Munged post. :: [plug] linux in industry

[Julian Clark]

Hi Alex [& PLUG]

This post was somehow munged and attached to the Antivirus thread...
I'm not sure if something screwy happened between the chair and the 
screen, or if something went amiss with the mail delivery. ;)

Anyway, I've re-posted it here, together with my thoughts on the subject.

My current employer does not use linux, unix or  bsd. :(

My previous employer had a mix of Windows, Linux and Sun Servers. 
Windows was the file server. Linux for servince some dynamic intranet 
content and Sun for the Mammoth Databases that they had. They were a 
telephone company, so you can imagine how big that those databases were.

I was talking with someone from the Health Department who told me that 
they use Linux where possible. They don't want to be spending lots of $$ 
training people up in Linux use, so they're unlikely to be using it as a 
desktop environment, but there are some applications that they run that 
are reliant on using Linux.

I guess that some of this stuff depends on your perception of real 
business. If your accountant feels that real business is making a pivot 
chart with pretty graphs from data in Excel. then he's probably right.

However, if real business implies real computing. then he need look no 
further than the success of Linux in a server environment.

Another thing to consider... HP/Compaq are producing Laptops with Redhat 
pre-installed. It seems that they too are taking Linux seriously.

Hope this helps.


Julian


> I would like to try and get a handle, indicative only, of the number of 
> businesses that are using Linux and the size of the commitment of others.
> 
> For example, IBM are spending 1.2-4 billion on Linux development annually.
> 
> What is the correct figure?
> 
> Is it 1.2B annual and so far 4?
> 
> Also, we now from this list that Post Newspapers have a large commitment and 
> that Laubman and Pank also use the system.
> 
> The reason that I ask, is that I was in a meeting yesterday with an accountant 
> and his whole attitude was that Linux was only for nerdy computer people and 
> that no real business was done on Linux.
> 
> I would like to shoot him down in flames.
> 
> To do this, I need accurate information. Once we have a list, everybody, who 
> finds themselves in a similar situation, will be able to use it.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Alex Polglaze
> 
> 
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