Slashdot Mirror
The Hidden Cost of Using Microsoft Software
Glyn Moody writes "Detractors of free software like to point out it's not really 'free,' and claim that its Total Cost of Ownership is often comparable with closed-source solutions if you take everything into account. And yet, despite their enthusiasm for including all the costs, they never include a very real extra that users of Microsoft's products frequently have to pay: the cost of cleaning up malware infections. For example, the UK city of Manchester has just paid out nearly $2.5 million to clean up the Conficker worm, most of which was 'a £1.2m [$2million] bill in the IT department, including £600,000 [$1 million] getting "consultancy support" to fix the problems, which including drafting in experts from Microsoft.' To make the comparisons fair, isn't it about time these often massive costs were included in TCO calculations?"
There is still no comments on the article and it is already tagged as troll! :)
Linux will have its malware day when it becomes more popular. Broken interfaces, poor documentation, mediocre support, incompatibilities up the wazoo, but dang...I bet it's secure as hell.
Microsoft is driving the planet to ruin with its wasteful high carbon footprint. All those employees driving and flying to work just for Micorosoft... While FOSS is typically done from the home office... no driving involved. You can include linux as part of your Company's "Green" initiative!
You are unique, just like everyone else.
Oh really? You make it sound as though it's a comparable situation between Windows and Linux as regards malware. I'd like to see you substantiate this claim with some solid data with a clear comparison between the platforms. Otherwise, I suspect you of being nothing more than a glib, sideways-talking astroturfer.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
I'll say it anyway. Man, shut the f*ck up already!
I get that this is Slahdot and bitching is a way of life here, but can we please just put this shit to rest. People use whatever technology is good for them. Each has costs, each has benefits, each has security issues, each has usability issues, each has moron users, each has technical users that can hack it to make it work, each is attacked by criminals to exploit, each can be used by governments where they see fit, each can be used by non-profits where it fits, and each can cost whatever the f*ckin' money it wants, each can be bought by whomever in a box, DVD, flash drive, ftp, torrent, or whatever...
I like to see lists of how your use of it has benefited you..."I use it and I like it because I can do x,y, and z which is what I needed" This shit of, "your dick is small so we can't really talk about my man-boobs" argument is starting to annoy me.