Novell Assents To "Windows Is Cheaper Than Linux"

dyous87 points out a ZDNet article reporting that Novell has endorsed a customer's comment claiming that the total cost of ownership of Linux is higher then that of Windows. Novell and Microsoft jointly issued a press release quoting an IT guy for a UK-based bank, HSBC: "Some will be surprised to learn that our Windows environment has a lower total cost of ownership than our current Linux environment." The context of the comment makes it clear that HSBC's Linux environment has a mix of distros, and that a move to centralize around one distro — Novell's — will save money. Nevertheless, Novell's connection to this assertion is not likely to improve their reputation in the open source community.

Comments

Since Novell and Microsoft said this...

[LingNoi]

... it must be true!!

Re:Since Novell and Microsoft said this...

[thewiz]

Actually it should be:

Since Microsoft AND Novell said this...

No conflict of interest here; move along, citizens.

Forgot something

[roman_mir]

In the release, Matthew O'Neill, group head of distributed systems for HSBC Global IT operations, states that the bank's existing Linux environment is more expensive to maintain than its Windows environment. "Some will be surprised to learn that our Windows environment has a lower total cost of ownership than our current Linux environment." - they forgot to mention that the GNU/Linux environment consisted of 10,000 boxes and the Windows environment was only 3 boxes and 2 of them were down most of the time.

Ok, I just came up with this, but it's not different than what the 'article' is saying, there are no details at all, it's all just hand-waving and no facts.

HSBC

[Anne Thwacks]

... stands for Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation

Hongkong and Shanghai are no longer part of the UK. You need to update your map (I hear Google has good maps).

Applied Freudian Physchology

[l4m3z0r]

How the open source community views Novell is reminiscent of the madonna-whore complex.

1. We can only love a perfect(technically) and chaste(doesn't screw msft behind our backs) woman

2. However we want her to be sexy(successful) and do the nasty(make money).

In essence we can never be satisfied with a company's performance and also love them at the same time. We are doomed to hate Novell and yet we desperately want her.

Re:What's the story....

[Dogtanian]

What's the story about someone selling their birthright for a bowl of porridge? Sounds like the bastard offspring of the biblical story of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of pottage (lentil stew) and The Three Bears.... sort of "Goldilocks 5:14" ;-)

A chair?

[DragonHawk]

"The pear? Pffth. Bring me.... the COMFY CHAIR!!"

Well, I certainly didn't expect that.

Re:Old cost of 0wnership article

[nuzak]

> Not that long ago, there was an article about the cost of 0wnership (that first letter is a zero, not an o).

The easiest way to disambiguate that spelling is spell it: "Total Cost of Pwnership"

(TCP might not be the best way to abbreviate it though)

Re:I'm torn

[bigredradio]

Your comments were well thoughtout, concise, and without hysteria or bias.

You must be new here!

Re:No credibility, since msft paid novl over $100M

[Anonymous Coward]

Pronouns: They're your friend.

Three degrees of the severity of lies:

[morgan_greywolf]

There are 3 degrees of the severity of lies:

Lies,
Damned Lies,
and TCO reports

-- Greywolf's Law of TCO

The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus

[Weaselmancer]

I would recommend that the guys at Novell read The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus. It'll prepare them for what's to come.

Re:So...

[rsilvergun]

If HSBC thinks that Linux has a higher TCO than Windows, then why do they even have Linux machines?

Tuxracer.

Re:its a bank

[Anonymous Coward]

Figures don't lie!!!! (but liars can figure)