[plug] Why bother?

[Steve Vertigan]

Richard Sharpe wrote:
 
> I am seeking to re-affirm the faith?
> 
> Why bother, why not give into the borg and use M$ products?
> 
> What is it that keeps you using Samba, or indeed any other open source
> software like Linux, FreeBSD, GIMP, etc.

Basically some human laziness equivalent of Newtons law of inertia.  The
question is not why would I keep using free software but rather why
would I stop?  My linux desktop machine does just about everything I
want and what it doesn't do I always have the option of changing the
source so that it does.  The amount of video/image/text editing
software, word processors, RADs and compilers on my system would cost a
staggering amount if I was using propietry software, more than I could
afford.
So given that switching to windows would entail either losing
functionality or using warez and becoming a criminal every time I switch
my computer on, why in Gods name *would* I switch?  Any takers on that?
:-)

> Are there any rational economic arguments for doing so?

Take the revenue stream of a mid-sized ISP, replace all their servers
with NT, then take their revenue stream 6 months later.  Having actually
once subscribed to an NT-based ISP I speculate the figures would speak
for themselves. :-)

Another example that actually happened: my dad's school purchased some
encyclopedia software that would only work if it had M$-SQL server as a
backend.  So they purchased a new PC and installed NT on it and SQL
server.  Multiple crashes and downtime later they upgraded the cpu and
added more ram.  Then they added more ram.  Then one day NT stopped
talking to the modems (it was also doing NAT for the schools network). 
None of the windows specialists in town could fix it, they didn't want
to re-install given the amount of work that had gone into maintaining
the SQL database and the fact that they couldn't risk downtime of the
sql db.  So I installed a linux distro on an old 486 they had, voila
NAT's working again.  In passing I mentioned that MySQL was running
happily on my 586 FreeBSD machine on 24 MB ram.  
They were interested but didn't know about the encyclopedia frontend and
whether it could be made to talk to a different SQL server.  So they
went to make enquiries only to find the manufacturers had gone bust!  No
more upgrades, no more promised support, no nothing.
Last I heard they've invested in a new server for linux and are using
samba to manage the win95 network.  Mail services, NAT, web hosting,
whatever they can is now being done on the linux box.  However they'll
be stuck with the intermittent SQL server for a looong time.  Or at
least until someone decides to spend half that years IT budget on new
encycoclopedia software for their library.

> Isn't maintenance so much easier since so many people know how to use their
> products?

In my limited tech support experience most users are clueless regardless
of what platform they're using.  If something goes wrong they'll be
calling in a third party to fix it and if management has been smart
enough to hire someone who has linux experience as well as windows
experience it should be pretty much the same.  Except of course the ones
using linux will have less ability to screw up their computer in the
first place due to the limited powers unix lets you give to a non-admin
user.

> Aren't we just refusing to acknowledge that M$ have won? Shouldn't we just
> pay the M$ tax and get on with our lives?

Of course most of what I've said is already well-known.  I think what is
sometimes overlooked though is that there's more to being a linux
enthusiast than just being technically proficient enough to
appreciate/use a better-engineered system (there are plenty of smart
windows users), elitist, nerdy or just plain cheap.  It's about marching
to the beat of a different drum.  I had one person remark, "Oh so you're
a linux user, suddenly that explains a lot about you".  
She explained it was only half meant as an insult. :), it also implied
the idealism and utopianism commonly observed in the species.  So yeah
it means I'm a nerd and the fact that I'd take a star trek suit over a
designer suit(1) means I'll probably never get to host my own MTV show
or be CEO of a multi-national but it's who I am and I wouldn't change
that for anything (except having wild monkey-sex with supermodels but
that's unlikely anyway).

Regards,
Steve
(1) That should not be construed btw as implying I've ever dressed up in
a star trek suit.

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