(linux vs windows) Ed Foster's Gripeline....
- From: Straydog <asd@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:48:47 -0400
Subject: [Ed Foster's GripeLog] Readers Debate Open Source Vs Windows (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
========================================
ED FOSTER'S GRIPELOG
The Reader Advocate Column
========================================
Readers Debate Open Source Vs Windows
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
By Ed Foster
How viable an alternative to Microsoft is Linux and other open source
software for corporate IT environments? I'm not qualified to answer that
question, but as the issues mount due to Microsoft's copy protection,
licensing, and software quality, it's one that more and more of my
readers are asking. The answers they reach, however, seem to split
pretty evenly on both sides and at every point in between.
One long-time reader -- by no means a Microsoft apologist -- recently
crystallized the issue this way in pondering Windows security concerns.
"My staff and I talk about this a lot, because we are spending so much
time updating and fighting the security battle," the reader wrote. "But
I have to tell you, as a Linux user on the side myself, you could not
make me move our users to Linux. The applications simply are not there.
And on the developer side, I am immersing myself in C#, Visual Studio,
and SQL 2005 now into the summer, preparing to rewrite all my apps and
move them in that direction from Visual FoxPro. There is nothing, and I
mean that honestly, nothing in the Linux world that can match the rich
GUI and feature interface of these tools, no matter what the downsides,
of which there are plenty as well. But on balance, my decision has been
made."
Of course, there are others who have made quite the opposite decision
and are happy with the results. "My response to Microsoft's onerous
licensing is that I've decided that my next computer is going to run
Linux instead of any version of Windows," wrote another IT manager.
"I've already replaced Microsoft Office in my entire company with Open
Office. Open Office also works better than Microsoft Office for us
since Microsoft still has not fixed a bug in Master Documents that has
been around since Office 97."
Very few readers would dispute that Open Office, Firefox, etc. at the
very least provide viable alternatives to Microsoft's basic productivity
applications. And on the server side open source software like Apache
and MySQL already play a critical role for many companies. On the other
hand, there is also no question that the Linux platform provides you
with far fewer application choices than Windows, even with the use of
Windows emulation solutions like Mono and Wine. Maybe that's not a
permanent condition - we hear good things seemingly every day about
Linux solutions in some surprisingly narrow niches - but it's certainly
the case right now.
Those who aren't yet quite ready to buy, so to speak, free software say
they find too many missing features. One discussion that has raged for
months on my website concerns the purported lack of professional-grade
color calibration in Linux graphics. "There are some very good open
source software applications available," wrote one graphics-oriented
reader. "There are a <I>lot</I> of dogs -- just like the commercial
software arena. What has to be considered is the person's needs and
intended use. If one needs features unavailable via Linux and OSS, then
no matter what else is said, those tools will not meet that user's needs
.... where people need to be 100% sure of the colors they are getting,
they run profiled systems. If the OS cannot, either natively or through
plug-ins, run color profiles, then they will experience problems. Anyone
doing graphics, even serious amateurs, recognize this. I too wish the
Linux community well. It is the only hope we have of keeping Microsoft
on its toes."
Where Windows scares business customers is on the issue of security, and
Microsoft's continuing love affair with digital rights management isn't
helping in that regard. "Up until the Windows Genuine Advantage stuff,
we could live with Windows," wrote another IT manager. "That is what has
prompted switching our development to Linux. All of our stuff is in
Java and we just cannot afford the risk that Microsoft will shut us
down. Plus, the idea that they upload from our computers every boot
scares the hell out of our CFO. We can't afford to have our development
boxes down, infected, or spied on."
But many agree with my long-time reader that .NET's libraries are just
too attractive for hard-pressed corporate developers with projects that
need to get done yesterday. "It's not surprising to me that many
developers have embraced .NET," wrote another reader. "Microsoft has
created a very powerful development environment in Visual Studio .NET
that, as far as I know, has no Linux based equivalent, or anything that
comes close. It seems logical that professional developers would embrace
Microsoft for their programming language support rather than the
loosey-goosey Linux community. It's well and good that users can employ
Linux where they can, but it's becoming clear to most developers that
that Microsoft's managed code is the future."
Still, the best code managing development environment is not going to
make up for not having good programmers. And if you've got to hire good
programmers anyway, why not use Linux so that your company owns the
result? "The corporate suits with no clue what development involves have
been pursuing this holy grail of reusability for years," says one Linux
advocate. "They forever dream of 'software manufacturing' using an
assembly line in which developers are more or less interchangeable. And
for all those years, there have been carpetbaggers ready to take their
money, promising to fulfill those dreams with drag-and-drop environments
resembling children's puzzles. Just because an enhanced clerk can whip
out a quick prototype using a snazzy development environment doesn't
mean he can finish the job. Even with the most radically awesome RAD,
automating the specifications requires competent programmers, so you're
still going to need to hire as many new, high quality programmers as you
would with open source."
And Microsoft's FUD campaign against Linux over software patents should
only serve to remind customers of the long-term risk in depending on
proprietary software. "I have thought from the beginning that .NET was a
honey-pot of sorts," says a software developer. "While I don't actually
like it very much because of performance issues, I must admit that the
wealth of reusable code provided by their framework libraries is
exceptionally attractive to any developer with real-world time and cost
to delivery criteria. That's the sugar. The vinegar is that while C# may
be proposed as an ECMA standard, the framework libraries are in fact
proprietary as is their API. They may or may not act on this, but I do
think companies ought to think about the consequences of developing in a
way that is almost certain to be a permanent sole-source vendor lock-in."
What do you think is the best development platform for businesses to
commit their development resources to in the long run? Write me at <a
href="mailto:Foster@xxxxxxxxxxxx";>Foster@xxxxxxxxxxxx</a> or, better
yet, share your thoughts with all my readers by posting your comments on
my website at http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/6/5/03235/96551.
========================================
Read this column on-line and post your comments at
http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/6/5/03235/96551
Got a gripe? E-mail me at Foster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
========================================
Recently in my weblog:
Broadband Monopolies Have Charter to Steal
It's funny how most of the gripes I hear about broadband service come
from areas where the high-speed Internet service choices are very
limited. Or maybe it's not so funny. It's certainly no laughing matter
for one reader who got tricked by Charter Communications into paying
more for less service.
http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/5/31/10811/1907
Intuit Disables Feature With Dot Release
For years I've been chronicling Intuit's crippleware tactics of turning
program features into paid services, particularly in its QuickBooks
accounting software. But one reader recently discovered Intuit is no
longer just disabling features in the next major release, but even with
minor updates.
http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/5/29/0737/80324
Do We Need a Computer Lemon Law?
It seems to me I'm hearing more computer support horror stories of the
type I reported last time than ever. No doubt there are many factors
causing this - commodity pricing of PCs, offshoring of frontline
support, etc. But the question it raises is whether we need some kind of
computer lemon law.
http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/5/24/0435/41334
An HP Support Nigthmare And Custoemr Recourse
Today's gripe is a tale about HP and the grueling support gantlet a
reader and her son were forced to run to get a broken computer fixed.
But I want to emphasize that it could just be easily about Dell, because
we've certainly had similar stories about them. Or Gateway ... except if
it were Gateway, we probably would not have as happy an ending as we can
relate here.
http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/5/22/02346/8315
Salesforce Ignore Office Compatibility Issues
Customers migrating to Vista and Office 2007 are bound to run into the
occasional compatibility problem with their existing applications. But
while that's to be expected, one reader has been flabbergasted to find
that Salesforce.com seems to have no inclination to fix a compatibility
problem that he and other customers have encountered between Salesforce
and Office 2007.
http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/5/18/13158/0714
========================================
Copyright 2007 Ed Foster's GripeLog. You are granted permission to
forward this column to friends who would have an interest in this topic.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, please visit:
http://www.gripe2ed.com/mailman/listinfo/edfoster
_______________________________________________
Edfoster mailing list
Edfoster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.gripe2ed.com/mailman/listinfo/edfoster
.
- Prev by Date: PhD research by Dr. Mark Kukucka: The antioxidant defense system of isolated Leydig cells
- Next by Date: Re: Justice, its a good thing.
- Previous by thread: (sneakwrap) Latest Ed Foster Gripeline...
- Next by thread: The Snot Report....
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
