[NCLUG] Why Linux will win and Micro$oft will lose

[Kirk Rheinlander]

IMHO, The Windows-Linux issue is much broader than espoused on this list...

As an Enterprise IT Architecture consultant with CIO level clients at 
companies such as BP-Amoco, Medtronic, Ford, McDonalds, etc., I can 
explain, at least my perception of the large corporate perspective on this.

The operating system by itself is irrelevant, except to those who continue 
to fight the "religious OS wars". It is 100% a business issue.

I sat across the table from Microsoft as they forced a large multi-national 
oil company to eliminate all the Novell servers, and move to NT, as 
Micro$oft refused to sell them 260,000 upgraded copies of Windows and 
Office unless they did so. By replacing the 1,600 unattended Novell servers 
on oil rigs in places like the North Sea, it only required the purchase of 
a half-dozen of so helicopters to ferry technicians out to the oil rigs to 
reboot and maintain the NT servers.

BUT THAT WAS CHEAP!!

Compared with:
Retraining 260,000 employees
Retraining thousands of IT staff
Introducing and training users on new applications
Dealing with data incompatibility issues with non-Microsoft applications 
that are the de-facto-standard with the companies that they interact with
Supporting a global staff in a new environment
Transitioning 260,000 desktops, reimaging drives, etc.
Translating literally billions of files from existing formats
Supporting 2 environments during the transition
etc., etc., etc.

The $100M they gave to Micro$oft (plus the cost of the helicopters) was 
cheap compared to moving to the "free" Linux world.

You wanna' help, then fix the above issues.
StarOffice6 is close to Office file compatibility, but, for instance, 
things like Word bullets and style sheets do not translate correctly.
LINUX is still techno-geek in the installation, in both terminology and 
approach. Even Mandrake's install is far from typical end-user friendly. 
(reference point: most end-users can't even set tab stops in Word!)
Setting up printers and modem in LINUX is technically straightforward, but 
user incomprehensible.
Make analogous help files for the trained Windows Sysadmin base. Start with 
a Windows help file, and show the analogous LINUX equivalents.
Is there a KDE/Gnome equivalent that looks and feels like Windows? Now that 
would be great "stealthware" for gaining entry into corporate America...

It isn't about being better, it is about [cost-effectively] shifting 
mindshare to an alternative. Make the transition better, and the benefits 
become obvious. StarOffice 6 is a great start, as the application level is 
where the [corporate] end-user maindshare is at. Getting that on Windows 
everywhere, then takes away the MAJOR roadblock to moving to LINUX.

Or the LINUX/UNIX camp can remain, as they have for 30 years, the realm of 
the technologist, never reaching the mainstream population, or at least 
where they do, resulting in inflicting serious pain on the brave user.

Kirk

Kirk R. Rheinlander - Principal - TAM Group, Inc.
Direct: 303.910.1578 - Office: 970.586.1090 - FAX: 419.831.5165
EMail: krrheinlander at tamgroupinc.com
EMail Pager: pagekirk at tamgroupinc.com
http://www.tamgroupinc.com




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