[plug] Fwd: The Big Reason to Open-source Your Desk Top

Wed May 22 00:11:00 WST 2002

Look, I've never forwarded anything before, so I think I shoud be able to do 
a biggy! I apologise if this is a bit much, but oh my, this is a good day. 
:)

tomato

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>   WebProNews - Monday, May 20 2002
>   For Web Professionals
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>IN THIS ISSUE:
>
>1.)... Editor's Note by Jackie Rosenberger
>2.)... The Big Reason to Open-source Your Desk Top
>
>=====================================================================
>
>1.) EDITOR'S NOTE
>
>Hello Readers,
>
>Frustrated with Microsoft’s new licensing structure? Unsure where
>you stand, legally, with all those copies of Office installed at
>your site?
>
>It’s possible the solution to your problem could lie in the open
>source arena. Sun’s latest office suite, StarOffice 6.0, is now
>commercially available. At $75.95 per license, it arrives on the
>shelves just when many companies are finding frustration and
>unexpected additional expense in Microsoft’s new licensing
>structure.
>
>While potentially significant savings are on the horizon for
>companies who make the switch, StarOffice is fighting a fairly
>difficult history. After all, StarOffice 5.2 didn’t fare extremely
>  well. "I see it as another futile attempt by Sun to take a swipe at
>Microsoft," said Mike Cohen, manager of the $1.3 million Alpha
>Analytics Digital Future Fund, in an interview with SeattlePi.com.
>
>Sun, however, has made significant improvements to StarOffice this
>time around. They emphasize that they’ve listened to complaints
>and issues regarding past releases and improved the product
>accordingly. Also, support is stronger this time around, and Sun’s
>offering training as well.
>
>Will Sun seriously challenge Microsoft this time around? Microsoft
>says they’re not worried, but only time will tell.
>
>If you’re intrigued by the idea of saving your company money using
>open source products, you’ll find today’s article by Garrett French
>of great interest. He’ll show you the facts and figures of the
>open source bottom line.
>
>Enjoy the article!
>
>=====================================================================
>
>2.) The Big Reason to Open-source Your Desk Top
>
>by Garrett French
>
>Open-source (free) software is nothing new to the back end of
>business computing – chances are good your enterprise runs Linux
>servers that send email, control print jobs, and serve your company
>website internally and to customers.  These non-proprietary software
>not only save money but keep hackers at bay.  Ask your tech folk
>what you’re running, and, more importantly, why.
>
>Did you know there’s an open-source alternative to the proprietary
>desktop you’re running right now?  This alternative could save your
>company a bundle when the new licensing fees hit.
>
>But is open-source software truly a legitimate alternative to
>Microsoft? Let’s take a look around the world.
>
>The Migration to Open-source Desktops
>
>--The Korean government recently announced their decision to move
>120,000 civil servants over to Linux-based desktop operating systems.
>They’ve hired Korean company Hancom to supply and support the move.
>
>The Korean chief of central procurement said their move will "bring
>to us more than 80 percent of cost saving compared to buying
>exclusive softwares produced by Microsoft."
>
>--Largo, Florida employees have, for the past eight years, run
>Linux KDE desktops, all from one server.  David Richards, the systems
>administrator told Government Computer News "a full [Windows] NT
>shop comparable to ours would require four times more hardware.
>That would cost a fortune."
>
>--Peruvian congressman David Nunez recently wrote a lengthy
>rebuttal to Microsoft’s anti-open-source arguments, thus supporting
>an upcoming Peruvian bill mandating open-source software for all
>public offices.
>
>--Following 90K dollar licensing fines, guitar and string
>manufacturer Ernie Ball moved to an all-open-source computer
>environment.  They now use open-source StarOffice on all office
>computers and receive all their upgrades free from Sun.
>
>======================================================================
>
>A flexible, reliable infrastructure is a fully integrated infra-
>structure. With your copy of "e-business Infrastructure Inte-
>gration: Practical Approaches," you'll learn how properly built
>e-business infrastructure solutions can work across business
>units to make your organization faster, more flexible, imme-
>diately responsive, and highly competitive.
>
>Get started by registering to receive your complimentary copy today
>at http://www.ibm.com/e-business/playtowin/n11
>
>======================================================================
>
>The Big Reason to Open-source Your Desk Top
>
>A recent study by Australian IT firm Cybersource revealed the most
>compelling evidence I’ve found to convince even the most
>commercial-software entrenched CEO that it’s time to move to a Linux
>desktop.  Their white paper calculated the savings a 250 employee
>company would make if its entire operations migrated to Linux, from
>server software to the office productivity.
>
>Windows XP Professional version costs US $299 per registered user.
>Microsoft Office costs $479 per user.  You’ve got 250 employees in
>your enterprise?  Get ready to save $194,500 on software.
>
>You’re running a small business with 40 employees? OK.  You’re
>looking to save $31,120.  You want a Linux desktop on your home PC?
>Download KDE, a free operating system, and StarOffice and save
>yourself a cool $778.
>
>I can hear you - you’re shouting at the screen “cheaper is not
>better.”
>
>Cheaper = Better?
>
>How can free software work as well as or better than software on
>which you’ve spent $200,000?
>
>You’ll have to be the judge of that.  Ask your favorite IT person to
>load a Linux operating system on to a non-essential computer and go
>about your daily affairs.  Check your hotmail account, look at the
>news, write a letter.  Get a feel for the Linux environment.
>
>Jay Fougere, our resident Linux evangelist, says that moving from
>the Windows environment to the Linux environment is similar to moving
>from Windows to Macintosh.  They’re just different, and will take a
>bit of getting used to.
>
>The quality and usability of open-source office software is equal
>to commercial software (ok, so this IS an opinion).  The best way to
>find out is to just try it out for yourself.
>
>But Who’s Accountable?
>
>You get what you pay for, right? If you download an operating
>system built by seventeen different programmers from around the world
>then who’re you going to call at seven thirty in the morning when
>NOTHING WORKS?
>
>Well, you’re going to call your CIT, because he already knows and
>loves all things Linux.  He can get that non-proprietary operating
>system purring again on all the PCs in your enterprise in no time.
>
>If something’s really wrong he can just get on the web and solve
>the problem, and the chances are good that there are other Linux
>professionals from around the world who have solved the problem
>already.  Realize that when you move to Linux (and not just on your
>desktop) you’re hiring, at no extra charge, the entire Linux
>programming community.
>
>Flee the Fee
>
>A recent survey by both Gartner and Giga shows that a full one
>third of Microsoft’s biggest customers are not going to accept the
>new subscription licensing plan.  This doesn’t mean they’ll come
>knocking on RedHat’s door for their operating systems and office
>
>productivity software
>  (though I hear the 7.3 version of RedHat
>includes an email program that’s on par with OutLook), though.
>
>But if they did, they sure would save a lot of money.
>
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>======================================================================
>Sources:
>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/70565_sunoffice16.shtml
>http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=25215
>http://wwws.sun.com/software/cover/2001-1002/
>http://www.edmunds-enterprises.com/linux/index.php
>http://www.linuxiso.org/viewdoc.php/howtoburn.html
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