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Ret. World Bank CTO on Desktop Linux TCO Facts

Posted by timothy on from the illusion-of-choice dept.

comforteagle writes "W. McDonald Buck, retired CTO of World Bank, believes we need to take a more honest and frank look at the Cost Analyses it will take to put Linux on the corporate desktop. In Part I of Corporate Desktop Linux - The Hard Truth he begins with one of the most common misconceptions... that a business can buy a computer without Windows and save money in the transaction."

1 of 345 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well he ignores one big fact by philkerr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think you are ignoring who the article author is.

    For techies, building your own or going with not so mainstream manufacturers isn't a problem.

    But for W. McDonald Buck, retired CTO of World Bank, he wants a big name, 1st tier manufacturer to supply his PC, not Joe Bobs PC Hardware Shack.

    The point Buck makes is:

    The boxes with Windows are less expensive than the boxes without.

    Or to be more accurate:

    It looks to me, however, like the Microsoft monopoly has such a stranglehold on the tier 1 manufacturers that it is now not possible for a corporate shopper to save money by avoiding Windows unless they are prepared to go outside the first tier...... Small businesses may buy computers this way if they have or hire somebody tech savvy to help them, but I don't think this is how your average homeowner buys, and I know it isn't how large companies buy.

    Which is the main point he makes. The big players, including IBM, are still shills for the Microsoft tax.