But, what about all the money you saved by not paying overtime to fight all the latest worms/virii, and savings by not losing productivity due to said worms bringing down your exchange server? Come on, if you're going to point out the advantages, point out ALL the advantages!
Uh, where did they get your address to send you threatening letters? Maybe you are as stupid as they think you are! Personally, all my M$ software is registered to billg@microsoft.com... I'm not sure what he does with the threatening letters...
A corrolary to this is that most people don't seem to realize that by providing a viable alternative, Open Source benefits even those customers that choose to continue using Microsoft software. Competition is good, it forces companies to aggressive improve their products and lower costs in ways that actually benefit the consumer.
No, there are training, maintenance and support costs assoctiated with software even if the software itself is free. However, at this point it seems highly unlikely that any of those costs are lower for M$ products than for open source. In fact, given the number of patches coming out lately for M$ software, I would have to guess that the maintenance costs are much higher for M$ software. I find any claims about TCO being lower for XP than open source or even previous M$ products to be "extremely dubious" (which is a polite way of saying "utter and complete bullshit!")
Obviously, you understood M$ -- integration cuts down on Microsoft's maintenance costs. They never said anything about passing those savings on to the consumer!
Especially since the costs of retraining all users far exceeds the cost of even Microsoft software, especially when you take into account lost productivity, etc. while people are coming up to speed. IIRC, it cost corporations about $2000 PER USER to upgrade from Win95 to Win98 (Sorry I don't have any more recent figures, does anybody else have cost estimates e.g. for moving from Win2K to XP?) Other factors: 1) You probably have to buy new hardware if your hardware is more than 3 years old, because chances are the hardware is no longer being sold, therefore why would the manufacturer bother to write drivers for the new OS? 2) M$ seems bound and determined to switch from an economic model wherein software is purchased to one where it is effectively rented. Upgrading forces you to accept their new terms.
On the other hand, since most of your users have probably lost the licenses that came with their PCs, upgrading will make you less susceptible to a BSA audit.
Damn straight! If the majority of people are in favor of slavery, then slavery should be legal! If the majority of people are in favor of exterminating the Jews, then I say "Fire up the ovens!"
Fortunately, Mob Rule is NOT the basis of law in this country...
My wife calls me from the store: "Honey, why is the shopping cart telling me 'The last time you were here, you bought condoms!'? I don't remember buying condoms... and besides, I'm on the pill!"
Does everybody else think the International Finance Center in Hong Kong hereis modeled after what I think it's modeled after? To quote Shrek: "Maybe they're trying to make up for something."
Can't you provide the best of both worlds, i.e. computer enter and automatically tabulate results, but still provide multiple paper copies of each vote (one for voter and one for electoral commission) that can be verified later? And yes, the voters themselves need to verify that the audit trail copy to be saved for recounts matches their actual intentions, so a Write Once Read Many (WORM) drive or any other media that is not directly readable by a human being is worthless.
Don't cluefull people generally do a phased introduction of new software, i.e. run in the lab for a couple weeks, then install it on a few servers to see how it works before putting the entire state on the new system?
Always keep at least a 2 year supply of alcohol in case of emegencies! (This is easier for some people than others. For me, a two-year supply is about a six-pack.)
I've suspected for a long time that MBA-types hold techies in contempt. Offshoring IT jobs is another symptom of this. Sclavos' comments demonstrates the utter contempt he holds for the people that built the internet -- the very same people that made him rich!
Maybe this is because shorter men are more likely to suffer from a Napoleon Complex; i.e. more likely to be assholes? In most fields, being a jerk should limit your earnings...
I'm still not sure why more people haven't adopted ATI's All in Wonder cards.Uh, how 'bout 'cause their drivers suck? I've got one, and it would be a neat idea if it wasn't constantly crashing Win2K... oh, by the way, where do I get Linux TV software?
How do you store these things so that your 2-year old doesn't break them? She's already wiped out 2 DVD drives, broken a DVD, broken at least one VHS tape, and scratched too many CDs to count... and of course, anything she sees her daddy playing with, she wants to play with herself! (And she's now smart enough to find the keys and use them to unlock cabinets.)
So those 1TByte drives should come along just in time for Microsoft's Longhorn, thus proving Bill's Law: "The software will always expand to fill the available drive space!"
Slashdot Mirror
But, what about all the money you saved by not paying overtime to fight all the latest worms/virii, and savings by not losing productivity due to said worms bringing down your exchange server? Come on, if you're going to point out the advantages, point out ALL the advantages!
Uh, where did they get your address to send you threatening letters? Maybe you are as stupid as they think you are! Personally, all my M$ software is registered to billg@microsoft.com... I'm not sure what he does with the threatening letters...
A corrolary to this is that most people don't seem to realize that by providing a viable alternative, Open Source benefits even those customers that choose to continue using Microsoft software. Competition is good, it forces companies to aggressive improve their products and lower costs in ways that actually benefit the consumer.
No, there are training, maintenance and support costs assoctiated with software even if the software itself is free. However, at this point it seems highly unlikely that any of those costs are lower for M$ products than for open source. In fact, given the number of patches coming out lately for M$ software, I would have to guess that the maintenance costs are much higher for M$ software. I find any claims about TCO being lower for XP than open source or even previous M$ products to be "extremely dubious" (which is a polite way of saying "utter and complete bullshit!")
Obviously, you understood M$ -- integration cuts down on Microsoft's maintenance costs. They never said anything about passing those savings on to the consumer!
On the other hand, since most of your users have probably lost the licenses that came with their PCs, upgrading will make you less susceptible to a BSA audit.
Fortunately, Mob Rule is NOT the basis of law in this country...
My wife calls me from the store: "Honey, why is the shopping cart telling me 'The last time you were here, you bought condoms!'? I don't remember buying condoms... and besides, I'm on the pill!"
Does everybody else think the International Finance Center in Hong Kong hereis modeled after what I think it's modeled after? To quote Shrek: "Maybe they're trying to make up for something."
Can't you provide the best of both worlds, i.e. computer enter and automatically tabulate results, but still provide multiple paper copies of each vote (one for voter and one for electoral commission) that can be verified later? And yes, the voters themselves need to verify that the audit trail copy to be saved for recounts matches their actual intentions, so a Write Once Read Many (WORM) drive or any other media that is not directly readable by a human being is worthless.
At least we've established that the Mississippi ABC is "eating their own dog food"!
what phobia does Tomb Raider treat, and why do so many geeks suffer from it?
Don't cluefull people generally do a phased introduction of new software, i.e. run in the lab for a couple weeks, then install it on a few servers to see how it works before putting the entire state on the new system?
Always keep at least a 2 year supply of alcohol in case of emegencies! (This is easier for some people than others. For me, a two-year supply is about a six-pack.)
I've suspected for a long time that MBA-types hold techies in contempt. Offshoring IT jobs is another symptom of this. Sclavos' comments demonstrates the utter contempt he holds for the people that built the internet -- the very same people that made him rich!
Maybe this is because shorter men are more likely to suffer from a Napoleon Complex; i.e. more likely to be assholes? In most fields, being a jerk should limit your earnings...
You mean, the U.S. Constitution has been freely available on the Internet all this time, and still Ashcroft hasn't bothered to read it?
... for fighting for Urdu and Arabic language support in Microsoft Office! I wonder if native Arabic speakers appreciate this...
I'm still not sure why more people haven't adopted ATI's All in Wonder cards.Uh, how 'bout 'cause their drivers suck? I've got one, and it would be a neat idea if it wasn't constantly crashing Win2K... oh, by the way, where do I get Linux TV software?
Wouldn't this be cheaper and easier?
How do you store these things so that your 2-year old doesn't break them? She's already wiped out 2 DVD drives, broken a DVD, broken at least one VHS tape, and scratched too many CDs to count... and of course, anything she sees her daddy playing with, she wants to play with herself! (And she's now smart enough to find the keys and use them to unlock cabinets.)
So those 1TByte drives should come along just in time for Microsoft's Longhorn, thus proving Bill's Law: "The software will always expand to fill the available drive space!"
Uh, aren't there three mouse buttons on any real computer? (Bear in mind the mouse wheel is also a button!)
Sounds like they're working on a replacement for Power Rangers... "Teenage Mutant Ninja Robots"?
Well, I can certainly see that being a target for hackers!