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Microsoft Cheaper To Use Than Open Source Software, UK CIO Says
colinneagle (2544914) writes "Jos Creese, CIO of the Hampshire County Council, told Britain's 'Computing' publication that part of the reason is that most staff are already familiar with Microsoft products and that Microsoft has been flexible and more helpful. 'Microsoft has been flexible and helpful in the way we apply their products to improve the operation of our frontline services, and this helps to de-risk ongoing cost,' he told the publication. 'The point is that the true cost is in the total cost of ownership and exploitation, not just the license cost.' Creese went on to say he didn't have a particular bias about open source over Microsoft, but proprietary solutions from Microsoft or any other commercial software vendor 'need to justify themselves and to work doubly hard to have flexible business models to help us further our aims.'"
commenter would rather make a conspiracy theory to explain away inconvenient evidence.
Oh, don't go using logic here when it comes to open source vs. Windows with this crowd. If you listen to some folks here, even your Grandma should be using Linux.
There is a good reason that Linux has what, a 2% install base? It's because to start you have to "pick" a distro, to begin with. Windows is Windows. There may be varying grades of the same product, but it's all...Windows. It all seems so simple and straight-forward to the "open source or die" crowd - hey, if one doesn't work for you, try another - and they completely miss the point that it's the very issue, to begin with.
Of course, it goes far beyond that - compatibility with devices, user friendliness, ability to get support (I guess Grandma can join the local Senior's Linux User Group?). When it comes to business, those concerns multiply - the fact that there are so far fewer Linux IT professionals than Windows IT professionals exist. And because Linux is inherently so customizable and requires so much tinkering, you lose the wrong employee and you have to bring someone new in, it may be a nearly impossible task for them to get up to speed on what already exists, much less fix issues, unless the employee that has gone has extensively documented what has been done before.
It's not like Linux is the little engine that could, just chugging along waiting for everyone to discover it. It's not a diamond in the rough. It is the rough. I certainly have a lot of issues with Windows, but for the vast majority of users and businesses it just works - and that's for very good reasons. As much as we criticize everything being run by MS, that's also why it works - it has one governing body, unlike Linux, where you are basically out there in the wilderness when it comes to getting support.
At this point, even after so long, it's a niche - and even the tiny gains it has here and there for certain applications is never going change that - and it's going to remain a niche, for folks who like to tinker. Most people use computers as a tool, and don't want to spend just as much tinkering with the tool as just using it. All Linux would change for the majority of users in a practical sense is less compatibility and more headaches. I get the principle of open-source software, and it's noble - but ask anyone, nobility really doesn't win in the end, most of the time - it's great for folks that want to use it, but to expect the rest of the world to do so is simply a fantasy because for how most folks use a computer, it's more trouble than it's worth.
Try opening a Linux file system with any version of Windows. OK, that didn't work. How about this one, write a document in MS Office, save it in an open format such as .odt. Still nothing? Hmm. I can read Windows file systems, write to a .doc file, even install some Windows applications on my Linux box. If you prefer Windows, good for you. On this one though, your facts are backwards.
I'll see your anecdote and raise you. Microsoft Works is still in use by people. Remind me again the ease of sharing documents between someone using Works and someone with Word, without formatting errors. Your memory is pretty selective if you're only considering Microsoft Office.
Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.