Linux Usage in the UK

pdajames writes "Techies don't seem to understand that businesses want to have a support contract with their usual supplier before they will buy Linux, even though the likelihood is that they may never need support. A survey in the UK showed that support concerns were the No. 1 factor keeping companies from investing in open source software."

Nudge, Nudge

[inertia187]

Man:
Evening, squire!
Man with hat:
Good evening.
Man:
Is your...does your sysadmin support Linux?
Man with hat:
I-I...I beg your pardon?
Man:
Your...your sysadmin. Does he support Linux, eh? Does he support Linux, eh? Eh?
Man with hat:
Huh, sometimes he has to support Linux, yes.
Man:
I bet he does! I bet he does! Say no more! Say no more! Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge!

Who needs support

[arcanumas]

Support? Who needs support when you have the LDP! :)

Re:Who needs support

[Duncan3]

Good lord man, that's not even funny in the Linux reality distortion field.

Hey...

[Pinguu]

the UK has computers now?

Re:the usual supplier

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

... you'd be hard pressed to get Linux support from Microsoft.

Of course you can get Linux support from Microsoft.

Call them and ask them to solve a sendmail problem for example (assuming you want to waste $$$ on the support call that is) and you can bet they'll answer something like "Hmm, I think you really do need IIS sir. Would you like to hear more about it ?".

So you see, they do give you advices to help you solve your Linux problems ...

Re:Sounds like easy money...

[rusty0101]

note also one should remember that when selling services to England, take the value you price at in dollars, remove the dollar sign, add a pound sign, leave the numbers alone, and you just added about a 33% mark on.

Re:Hey...

[Hogwash McFly]

Yeah we do have computers but most of them were obliterated by friendly fire a few months ago from rogue smart bombs.

Note to overly patriotic mods: this is just a [bad] joke

Re:Hey...

[Pinguu]

bleh... we have mint cake you know!!! MINT CAKE!!!!

ring ring

[Anonymous Coward]

From the article: "The attitude of a lot of managers is, if you use an off-the-shelf system, like (Microsoft's) Internet Information Server running on (Windows) NT, then when it fails, you've got a company to ring"

My God, who has that much time to spend on the phone?

Re:Hey...

[odaiwai]

I can just imagine the Prime Minister of the time saying: "And who, Mr. Babbage is going to help us when this 'Difference Engine' of yours breaks down? We will stay with our quills and parchment, thank you."

Re:I blame the British 'techie' environment.

[darkheavy]

Clippy: I think you tried to spell totally, forbidden, ridiculous. Do you want me to correct it?

On the other hand, it would be better to use "forbidding".

Troll me, flame me, kiss me.

actually...

[cliveholloway]

When my wife's mother in Arizona heard I was English (when we first met), one of her first questions was, "Do they have furniture in England?".

So I'm trying to work out if the parent is meant to be a joke, or whether you're my wife's mother?

Own up!

cLive ;-)