Are we there yet !
Posted by Rick on Tuesday, January 08, 2002 - 06:07 PM |
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Rick writes "Back in November, the Times wrote :-
Whitehall could drop Microsoft.. Article reads
The government has threatend to drop Microsoft as its main supply of software to 500,000 civil servants unless it backs down on plans to raise license fees by upto 200 percent.
Microsoft is demanding a rise in license fees of between 50 and 200 percent on government software contracts in a move that could cost the public purse an extra 60M a year......... The govenrment currently spends 120 million a year with Microsoft.
Today 08-1-02 see the release of Government white paper on OSS deployment in the public sector.
White Paper
This spells fantastic news for both users and enterprise.
I have been working for the past 4 months on trying to answer the question Can we port our whole business to Linux??
A tough question to answer, we put our best foot forward and embarked on the project going forth into the dark... OK get to the point you say...
The point is. Yes we are there .. Linux is ready for enterprise, and not just as a web server. How do i know this? Super Tramp will have implemented and installed its server and desktop Linux Weapons of Choice by the time you've read this, and as the Goverment puts its weight behind OSS I think it spells potentially a new era for Linux and it's dedicated users.
Consider for a moment the current state of IT support companies who have built there clients business on MS Windows point and click technology, how will they deal with a transition to supporting Linux?? Consider the fact that if your IT support doesn't have the answer it's a call to Microsoft tech support which is chargeable, and what do you do when Microsoft don't know the answer ( believe me i've seen this happen !). Where is it going to end... ?? Well I say Here and Now.
Consider this.. " Small business A has 8 Employee's and a small network, its Core OS is NT running a Network of 98 machines. Microsoft want business A to upgrade to XP throughout, however current hardware limitations prevent this. There IT support suggest a 2K server 2K desktops and Office 2k and MS Exchange server Costing 6000 approx, Installation and Support 3000, add to this 1000 for unforseen cost and youv'e got 10000. Then add IT Trainning support costs for the year usually about 1000 per user. Small business A IT spend 18000.
Now Consider.. Small Business B Employs John Smith after posting an Ad with the Local LUG. John decides to use Red Hat 7.2 as the OS of choice as a Mail ( sendmail ) and Web server ( Apache ), sets up VNC running on Red Hat on the desktops. Finds and old 486 in the broom cupboard and loads Smoothwall onto it and sets it up as Firewall and Proxy server, He trains the staff and supports them and the system with help from the OS community.. Small Business B IT spend 18000.
I know which spend route I would choose..!
Oh but that would never work says Small Business A because we would have to re-train all our staff to use Linux.....
And you don't have to when you upgrade NT / 98 to 2K ??... comes my reply. SME's should be seriously considering porting to Linux..
" And when you've considered it we can all have coffee at the next LUG Meet. "
Rick ( IT Manager Supertramp )
SUPERTRAMP "
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