[LINK] Linux poised for desktop failure: Gartner

[Malcolm Miles]

On Sat, 16 Nov 2002 16:02:32 +1100, you wrote:

>it's both short-sighted and insane.  the time to fix a problem like that
>is before it becomes a problem, not during/after a round of upgrades.

If a major application breaks during an upgrade to a new o/s version,
then the upgrade to those users halts until the application is
updated. To date we have not had any major problems even with apps
originally written in VB3 for Windows 3.1

>> Many apps have lived through Windows 3.1, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and
>> XP without breaking. Why deliberately break them by moving to a new
>> o/s platform? 
>
>many apps haven't survived that transition.  more die with each OS
>upgrade.

Very few haven't survived. Windows 3.1 to NT had the most impact and
that was very little. Very few problems going from NT to 2000/XP.
Certainly nothing that would make the business clamour to change our
desktop o/s.

>> We pay little Microsoft "tax". Our PCs come with an OEM copy of the
>> o/s (yes, the cost of the o/s is bundled in, but this is hidden in the
>> leasing cost) and we haven't upgraded Office for some years. We could
>> move to OpenOffice or StarOffice without having to change our o/s
>> platform.
>
>as soon as you switch to XP (if you do) or other software with MS's
>latest license agreement, you'll be paying regular license fees just to
>keep on using what you've already bought.

XP comes with our new PCs so no extra license fees for the o/s. As PCs
are currently on a 3 year lease cycle all PCs will have XP licenses in
about 2 years time. 

As for MS applications you don't have to pay regular license fees to
keep on using what you've already bought. If we decided to buy Office
XP today we could keep using it forever without paying a single cent
more.

>they're happy with having to reboot all the time? 

But they don't have to reboot all the time. As a general rule our
users are happy with the current platform.

>and happy with being
>vulnerable to every virus that comes along?

We run virus scanning on our firewall, our servers and on our PCs.
Users are rarely affected by viruses.

>> > - to have options open up that are currently closed to them.
>> 
>> Like what? 

>like not having your data trapped in proprietary file formats.

While our data may be "trapped" in Office formats, as just about 95%
of the rest of the world, including all our customers, can handle
these formats, then it isn't seen as a problem.

>like
>mobile computing and the ability to login at any workstation and have
>what you need right there.

Our users already mobile compute and can login at any PC and do their
work with our current setup. 

>at some time, you will want to upgrade to a future version of windows.
>...   the trouble is that
>this new OS is incompatible with VB 3, so all your old apps will break.

They haven't broken due to an o/s upgrade yet so it is unlikely that
the next version of Windows will break them. However users know that
changing the o/s will definitely break their apps and see no reason to
take that option.

>> You need more than a will to convert, you need a quantifiable business
>> benefit to convert, one that is realised in the very short term and
>> with no significant impact on the business during the conversion.

>there are business benefits, you just don't want to see them.

No, it is our users that don't see them. They are the ones who have to
fund any conversion.

>i do object, however, to your generic claim that linux desktop
>software isn't capable of replacing windows.

I didn't make the claim the Linux can't replace Windows on the PC. But
I doubt that the cost/benefit works out in its favour for an
established company with many custom business applications. 

>  it is perfectly capable of
>linux is even capable (with e.g. Crossover Office) of
>running most or all current windows office applications, you're just not
>interested.

Why on earth would anyone want to run Office under an emulator? If you
did make the switch to a Linux o/s surely you would also switch to a
native Linux office app, such as OO.org/StarOffice.

>
>> I would love to see some case studies of large corporates with 10,000
>> PCs or more that have recently converted over to Linux.
>
>you can find many relevant case studies just by googling for them.  for
>example:
>
>http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2001/1018.tco.html
>
>includes a 5000 user case study. 

A "virtual" case study only and as the author says "the article wasn't
about transitions". 

I am still looking for real life case studies of large Australian or
overseas companies, that have converted their PCs from Windows to
Linux. Must have 10,000 or more PCs and a wide selection of custom
business applications.

-- 
Best wishes,
Malcolm