Sure Everyone wants 100% compatibility with.doc,.xls,...and OSS to have as much play in the business arena as Microsoft, but besides being free software, has anyone thought about the administrative benefits that Microsoft software has that OSS software lacks? Lets face it, in business environments being able to push the software out via a server and configure every aspect of the software to the administrators needs without ever touching the users workstation is a very real concern and also an area that OSS needs to work on to compete with MS in the business environment.
Just my thoughts.
I'm going to take a different approach than Garcia did. First of all, I personally thought Garcia's post was very insightful and I agree with almost everything he said. The reason I feel windows is and probably always will be the most used OS on the market is its coexistence with other applications (Which I will explain in a min). Every OS has its flaws and good points. Where Linux reigns supreme is the ability to customize it to a specific need. Yes windows can be tweaked, changed, and configured to do specific tasks very well, but there is no denying that Linux can do this much better. You can recompile Linux to be anything...an OS for a PDA...Laptop... Server...Firewall...etc. Until M$ makes windows an open source OS (HA) it will never be able to compete with Linux on this level. But windows has a lot more to offer than Clippy (there is always Merlin) and a neat "Lego's meets Blues clues" GUI. Like I said earlier, its coexistence with other applications is amazing. Imagine this:
You sit down at a log in prompt. You enter your username and password. You computer boots right into windows and contacts the Windows 2003 server. Next The Windows 2003 server sends you a GPO (Group policy object) that remaps all the drives from the server that you need to do your daily work and other maps that your applications use. The Windows server says "Man you don't have the latest Windows updates", Lets let the SUS server (Free Windows server component that M$ offers....no excuse for not being up to date) download all of those patches and fixes to your computer...and tonight when your not using your computer I will install them for you and reboot your computer all without you doing anything. Next you open Outlook 2003, instantly all your emails come flooding in from the Exchange server. While reading your email you noticed that someone modified the public Share point server (a Windows server software) and changed the Monday meeting from 1 to 3 pm. When this happened the Share point server thought...hmm it would be nice for you to know this...so it updated your personal and public calendar (Exchange) for you, then sent you an email just to let you know (kind of nice of it don't you think). Next thing you know you get another email that your copy of "software A" is to old and that on Monday the Windows 2003 server will push out another GPO and install the newest copy for you. By this time you grow hungry and you log off. You then go to the kitchen to cook breakfast and think to yourself how glad you are that it is your off day and you don't have to go to work until Monday. You did all this from a terminal server/remote desktop session from the house while you were trying to figure out what you wanted to eat.
This is why big business use Windows environments. This is ease of use that big companies require. This is why Microsoft will remain supreme. The picture I just painted is normal business for Kevin. I set Kevin's law firm up with an Active directory/Windows environment and he has a hard time double clicking his mouse. Let alone wonder why Gtoast will not burn his court papers and documents to a CD. Business people need to do what they do best...and let the network run itself.
When Linux offers this...then it will ready for the desktop/workstation.
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Sure Everyone wants 100% compatibility with .doc, .xls,...and OSS to have as much play in the business arena as Microsoft, but besides being free software, has anyone thought about the administrative benefits that Microsoft software has that OSS software lacks? Lets face it, in business environments being able to push the software out via a server and configure every aspect of the software to the administrators needs without ever touching the users workstation is a very real concern and also an area that OSS needs to work on to compete with MS in the business environment.
Just my thoughts.
I'm going to take a different approach than Garcia did. First of all, I personally thought Garcia's post was very insightful and I agree with almost everything he said. The reason I feel windows is and probably always will be the most used OS on the market is its coexistence with other applications (Which I will explain in a min). Every OS has its flaws and good points. Where Linux reigns supreme is the ability to customize it to a specific need. Yes windows can be tweaked, changed, and configured to do specific tasks very well, but there is no denying that Linux can do this much better. You can recompile Linux to be anything...an OS for a PDA...Laptop... Server...Firewall...etc. Until M$ makes windows an open source OS (HA) it will never be able to compete with Linux on this level. But windows has a lot more to offer than Clippy (there is always Merlin) and a neat "Lego's meets Blues clues" GUI. Like I said earlier, its coexistence with other applications is amazing. Imagine this: You sit down at a log in prompt. You enter your username and password. You computer boots right into windows and contacts the Windows 2003 server. Next The Windows 2003 server sends you a GPO (Group policy object) that remaps all the drives from the server that you need to do your daily work and other maps that your applications use. The Windows server says "Man you don't have the latest Windows updates", Lets let the SUS server (Free Windows server component that M$ offers....no excuse for not being up to date) download all of those patches and fixes to your computer...and tonight when your not using your computer I will install them for you and reboot your computer all without you doing anything. Next you open Outlook 2003, instantly all your emails come flooding in from the Exchange server. While reading your email you noticed that someone modified the public Share point server (a Windows server software) and changed the Monday meeting from 1 to 3 pm. When this happened the Share point server thought...hmm it would be nice for you to know this...so it updated your personal and public calendar (Exchange) for you, then sent you an email just to let you know (kind of nice of it don't you think). Next thing you know you get another email that your copy of "software A" is to old and that on Monday the Windows 2003 server will push out another GPO and install the newest copy for you. By this time you grow hungry and you log off. You then go to the kitchen to cook breakfast and think to yourself how glad you are that it is your off day and you don't have to go to work until Monday. You did all this from a terminal server/remote desktop session from the house while you were trying to figure out what you wanted to eat. This is why big business use Windows environments. This is ease of use that big companies require. This is why Microsoft will remain supreme. The picture I just painted is normal business for Kevin. I set Kevin's law firm up with an Active directory/Windows environment and he has a hard time double clicking his mouse. Let alone wonder why Gtoast will not burn his court papers and documents to a CD. Business people need to do what they do best...and let the network run itself. When Linux offers this...then it will ready for the desktop/workstation.