Novell Expects Vista to Spur Linux Adoption 444
It doesn't come easy writes "According to the Register, Novell expects the cost of upgrading to Vista will encourage many companies to turn to Linux instead. From the article: 'Jack Messman, chief executive of networking software vendor Novell says that 2006 will see widespread adoption of Linux on the corporate desktop. According to Messman the catalyst will be the release of Microsoft Windows Vista and the high costs associated with upgrading. Obviously, if they're right Novell hopes that turn will be toward SUSE Linux.'" We touched on this issue late last month, as well.
News? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:News? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:News? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would they switch the operating system at all? Not everyone loves technology, they don't all go OMFG ITS A NEW VERSION OF MY SOFTWARE!!!! I MUST HAVE IT NOW!!! Especially when it comes to the operating system, most people just leave it as is. You know how many Windows 95 and 98 computers I've been cleaning up (spyware, adware, viri) these last few years? Many of them could run newer versions of Windows, but why would the people bother when their version works?
People want computers to just work. They don't have to install new Operating Systems for their microwave, why should they buy a new OS, especially when what they have works. Many corporations will sit with what they have until they replace their computers. So unless computer hardware venders start mainstream selling PC's with Linux installed, don't expect massive adoption.
Re:News? (Score:4, Insightful)
Primarily to keep the BSA nazis off their backs- when you get a computer free-for-carrying-off-site for your nonprofit or for home use you should ALWAYS reformat the hard drive and install a new OS. To do otherwise opens up your school children to being turned against you in a court of law by the BSA- as some teachers found out not to long ago. NO non-profit should ever be using Microsoft operating systems for that reason- it's just to hard to keep track of the licensing on donated equipment, unless you acutally purchase new copies of the OS. And of course, Microsoft is really pushing people towards Linux- Win2000 and Win98 are already gone from store shelves, and I give XP about 6 months after Vista is released to disappear.
Not everyone loves technology, they don't all go OMFG ITS A NEW VERSION OF MY SOFTWARE!!!! I MUST HAVE IT NOW!!! Especially when it comes to the operating system, most people just leave it as is. You know how many Windows 95 and 98 computers I've been cleaning up (spyware, adware, viri) these last few years? Many of them could run newer versions of Windows, but why would the people bother when their version works?
Different situation though- those are personal use machines that were purchased by people- I'm talking about the castoffs of corporations.
People want computers to just work. They don't have to install new Operating Systems for their microwave, why should they buy a new OS, especially when what they have works.
Because otherwise the BSA nazis invade- and if you don't have that paper license, it's several thousand per machine.
Many corporations will sit with what they have until they replace their computers.
Exactly- but when they do, the people they give the old computers to will go to Linux.
So unless computer hardware venders start mainstream selling PC's with Linux installed
You mean like Fry's does? For $400 less than a compariable Wintel System?
don't expect massive adoption.
Depends on your meaning of the term massive, doesn't it? I see linux growing in two areas on the desktop: Cheap NEW internet terminals with 1/3rd the power of what Vista needs just to run, and people who run organizations that live off of charity (like schools) that need an OS that will run on older hardware and has cheap licensing.
Re:News? (Score:5, Insightful)
You are truly ignorant on this topic... Why would you try to post on something about which you know nothing? First of all, schools get Microsoft OSs for about $50. I know, I've been a public ed. tech. coordinator for 9 years. Second, there's a rollback clause in the license. You can use the license to install the current OS or any previous version. As for donated computers, MicroSoft bends over backwards to allow school to legally use ANY version of Windows on them, FREE OF CHARGE. See http://www.microsoft.com/education/freshstart/fre
Re:News? (Score:3, Informative)
While microsoft does make great strides to give schools a break, not all schools are getting these breaks. Yours maybebut not all.
I recently did some work for a catholic school in my neiborhood and found their computers comprising of almost all used and donated equiptment. No school licensing at all because the computer already had somethign installed. Also not long ago there was a news story about just this. Some school was audited by the BSA and fine ungodly amounts of money for not h
Re:News? (Score:4, Informative)
Any company of size will have at least one software vendor who will shift development to vista only and retire older versions. Every software upgrade I had to do was because of this. I had one company consisting of about 30 users and 4 servers recently replace all thier desktops and 2 servers because some crm vendor claimed they wouldn't support the older (win98-2000) systems any more. Of course thier product still runs on it but your on your own if somethign happenes.
Another company i do business with had an app they wanted to use (some slick salesman told them it would trippe profits or something) We had to upgrade 65 units to XPSP2 in order to run it right after sp2 was released. Not only did this create a nightmare with glitches, half of the printers we replaced have since become "compatible" agian meaning we replace several high dollar units for no reason.
Corperations don't upgrade because they can, they do it because one of thier vendors makes them. The companies interact with others and need to keep thier systems compatible with each others. They need to continue running the programs thier staff have been trained on and need to keep support option availible for them. thats why they upgrade to the latest operating systems.
Re:News? (Score:5, Insightful)
Should be interesting.
Re:News? (Score:2, Interesting)
I use linux daily and enjoy it, but is it really ready for your standard mom-and-pop windows users anyways?
Re:News? (Score:5, Informative)
If you want disk encryption, you need the TPM module.
If you want the fancy 3D effects, you will need a 64MB video card with DirectX 9 support.
If you want to play videos protected with Secure Video Path at high resolution, you need a "trusted" monitor. Fortunately, "trusted monitors" don't exist yet, so content won't be requiring them for a good long time.
Stop spreading bullshit.
Re:News? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:News? (Score:4, Funny)
The capcha for this AC post is "rectum," it's like Slashdot can read my mind.
Re:News? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:News? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:News? (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok, I'll tell you how it works. People tend to remember only those things that support their initial prejudices. Hence the OP will have read something like "Vista, like any other OS or device, will require a trusted monitor in order to display HDCP content". They will remember "Vista will require a trusted monitor", which will reinforce their preconception that Vista, like all MS products, is/will be a bag of shite.
It's not even really his fault; it's just human nature. When people feel strongly about something the things that support their position tend to be the things that stick in their minds.
Re:News? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:News? (Score:2)
In this way, Linux needs to have a two-fold market change. One for pure market penetration, and another for cross compatibilty for third party developers to feel safe enough to develop for linux.
what makes vista special? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:what makes vista special? (Score:4, Interesting)
However, what is so special about this upgrade to Vista compared to when the whole upgrade-o-rama for XP and 2000 respectivly? Since a good portion of Vista features are being backported to XP, this is even less of an incentive to upgrade.
Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
However Apple does not seem interested in corporate clients past the Xserve.
Also (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Also (Score:5, Insightful)
Support? What support? If I find a bug in Microsoft Office, do you think they will fix it and send me a new version? BS
At least I can pay an open source developer to fix bugs.
Re:Also (Score:4, Insightful)
Spoken like someone who has never needed to use Microsoft's "sheer support power". That's one area where using Novell could end up being a big plus.
I agree with this... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I agree with this... (Score:2)
Re:I agree with this... (Score:2, Interesting)
So much more simple
Re:I agree with this... (Score:5, Interesting)
The amount large companies spend on support contracts dwarf what they spend on actual licenses. When your running Windows you can get a contract which will guarantee a support time of under two hours.
The other part is how to manage it and deploy it. Things like ActiveDirectory, which are a pain in the ass, but they provide one complete, integrated location to go to for managing everything. I know you can setup the same thing in Linux but it takes ALOT longer, because you have to do everything manually.
Those two points are what keep companies from adopting Linux. Linux needs reliable support from big names, Novell is stepping up here, but they still aren't IBM. As for the management system, I have no idea, I have yet to find a system that will handle users, desktop lockdown, applications management/deployment/permissions, etc. from one, central, automated location. Even Apple has managed to create a system to do this (I manage an OS 9/OS X/Windows mixed environment).
(NOTE: By automated I mean, I change the desktop lockdown settings and every computer changes instantly. And adding more desktops is as simple as choosing a setting like "Managed by Server: lmanage.internal.company.org")
Re:I agree with this... (Score:3, Informative)
You can contract support from Novell. (Or several other companies.)
Things like ActiveDirectory, which are a pain in the ass, but they provide one complete, integrated location to go to for managing everything.
ActiveDirectory is an NDS wannabe. NDS wrote the book on "one complete, integrated" ma
Re:I agree with this... (Score:3, Informative)
At least the Debian people are trying to bri
Not Quite (Score:5, Informative)
As a moderator for the Ubuntu Forums, I feel compelled to give you the correct information.
Ubuntu does not consider joining the DCCA because part of the purpose of that group is to keep things compatible with Debian Sarge. The group intends to rally around the newly released Debian stable and remain compatible with it. Ubuntu cannot and will not do this, because Ubuntu uses packages from Sid to form its distro.
I quote a member of the Ubuntu's Community Council governance board:
"I don't think Ubuntu is a "fork" of Debian, at least not in the traditional sense. A fork suggests that at some point we go our separate way from Debian and then occasionally merge in changes as we carry on down our own path. Our model is quite different; every six months we take a snapshot of Debian's unstable distribution, apply any outstanding patches from our last release to it and spend a couple of months testing and bug-fixing it." [mako.cc]
Therefore Ubuntu could not even join the DCCA even if it wanted to, because using Sarge (even testing) as a base instead of Sid would break the development model. Ubuntu will stay as compatible with Sarge as Sid does, maybe less.
Have a nice day.
Re:I agree with this... (Score:2)
Goodbye C#, Hello C++ and GTK? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Goodbye C#, Hello C++ and GTK? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Goodbye C#, Hello C++ and GTK? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Goodbye C#, Hello C++ and GTK? (Score:4, Interesting)
Self-fullfilling Prophecy (Score:2, Insightful)
This could easily turn into a self fullfilling prophecy. The more the meme is repeated now, two years before Vista launch, the more it will grow in peoples minds. The more it grows there, the more thinking and the more planning.
IOW, keep repeating this! Windows Vista will make business switch to Linux. Say it enough and it becomes truth.
Re:Self-fullfilling Prophecy (Score:2)
Re:Self-fullfilling Prophecy (Score:2)
RTM is November 15, 2006. 428 days, or 1.17 years.
And, if the entire OS is like Microsoft Max, perhaps it won't suck afterall.
That may be true (Score:5, Insightful)
And there still has to be substantial per seat savings up front and integrated migration tools.
If they can pull off that package, yeah, they might a shot.
Re:That may be true (Score:3, Informative)
The cool thing is that you can demo pretty much anything Novell has to offer for 90 days, so give it all a whirl. The documentation
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:That may be true (Score:5, Informative)
NetWare NEVER ran on top of DOS. It used DOS to boot strap itself, in the same way that Linux used GRUB or LILO to boot. This is a HUGE myth that has no fundament.
As for Novell Services running on a Linux kernel instead of a NetWare kernel, it's done: Open Server. As for GroupWise, there's a Linux frontend....Evolution.
Re:That may be true (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.novell.com/products/edirectory/ [novell.com]
And use Novell Desktop Linux on all of the workstations. Seems like Novell realizes that they have the entire system already. Why not look into it? I've worked with Novell's eDirectory on Red Hat (Fedora) in the lab and it's fun. It also beats Active Directory hands down. Novell's desktop product deserves a cost analysi
Re:That may be true (Score:4, Informative)
Novell told us the rules problems and other minor issues would be fixed with the first support pack, however the notifications are "on the radar" to be included in the future.
Its a pretty good product, but not good enough on the linux side yet. Hopefully they will get it at the same level as their Windows client soon.
I don't get it. (Score:2, Insightful)
That doesn't make sense (Score:5, Funny)
Also, there won't be any retraining costs if you stick with Windows.
Microsoft buys a lot of good research, you folks should read it more often.
Re:That doesn't make sense (Score:4, Informative)
IT"S A JOKE!
As are the research and TCO "studies" that Microsoft buys.
Re:That doesn't make sense (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:That doesn't make sense (Score:2)
You are kidding, right?
...yes.
5+ Informative?? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:5+ Informative?? (Score:3, Funny)
don't blame me. I modded it funny, but it said it was already at it's moderation limit or something. So now it is stuck as "informative" because no one can fix it via moderation.
-metric
From TFA... (Score:4, Interesting)
Just like 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001...
The real problem is (still) lack of applications and games. My home PC can't switch until Dreamweaver and Photoshop run on Linux. My office PC can't switch until Quickbooks and VersaCheck run on Linux. Honestly, I've seen more Windows->Mac and Linux->Mac migrations than anything else these past few years... and little to no evidence that shows that Linux is gaining popularity on desktop PCs, other than these "wishful thinking" articles from Linux company CEOs.
Something else to think about: The upgrade cost to Vista, for most companies, is effectively $0 because it comes with new PCs. Contrast this with yearly application updates for Photoshop, Quickbooks, anti-virus, anti-spyware, et al. which can run thousands of dollars. Microsoft isn't the only cost center on a typical PC; in fact, I'd say they're one of the smallest costs involved with a typical office PC.
Re:From TFA... (Score:2)
Antivirus/antispyware apps.
Hmm. True. It's a pity I don't have to run those on my Linux PC. I miss doing that.
The real problem is (still) lack of applications and games. My home PC can't switch until Dreamweaver and Photoshop ru
Re:From TFA... (Score:2, Insightful)
Most companies have select licenses which means they pay for each copy of windows used no matter where it came from. In fact if it came with your PC then you pay for it twice, once when you buy the PC and once under your select license. There are exceptions to this for large companies like dell who won't charge you for your copy of windows and office but will charge your select license instead (so you only pay o
Re:From TFA... (Score:2)
Re:From TFA... (Score:2)
My accountant and book keeper run Quickbooks.
Sure, I may be a freelance IT guy, but I'm not about to nor expect my accountant and book keeper to switch OS's and applications for my sake and orphan all their other customers. Nor would I expect to make it my business to migrate everyone they deal with to go over
Re:Maybe it's time to switch at home then. (Score:2)
Re:Maybe it's time to switch at home then. (Score:2)
Why Microsoft Wins... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why Microsoft Wins... (Score:3, Funny)
More like vacations to illicitly fund and stockholders to serve.
Re:Why Microsoft Wins... (Score:3, Interesting)
It isn't that Micro$oft can't compete with open standards, but that it won't. Open standards allow you to use whatever you want, and Bill the Gates can't stand that. He wants you locked in with proprietary closed standards so that you have no choice but to buy and use his programs.
Less Functionality? (Score:3, Informative)
Messman argued that Linux, having somewhat less desktop functionality, is a bonus for businesses as it discourages staff from wasting time engaging in non-productive activities, such as web browsing.
What is exactly less functional? I agree that removing the browser can increase productivity, but the fact that it can be removed doesn't mean linux has inherent less functional, but quite the opposite.
Re:Less Functionality? (Score:2)
Re:Less Functionality? (Score:3, Funny)
You are not only cutting into paid time that someone else paid you to work, you are cutting into the company's bandwidth.
And if you need to surf:
a)Tell the boss why you need that c
Novell??? (Score:5, Insightful)
This reads like one of those "Hey, just reminding you we're still here" press releases.
First sighting (Score:5, Insightful)
Havent we heard this enough times ?? (Score:5, Insightful)
"The requirements for Windows 9.x will make people turn to OS/2"
- Result, OS/2 is dead.
"The ridiculous requirements for Windows NT will increase adoption of NetWare"
- Result, NetWare died soon after.
"Novell expects the cost of upgrading to Vista will encourage many companies to turn to Linux instead."
-Result ?
It's been more than 10 years of these? Haven't we had enough?
Linux has its own niche; it is not meant to replace windoz boxes, and it will not replace them in the near future. So, who cares ?
Re:Havent we heard this enough times ?? (Score:3, Insightful)
B.S. Linux *has* replaced Windows in my house. My five year old child uses linux exclusively. My wife uses Linux. I use linux.
Granted, Linux doesn't have much in the games category, but I'm not much of a games player. Besides, I've got a PS2.
My list of unmet needs are getting pretty short:
* Shockwave/Director player.
* Flash IDE (but that's coming [sourceforge.net].)
* Better general multimedia supp
sounds familiar (Score:2, Insightful)
Then again, they said the same thing about Windows XP. We saw heaps of pundits insisting that the combined force of considerable hardware requirements and draconian product activation scheme would push Linux head-first into the desktop arena.
Obviously, that didn't happen.
While Linux has made great strides since the launch of XP, it hasn't even come close to putting any kind of dent in the prevalence of Microsoft on the business desktop. As much as I hate to say it, I don't see the situation changing much wi
I hate to say it, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
I have just now downloaded OpenSuse 10. I'll install it and hope to see some improvements.
If Novell / Suse wants to get real desktop adoption, these are the things they need to do:
- The system needs to be more stable. Take a deep breath, slow down on the new features, and make it stable.
- THERE SHOULD BE ONLY ONE APPLICATION FOR EVERY TASK! This is so obvious and people have been saying it for years. On my Suse 9.3, if I want to control the volume, I go to Multimedia -> Volume control and I see NINE DIFFERENT VOLUME CONTROL APPLICATIONS, all of which work or don't work to varying degrees, and none of which are simple and easy to use and understand. That's crazy. That's on drugs. That's lame. Say whatever you want about how great Linux is but if my desktop has NINE DIFFERENT VOLUME CONTROL APPLICATIONS that is horrific. I bring up volume control, but the same problem exists in all the other application categories, but volume control is by far the worst offender. If users want to go crazy and install a dozen different word processors, fine, let them do it, but the default installation should have ONE and exactly ONE application in every category.
- There needs to be a good media player that is well-integrated and WORKS. I should be able to pop in a DVD which I got from Blockbuster and play it, with GUI controls, subtitles, everything, with no messing around. I should be able to go to CNN.com and look at video, with no messing around.
The first two items are not rocket science. They're not technology problems. They are management problems. Someone who is a technical manager high up in Novell should lay down the law on these two issues and make them happen. Say to the dev team, "If you think that such-and-such should be the ONE application for such-and-such task, make your case, and we'll have a decision process and at the end we'll pick one, and go with it."The media player part is more difficult because it's wrapped up in all kinds of legal licensing problems. They need to solve these problems. They are solvable with money, lawyers and time. Guess what, time to do it Novell!
Time to drag out this old chestnut: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I hate to say it, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
I feel your pain. However, there is a difference between the stability of the leading edge SUSE 9.3 (and SUSE 10) and the corporate oriented Novell Linux Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise System.
I agree with you about the confusion of different applications. This, though, is an issue for the home user (not Novell's target market) rather than the corporate desktop.
Like others, I do not see Windows Vista precipitating an immediate avalanche of Linux adoptions. However, I do see it causing CIOs to review their long-term desktop strategies: do they start installing Windows Vista on new machines or try to start the move to open source. Their decision could have a huge impact over a five year timeframe.
Re:I hate to say it, but... (Score:2)
I agree 100% (Score:2, Insightful)
If Windows Vista
Re:I hate to say it, but... (Score:2)
What we need is just a minimal set of applications that do what we are expecting they will do, and do it very well, period.
Re:I hate to say it, but... (Score:2)
The Media Player issue is a real sore spot for all Linux distro's though, and it extends to encoders as well. I recently did some video capture with Kino from a Sony digital-8 capture. The capture worked like a champ, but then
Re:I hate to say it, but... (Score:2)
somewhere in between (Score:3, Interesting)
In reading the posts I'm seeing extremes of the continuum: those who say yes, this is finally the straw that bows the camel's back; and those who say, yeah, like they said last year, and the year before, blah, blah, blah.
I think reality is somewhere in between. Yes, Microsoft continues to hold sway in their dominance and yes, every time they make a new release (less and less often, by the way) the silence of people rushing to linux is deafening.
But there is ample evidence of chinks in Microsoft's armor and a soft underbelly starts to show. Consider the high profile of large customers lately deciding to at least pressure Microsoft by making public their decision or pseudo-decision to go with open source alternatives (consider MA, and some foreign countries).
Historically no company can dominate forever, and eventually I think critical mass will be achieved and linux will gain the foothold and purchase it probably deserves. At least I hope so. I used to be gungho in my knowing linux would waltz over Microsoft but I know better now. It's more complicated, and Microsoft is a juggernaut and will be difficult to knock from the top of the hill.
Be patient, be faithful, Linux has legs and is learning to walk.
Windows 95 versus OS/2 (Score:3)
I think they're probably right (Score:4, Insightful)
It's like Ford/GM/etc pushing bigger SUVs on a market that is dealing with gas prices doubling in months, while someone else (Toyota/Honda) is selling cheaper faster hybrids that are mass-manufactured.
At some point, the OS price and the total price point goes beyond what the consumer is willing to pay - nowadays it's all about the Net bandwidth and you're frequently better off buying a cheap laptop or PC or just using the PS3 or Nintento whatever instead.
When PCs and laptops cost $2000 for entry and $4000 for premium, the OS cost was only a fraction, and you could raise the OS price and people would eat it up. But now that the PC retails for around $300 and a laptop comes in around $1000, the OS cost becomes noticeable.
A Bumpy Road lies ahead (Score:2, Informative)
I know, I know.. There's WINE and other similar software packages, but I highly doubt companies would want to resort to that.
One good example I can tell you of is an enviromental software package that my dad has to use at Eli Lilly, it's written in FoxPRO, and already they're having problems porting it to WinXP.
That's not what history shows us (Score:2)
It's more likely that they will stay with WinXP for as long as they possibly can. Linux is still too far out there.
More like: (Score:2, Interesting)
This sounds like a marketing fabrication. Everybody knows that the release of Vista will not increase Linux adoption. The release of the first Vista virus is what will do that.
Yearh Right? (Score:2)
Just a PR firm issuing a press release (Score:3, Informative)
Anyways, corporate desktops have a lot of custom apps. Simply switching to Linux doesn't make sense. If the apps are tested and work with Windows, why change? I could see if they buy new machines, and are forced to get Vista, but I don't see why Windows 2000 or XP should not be a problem. In the next year or two, there shouldn't be any radical technology changes that can't have a 2k or XP driver made for it.
Re:Just a PR firm issuing a press release (Score:3, Informative)
I agree this is just PR fluff, but that is one of the key bits. If the apps - often internally developed - don't just work in Vista, Novell has an opening. The SuSE/Crossover combo seems to work remarkably well for older VB stuff. If Microsoft 'end of life's' Win2K (usually by not releasing security fixes anymore ala NT4) and apps just don't work in the new OS, IT folks will be looking for solution. I know I've felt a bit of pain just going to XP-
No no, there are still details left to do. (Score:2)
Example: Ubuntu. Excellent distro, with a few flaws in its GNOME Desktop:
I can browse a SMB network with nautilus, nice. However, I cannot access the data I see in nautilus with another program since the SMB folders arent actually mounted. Now that may confuse people. In Windows is simple network sharing REALLY simple. Click on folder, press "share", set the permissions, click OK. In Ubuntu, once I actually want to *mount
Pre-installation is the key (Score:5, Insightful)
Novell Never Quits (Score:5, Insightful)
MS blew them out of the water with their unprecedented marketing of NT as a "network OS". NT was good enough to back up those claims, though not necessarily as good as NetWare. A combination of timing, marketing budget and general media infatuation with MS killed Novell in the market. For a while.
But Novell's been playing a great catchup game. Refusing to die, refusing to cash in sleazily on Linux (like their evil spinoff, SCO), refusing to get sucked down with the old Unix leviathan, Novell has arrived at the upcoming "Vista" juncture with great alternatives to MS apps. OpenGroupware is better than Exchange; Evolution is better than Outlook. NDS is better than ActiveDirectory. Their TCP/IP is better than the MS stack. SuSE is better than XP (except perhaps in overall desktop useability, so far). Of course each of those judgements is subjective, depending on one's priorities, but they're close enough for everyone, in the aggregate.
Novell has bought extremely viable techs with Ximian and SuSE, as well as others, that also integrate well into Novell's superior homegrown techs. They arrive on the scene with a brand long trusted for reliability, for "we'll still be around next year", for interoperability with Windows and others (Linux, Unix, etc). And their committment to open source seems complete, consistent and highly productive. When users get a chance to question their MS installations, due to an "upgrade now" marketing barrage from MS, Novell will be ready to catch some of the runoff. Many of which could be important beacheads inside larger MS organizations. When businesses see how well "Novell" Linux plays with MS systems, and how reliable is Novell's support (especially compared with MS), we might in fact see Novell turning the tables back on MS. People might again start to think about MS systems being "toys" until made serious by Novell business tech.
Linux Workstations in the Workplace (Score:2)
I wrote an article about this topic a while back, it can be seen at: http://ensode.net/linux_workplaces.html [ensode.net]
Re:huh? why? (Score:2)
Wasn't there some talk a while back that some patches and fixes to IE were only going to happen to XP and nothing else? Maybe that was their first stage of alientating the Win2k users too in a move to get people in the mood to upgrade to somet
Re:huh? why? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:huh? why? (Score:2)
Re:huh? why? (Score:2)
XP has been out long enough now that anyone on a 3 year or shorter replacement cycle and not specifically selecting an older OS will be using it.
that doesn't mean older pcs aren't out there just that most heavy users will have upgraded by now.
So true (Score:2)
Re:Won't happen until... (Score:2, Informative)
Most corporate desktops are locked down to 1: prevent installation of pirated/unlicensed software, 2: prevent installation of software not audited by the company, 3: prevent security threats from user operations.
Linux is fine for a locked down, centrally updated system.
It's fairy easy to setup an cron job on a gentoo system that runs emerge -u world and have all the updates as binaries, managed by the centrally b
Re:Won't happen until... (Score:5, Funny)
Ah yes, the old "mom's apple pie and corporate software install" argument. Because we all know that's how businesses test their operating systems.
IT Director: "Mother, can you come here please, we have a Linux distribution to test"
Mother: "Just a minute son, I'm ironing your father's shirt."
IT Director: "Mother, please! You know we have a billion dollar company to run here. Dad's shirt will just have to wait."
Mother: Well, if you say so, but just remember how upset he was about the Windows Vista chicken soup incident."
Yup, enlightenment from a Slashdot Microsoft shill. Worth every cent of the paper it's printed on...
Re:Won't happen until... (Score:5, Insightful)
Ease of installation isn't a viable corporate metric. In corporate America the idea is usually to make sure that the employee CAN'T install softare willy-nilly, because the employee is the most common point of failure in security. The idea is to a) make the GUI easy to use, or at least familiar (e.g., KDE looking like a clone of Windows), and b) to be sure that the apps can do the job you require them to do.
Linux can easily do a). I know, because I've set up more systems than I care to count and the most common misconception is that the KDE GUI configuration I use for Linux newbies is a 'new' version of Windows. Takes 'em all of a day (often much less time) to get used to the minor differences (e.g., having, say, 4 desktops instead of just one - a real hit with employees who rapidly discover that means they can have 4 different sets of rotating wallpapers! Really, that's a Much Bigger Thing(TM) for most employees than any technical issue).
As for b), most Linux apps can do anything the average employee requires, since said employee doesn't use 95% of the 'features' included in MS-based software anyway. Few businesses go beyond email/calendars/word processing/spreadsheets/etc. - basic business stuff. And that was pretty much mastered a decade ago, with only cosmetic changes since then.
The most common complaints I hear are that employee John Doe can no longer download and run apps he found on the internet, usually spyware disguised as cute animals that occasionally march across the screen or whatnot. And believe it or not, that's usually considered to be a *good* thing, at least by businesses who value the idea of not letting their employees compromise their systems with bouts of stupidity.
Max
Re:Real world vs. fanboy fantasies (Score:2)
Re:Linux migration already huge (Score:2)