More Linux Coverage in the News

Principal Skinner writes " The main feature on Userweb has a pretty good exposé of Linux, the open-source movement, and trends in OSes. Heavily slams NT on reliability, scalability and TCO, as well as raising questions about whether Windows2000 is The Answer. Also talks a bit about Novell and its products. "

Comments

The Support Question

[remande]

Yet it is the nature of Linux open-forum business model that GartnerGroup and others believe could harm Linux's chance of becoming a mainstream, general-purpose NOS. Author G. Weiss states in his book "Linux in the Mainstream: Key Make-or-Break Factors," "Linux sidesteps the issue of IS responsibility; many Linux converts unrealistically believe that IS departments can assume more responsibility and wean themselves from vendor dependence, since the worldwide resources of the community are available to leverage." The issue brings up a question: To whom will Linux IS managers turn in times of trouble to obtain fast relief in the absence of vendor support contracts?

We do not expect IS departments to take more platform responsibility. We expect them to get support contracts from a competent support firm. IS departments can expect to get better support out of Linux (and other open source software) because OSS demolishes the support monopoly.

You can only provide so much support for a piece of software without having the source code in your hands. If you find a bug, you can only fix it if you have the source code. With proprietary software, only the software vendor itself has that code, and thus it is the only truly competent support organization. If you really need a package to run, your chain of support must go to the vendor. If you don't get support from the vendor, you get support from someone who gets support from the vendor. If you don't like the support you get, you either live with it, or change support by changing vendors.

Every proprietary software firm is a monopoly in the support market for its own software.

With Linux, anybody with skills and a 486 can fix Linux bugs. You can support Linux to the hilt without selling Linux. There is no Linux support monopoly. The competition creates low-cost, competent support contractors.