It's starting...
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| devnet Nov 13, 2005 7:42 AM EDT |
It is starting...the switch I mean. I work as an Analyst for a newly inducted Fortune 500 company...Lotus Notes has emerged as the powerhouse for us. No more exchange. I've also made a proposal to roll out OpenOffice to our 17k plus computers that are in our stores nationwide. That proposal met with support (oddly enough) and my managers wanted to see what it was like. Each one of them are now owners of a liveCD of PCLinuxOS with OOo 2.0 slapped right on it. In fact, I was told by some of the other guys in my group that they would have tried to roll out OOo 1.X if it had the ability to default save in .doc format (for inter-department and interbusiness emailing). Since 2.0 does, they're actively considering it. Keep your fingers crossed. |
| dotmil Nov 13, 2005 8:09 AM EDT |
Interesting insight, however I would hardly call Office a "loss leader". http://www.microsoftmonitor.com/archives/002299.html |
| chanchal Nov 13, 2005 8:13 AM EDT |
I am wondering, what stops most shops where Exchange is used primarily as mail server, from configuring configuring it with POP3 / IMAP4 so that any client can access it, even non-MS ones? I believe that a large portion of non-Fortune500 camp establishments only use Exchange for mail, no calendaring and no workflow!! There was another talk in the gallery suggesting that a Non-Techie IT Manager is likely to use MS Exchange and a professional would use Lotus Notes. Its actually the Desktop user of yesterday, who has never seen the power of a UNIX / Mainframe, is the decision making authority in most places. He does not take any risks, does not annoy people by asking them to use new software, does not have the ability of doing a researched decision. He also typically has his own version of definition for "User Friendly", which MS easily expoits. Any one knowing openExchange and whether it met any success?? |
| tadelste Nov 13, 2005 9:05 AM EDT |
dotmil: Outlook is the loss leader. Not Office. Office is their cash cow. If you recall Schedule + and Mail Client were native apps in Win 3.1 - Win 95. |
| hkwint Nov 13, 2005 12:04 PM EDT |
I agree with Devnet. People always talk about 'the Linux desktop break through" as if it were an event, like Christmas day, or the introduction of the Euro. But, I don't believe Linux break through will be an event lasting less than one month, or even less than a year. I think it happens / will happen very gradually. In other words, Linux desktop breakthrough already started (I added some Migrations in the LXer migration list, and from time to time you see companies switching). After Munich will have switched and all works for them, and when they start to save money, more 'groups' (government, companies) will switch. Also, people are working on the Mozilla Lightning-project, which aims for a calendar integration in Thunderbird. At the moment Google employs people at OpenOffice, but they could better employ them at Mozilla to work to make Thunderbird a good replacement of Outlook. Anyway, Linux on the desktop IS breaking through at the moment, but in such a gradually fashion, that it's hard to notice if you don't watch the migrations very close. To stress this fact, I will share some of my migration-tracker bookmarks with you: http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/chapter/469 This list follows Linux-migrations throughout the world, but is focused on Europe. If you scan the headlines, you will see what I mean. http://www.openia.com/opensource/governments A very interesting site, which lists government open-source policies. As you can see when watching the flags of the countries, very much countries have an open-source policy, preferring open source above proprietary if both do the same. http://business.newsforge.com/search.pl?threshold=0&op=stori... Newsforge's migration site. There's also a VERY lengthy pdf (which I failed to find the last few times I looked for it), which even tells about open-source policies in some African countries. Last, but not least, we should notice, there's a difference in Linux breaking through worldwide, or in the US. The last is moving at a slower pace. |
| tadelste Nov 13, 2005 1:12 PM EDT |
hkwint: The mistake I believe everyone in the Linux community makes has to do with a misunderstanding of Outlook in corporate mode. It's not anywhere close to the experience one has with Outlook in normal use. The difference is so remarkable that I don't know if anyone can imagine it. Outlook in corporate mode between enterprises is also different than the email experience we have in the world of RFC 822, etc. Outlook in corporate mode is a very proprietary experience. It does things we can't do otherwsie and it looks and feels so different. No matter how many people work on their own solutions, unless we can match the Outlook corporate workgroup mode, forget the enterprise desktop. |
Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]
Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!