusual thing to say. I also work with Linux and WIndows and have discovered the exact opposite to be true. I've never spent a penny on Windows books, and tons on Linux books. I also rarely spend more than an hour troubleshooting WIndows. I have had problems under Linux I could NEVER solve, things that I just stopped working on because they were taking too long and weren't worth it.
Not saying it isn't true, but just that it's highly unusual to find two people with diametrically opposite results. Maybe Windows is just easier for some people than it is for others, and vica versa.
Hey freaks: now you're ju