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Linux Starts to Find Home on Desktops
WSJdpatton writes "The much-hyped notion that Linux would be a viable alternative to Windows to run desktop and notebook PCs for corporate users seemed dead on arrival a few years ago. But the idea is showing some new vital signs as companies look for cheaper alternatives to Microsoft products. The Wall Street Journal outlines several firms that are reaping savings and stability on their workplace desktops by rolling out Linux distributions. 'Auto maker PSA Peugeot Citroën last month said it will start using Linux on 20,000 of its workers' PCs. Novell Inc., which sells a version of Linux and is supplying it to Peugeot, says it has recently signed up several large U.S. financial institutions that are installing Linux on some employee PCs. Sales of Linux PCs are showing a really nice uptick at Novell, says Ronald Hovsepian, chief executive of Novell.' Not everyone is a convert, though. 'The State of Illinois recently consolidated its IT systems onto Microsoft software -- and has no interest in using Linux, says Paul Campbell, director of the state's Central Management Services department. "We don't have time for science projects in state government," he says.'"
'The State of Illinois recently consolidated its IT systems onto Microsoft software -- and has no interest in using Linux, says Paul Campbell, director of the state's Central Management Services department. "We don't have time for science projects in state government," he says.'
Apparently, they don't have time for security either...
I am severely impressed with Illinois' capability of assessing a situation so quickly & flawlessly. They already claim an annual cost savings of U.S. $2.1 million [proprietarily locked DOC warning] for five years ($10.5 million total) by using Microsoft's technologies! Why am I impressed? Well, they didn't even have to try anything else out to discover this! If they did, this case study doesn't show any of it. That document (if you read it) only makes claims but backs it up with nothing. I laugh at the very idea of it being titled a "Case Study."
You know, where I work, if you make a statement like "would save our company $10 million" you kind of need to make a business case. A large part of the business case is having micro experiments & demonstrations & data to present to back up your business case. In fact, it's a lot like the scientific process where you present facts that prove your argument. Granted, it's not required to be that rigorous but you usually have to get those to agree with you through this.
If I were a tax paying Illini and that document was the only thing persuading me that my government should use Microsoft products, I would bitch. That's just me, though. I think precisely what this Joseph Campbell needs to do is a "science project" as he calls it. For some reason they're avoiding a "business science project" and I'm really questioning his motivation for circumventing that.
My work here is dung.
I felt that one hit my balls.
I spend most of my time in bed, darling.
Even though I prefer Windows to Linux, it is not much of an endorsement when the uber-efficient State government endorses your products...
Brawndo: It's what plants crave!
""We don't have time for science projects in state government,""
That's why they never bothered to find out how so many dead people were able to vote in Chicago elections.
You know, where I work, if you make a statement like "would save our company $10 million" you kind of need to make a business case.
You don't work for the government, do you?
So they replaced "IBM Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise, and Microsoft Exchange Server, with multiple versions of those systems in use" with a single state-wide Exchange site license. Once you factor in the licenses, admin salaries, and redundant servers, you might get to $2.1 million a year.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Not by default, and not as easily, but just as secure.
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I dual boot Ubuntu Edgy Eft with Gnome and Beryl. I can play WoW with it, listen to my mp3s with it, surf the web with it, watch YouTube with it, read/write email with it, do office stuff etc...the only two things I'm not doing with Linux yet are watching DVDs (I tried that earlier tonight and had some weird problems) and using my webcam...and the latter is only because I haven't bothered to install the drivers yet.
I haven't completely weaned myself off XP yet, but I'm working on it. I advocate Ubuntu though to anyone who wants to find out for themselves that desktop Linux, even though it may not have been in the past, is now a genuinely viable reality.
I've dual-booted for a long time, but it's only been recently that I started spending more time in Linux than in Windows. (And the shift was both dramatic and quick. In a single day, I went from less than 20% of my time spent in Linux to over 80%.) This is mostly due to the proliferation of Web 2.0. The latest version of Exchange's Webmail means that I no longer need to use Outlook, and Open Office is a more than adequate substitute for Office. There are a few internal web-apps that claim to require IE, but Greasemonkey has been letting me repair the worst of them. (BTW, I would love to have a way for User Agent Switcher to recognize certain URLs as needing a special string, instead of me getting an error page and having to change the string manually.)
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
I've never believed that linux would take over the desktop market, but now that exist distributions that may grandmother can install and mantain by herself and with corporations and governments pushing it more and more, every incentives for non-nerd people to adopt linux are in place.
As a windows System Admin (although I run Ubuntu personally), I can finally say that Linux is starting to get there, albeit slowly. I would definately say that linux is ready for a corporate IT envrionment.
It's still going to take a bit of time before it's fully ready for the home desktop though. I use 802.11 wireless as a perfect example of that - amongst the 'warm and fuzzy' distro's (SuSe, Ubuntu, Mandrake, Lycoris), I have yet to be able to set up a system where there wasn't a fairly significant amount of rigmoral to get something as simple as wireless with basic encryption running. It wasn't really 'hard' for me to get the wireless running, but in each case, it required editing of text files, and typically no less that 7 or 8 CLI entries. Linux has come a long ways, even in the past 2 or 3 years. I think Ubuntu is a great example of a good, easy to use OS. However, there's still a few dark and nasty corners of Linux which need polishing before it's ready for the masses. And let's not mention games and brand name apps which only run under windows.
Overall, it is exiting to see and watch. For the first time ever in the past few months, I've been able to recommend Ubuntu to begginner and novice users, as an easy-to-use alternative to Macs or Windows, with a straight face.
Unnecessarily subsiding a monopoly using taxpayers money, could well be considered fraud.
Let's not ask why he never looked at alternative suppliers in his current role.
Where's the scientific data to support that claim? Where are the case studies?
In light of this guys comments and history, IL residents should complain to their governors office. I'm sure Campbell would happily consent to an audit to ensure everything is above board.
It was acutally "We don't have time for science in state government"
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Taxpayers don't have a say in every purchasing decision the government makes.
Why the hell shouldn't we? As far as I'm aware of, the govt is using our tax dollars to pay for it right?
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
What interface are you referring to then?
The biggest drawback to Linux is that it requires a modicum of intelligence to learn. God forbid anyone should have to expend effort in an attempt to learn something new these days.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
I also like how you install the Gimp but don't get any printing support by default so have to install Gimp-print later. (I think that may have even required unmerging and remerging the Gimp proper... it's been a while.)
What sort of image program doesn't have printing support out of the box?
While perhaps not the richest or largest state in the union, Illinois still has an economy nearly the size of the Netherlands and can afford to throw money away on Windows. The rest of the world, meanwhile, will continue to innovate with OSS and leave the US with bloated, expensive systems to maintain
1: buy MS software
2: decide to do a "case study" on "total cost of ownership"
3: recieve massive discounts from MS.
4: publish the difference between 1 and 3
everybody wins!
"Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom
Talking about freedom isn't going to fly when making a business case though. Freedom is a great reason to use FOSS, but if you want to get your boss adopted, you have to frame it the right way. Instead of talking about "freedom" as a concept, you ask him how he feels that Microsoft could change their software and make you lose your data, with no way of getting it back. Or, in my case, when evaluating a proprietary product, I could say "Well, this open source one does everything we need, its free, and the big bonus is that if we run into problems with it, we can take that source and work around it. If we use proprietary product X, we'd have to beg them for features." This is actually something I argued.
To be quite frank, software freedom is kinda an out-there idea for a lot of people not closely associated with FOSS or computers in general. Dropping that on their lap is likely to put them off. If you can frame it in a way that illustrates exactly how it benefits them without bringing all the emotional baggage that typical FOSS screeds carry, then you will be a lot more successful.
Thats why people talk about cost a lot. Its a very effective trojan to get FOSS into businesses.
I have a problem on Ubuntu Edgy with my Laserjet 2100. It does not align properly. I've been too lazy to look up the alignment info, because it's not really that important. But it is very stupid. The system claims to know the kind of printer I have. It recommended a driver for the device. Why is it not printing on the page?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
seeing as how science projects rarely make time for state governments.
perhaps the linux community needs to reach out. you know what might do the trick is yet another repackaged ubuntu distro that caters to some cultural minority. maybe you can call it illinibuntu or just dabuntu.
sarcasm:
-noun
1. harsh or bitter derision or irony.
According to this, the office was a scandal. If anything, it's an example of how not to do things.
Where there's corruption, expect M$ to be crammed down your throat.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Either hire a better administrator OR just suck it up and be a windows shop.
The simple fact is that lack of skills in your employees is a problem you have to deal with in many fields, either hire better ones, train the ones you got OR do without that skill.
It is the reaon you see those semi-cars. They are small trucks drivable with a car license that have a setup similar to a semi (those big trucks with a tractor element and the eh cargo element (am I dazzling you with my tech speak yet?)) because transport companies find it impossible to hire enough people with truck licenses (and are unwilling to train new ones). They offer more cargo space then a van wich in some business is more important then their low weight limit.
Linux will have to be a choice similar to that, you can forget getting your nephews 12 year old kid to configure it, you are going to have to move your business software of Excell and you are going to have to hire someone who in 2007 isn't still baffled by setting up a printer.
Oh am I too harsh? Well, I am so sorry but for the last decade I seen nothing but people come up with one excuse after another why Linux is so hard, while at the same time I get those things working without a sweat. Am I that brilliant, are you that stupid OR are you just making up excuses.
Use windows, but don't try to put the blame on linux.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
What if Chicago donated the time of all the workers painting "Richard M. Daley, Mayor" on every garbage can in the city? That could free a lot of time.
how to invest, a novice's guide
If I said I was capable of customizing a Hyundai so that it outran a Maserati Bora, would you say "Hyundais can be just as fast as Maseratis". Yes? Would you be right? Sorta. But not where it counts
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Of course the ultimate would be a kind of universal Ndiswrapper where you could use any windows printer/webcam/pci card,etc without having to worry about whether there is a Linux driver written for it.Probably WAY to much to ask for,but it is nice to dream.I'd be happy to settle for a printer Niswrapper so I wouldn't have to run Windows to deal with all these damn buggy Lexmark cheapy printers that seem to be so popular around here.I spent 4 hours trying to get this Lexmark X1270 that was given to me to work in Linux before giving up and just slapping a Win2K partition on my desktop just to deal with the thing.
I think the Linux desktop is more than ready for the average user.It's the little add-ons that seem to keep a lot of folks on Windows (at least in my exp).
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
I find your argument interesting. However, one thing I like the most about Linux is the fact I actually have the ability to fix any problems I may encounter. Unfortunately, I am not able to say the same thing for Windows.
In all honesty, were Windows open source - my perspective might well change. I couldn't honestly say, since that option obviously not available. But I would certainly give it a chance.
An example would be an issue one of my desktops has with msvcirt.dll that causes issues with (some) C/C++ compiled programs. It's a known issue, and there is even a hotfix that was developed in October of 2004. Amazing how it's still a hotfix, in 2007. I can even get the hotfix - all I have to do is pay $59. I might even be able to get it free by calling MS and sitting through a half hour of interrogation about my Windows license (And yes, it's legit - OEM from Dell, it's the principle of the matter that bothers me most. If I wanted to be treated like a criminal just to be a customer, I'd buy music CDs, too.)
It sounds to me the process of denail, blame, and self righteousness might be at work here -- but I don't believe it's in support for Linux adoption. Linux is free. It is also an extremely reliable platform. Most importantly, it is an open system. Should something go wrong, you are able to fix it yourself -- should you be capable.
The only thing I see giving MS an advantage is the fact they already have the majority of the market-share. As MS' market-share lowers and Linux adoption grows, we will see a greater level of commercial software development on Linux -- and the game will certainly change then. Personally, though, unless you use MS Office or play games only available to Windows -- there's really no benefit to having Windows over Linux aside from preferences. And I imagine a great many people will always prefer Windows because it is familiar, if nothing else. Honestly, for the work I do on the PC -- were it not for the completely crap inability I have to fix problems within Windows due to it's closed nature -- I would probably prefer Windows for the GUI environment. I guess I just like the GUI better, to be frank. But when it comes to the dirty 'real' work - I will always have a preference for the unix-like command line of Linux.
Then again, if UltraEdit-32 was available on Linux, haha - that might change too. Ohh my, what a mind twister!
In the end, both OS' have room for improvement. I like them both, but to say anyone promoting either OS is in denial, blame, or self-righteous is just arrogant at best.
Results:
9 8JHH&txtName=Microsoft&txtState=WA&txt2006=Y&txt20 04=Y&txt2002=Y&Order=N
52 records found in 0.0469 seconds.
Total for this search: $1,892,584
Search Criteria:
Donor name: Microsoft
Donor State: WA
Cycle(s) selected: 2006, 2004, 2002
Then it goes on to list all the seperate donations -- majority of which appear to go to RNC but there are substantial amounts to DNC also.
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?key=