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Open Source: Facts and Figures
Eloquence writes "Much of the debate about GNU/Linux and open source is dominated by rhetoric rather than facts. David Wheeler has just released a new version of his "paper" (which, at 440,000 characters, is more of an e-book now) 'Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!'. According to David, this paper 'examines market share, reliability, performance, scalability, security, and total cost of ownership. It also has sections on non-quantitative issues, unnecessary fears, OSS/FS on the desktop, usage reports, other sites providing related information, and ends with some conclusions.' May come in handy when talking to your boss about Linux."
this seems like something that needs the "validation" of print. It would make for a very informative read, clear up a lot of misconceptions, and not suffer from the "I read it on the internet" stigma. People are more likely to believe something if it doesn't glow when they read it.
More like War and Peace... :p
To describe why we don't need a lot of rhetoric to support linux.
I know "irony" isn't the correct word to use, but I don't feel like thinking of the right one.
To summarize: Some blowhard likes linux and wont shut up about it
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I dont need 440,000 words, and neither do most others. I use Linux because it makes me feel happy. And I feel like I'm in control.
That said, kudos to the wordy crowd too.
StrategyTalk.com, PC Game Forums
why indeed. look at these numbers. i'll no doubt me modded down as a troll or something but when the linux community can make a powerful desktop thats not SLOWER than windows2k/xp then i will switch.
Windows XP: 233 MHZ 64MB min, 300 MHZ 128MB recommended
Xandros: PII 64MB min, 450 MHZ 128MB recomended
Mandrake: 64MB min, 128MB recommended
Fedora Core: PI 192MB min, 400 MHZ 256MB recommended
SUSE: 128MB min, 256MB recommended
Sun Java System: 266 MHZ 128MB min, 600 MHZ 256MB recommended
Turbolinux 10F: 1GHZ 512MB recommended
Linspire: 128MB min, 800 MHz 256MB recommended
Cant help but notice that usability and features aren't listed. There's a reason I still use Photoshop. Its features and ease of use make it worth the price.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
I work in a small medical device company writing java, and I could not imagine them using my software for free -- I need to eat too.
I know I'm going to be modded up on this
You'll have rhetoric as long as you allow people to make sense out of facts... For example, the same fact (let's say, "source code available to the world") can be interpreted two ways: "More secure because it has been scrutinized by all sorts of people" and "Less secure because it can be scrutinized by every possible hacker."
What follows is the rhetoric...
I've developed both.
I'm not a disciple of either.
They both have their place.
As a wise man once said, can't we all just get along?
I can't even imagine where the web would be today without Perl, PHP and Python. Perl and Python are excellent CGI languages and PHP 5.0/5.1 is a great substitute for commercial products like ASP.NET in many cases. Small businesses and home users simply don't need all of the wiz bang features of something like ASP/JSP. OSS has definitely stepped in to provide a lot of power to the little guys who want it. Now Mono is rapidly becoming a viable alternative to Microsoft's .NET and Tomcat has been for a long time a very solid basis for J2EE web projects.
But perhaps the best thing about OSS is that it has helped to return a bit of an "ownership society" to software development. The GPL despite its problems says that it doesn't apply to you if you are just a regular user who isn't going to modify the code and redistribute the changed binaries. For all intents and purposes, you "own" that code until you do something public with it that takes commercial advantage of it without meeting the GPL's requirements. That's a hell of a lot more property rights-centered than a typical industry EULA.
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
The thing that gets me is how open-source vs closed-source debate is always OS-centric. True, you have Microsoft on one end and Linux OS family is one of the most succcessful open source products, but what's wrong with promoting open-source product on top of Windows platform?
OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox and many other products off the SourceForge.net have a Windows binary available for download. Windows itself provides great hardware support with almost anything imaginable out there, and has nice OS-level features like fast GUIs and built-in support for burning CDs and what not.
If you look at a Linux box and a Windows box, the price difference from the vendor is generally $50-60. If you use the computer for 5 years, the cost of Windows is $10-12 a year. What's the incentive to go "free" and deal with ugly fonts, hardware issues and other problems related to Linux nowadays?
Moreover, promoting open source on Windows nowadays would set the ground for switch to Linux in the future. Guess what - the aforementioned OO, Mozilla and other apps work exactly the same way either with Linux or Windows. Thus a switch to Linux later on would not require such huge re-education costs, since the user lives in app world, not in OS world, and doesn't care whether it's kernel32.dll or kernel.org latest version, that's running on his machine.
Numbers exchanged among people are also rhetoric, though clever. Quantative selections and qualitative exaggerations are equally misleading. Debate, as opposed to argument (or mere contradiction, or being hit on the head), requires consensus on facts, or at least values and rationale in evaluating statements. Marketers don't care about consensus, and most purchasers/consumers have a catch-22 with consensus before decision. What really counts is results. Especially because the cost of the switch itself, between any platforms, is so high, only when the benefit of one over the other is easily demonstrable will enough people be convinced to matter.
--
make install -not war
This trend is changing, especially in light of the quick peer review that the Inet offers, and such scandals as the whole CBS faked document issue.
.... combined. While some of the INFO on the Inet is wrong, it is easily verifiable with alternate resources.
Remember it took less than a day for REAL document experts to examine and expose the nature of those documents, while it took CBS nearly two full weeks to reach the same conclusion, with a certain person NEVER really able to admit that the documents are forged.
Personally, I trust the INSTANT peer review of the Inet more than CBSNBCABCCNNFOXMSNBCNYTIMES
If your Boss is stil looking for documentation that filters through the publishing channels, then he/she is likely to miss the curve on important issues.
If they really need a paper version, then PRINT one and hand it to them. Take it to Kinkos and have them Bind it nice and Professional. Help keep your boss on the curve.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
You fools! That's exactly what they expect! You can't fight the system playing by their rules! It should end with a tangent. Or an introduction. They'll never see that coming!
You damned fools, you've played right into their hands! We're doomed, doomed, doomed ...
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch.
I'll openly admit I didn't RTEFA. Still, through "critical skim" (a frequent management trick), this doesn't seem to be very persuasive.
GNU/Linux is the #1 server OS on the public Internet (counting by domain name), according to a 1999 survey of primarily European and educational sites
Interesting -- using a survey prior to the release of Windows 2000, XP, or 2003 server as the basis for trends today. Reading the article critically (as the hypothetical "boss" would), those numbers aren't as significant as the state of the world today. I may be completely ignorant to research turnaround, but doesn't it seem more recent data would be more relevant?
Consider this one as well:
GNU/Linux is more reliable than Windows NT, according to a 10-month ZDnet experiment
How many companies today are deciding between Linux and Windows NT?
Clearly there are reasons today that companies / governments / users are seriously considering OSS. However, to try to convince through comparison with 5 year old OS is probably not very effective.