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Part IV & Final Corporate Desktop Linux - The Hard Truth
W. McDonald Buck, retired CTO of World Bank, finishes his four part essay on the subject of why Corporate Desktop Linux is an unrealistic goal in the short term for Linux advocates. "The hard truth is that the benefits that are most important to individual technical people are simply not important to those lacking technical skills. When you couple this with the relatively meager hard dollar cost savings, the prospect of some extra costs of migration, and the large risks of such a move, is it any wonder few corporate customers are making the transition?" |
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Comments (5)
r_a_trip: an important point you've made here no doubt -- but I think this guy is no PHB -- he's on our side. I think he'd like to see desktop Linux, and that he uses it a lot. I've been following this series with interest (I used to work in IT at a large bank, btw ;) and didn't see the majority of his arguments being bad at all.
It's a much better article than the mindcraft benchmarks -- but it could server someone the same way. His point about choice is spot-on -- I've on many occasion been helping a new Linux user make choices in Linux that would be a breeze in Windows because the Fascist UI has already made the choice for them.
No need to pick between KDE/GNOME or Xfce in Fedora Core -- you get GNOME by default and people scream bloody murder. Imagine if they removed that choice altogether and said "You will use GNOME" -- the outcry would be deafening.
Yet this is all the rage in Windows land -- and we're not even logged in yet!
This article could be used by someone who really want to see some desktop Linux migration (Sun, Novell? hmm, I dunno). That company/individual would come up with some way to deploy/manage Linux in a way that is attractive to the small to 250 person shops he points out. Maybe some sort of wierd Kickstart/Auto-Yast setup that makes company-wide configuration a no-brainer, from the software management to the user management.
What he's done, in other words, is point out the weak spots, and I think that's valuable.
--FeriCyde
It's a much better article than the mindcraft benchmarks -- but it could server someone the same way. His point about choice is spot-on -- I've on many occasion been helping a new Linux user make choices in Linux that would be a breeze in Windows because the Fascist UI has already made the choice for them.
No need to pick between KDE/GNOME or Xfce in Fedora Core -- you get GNOME by default and people scream bloody murder. Imagine if they removed that choice altogether and said "You will use GNOME" -- the outcry would be deafening.
Yet this is all the rage in Windows land -- and we're not even logged in yet!
This article could be used by someone who really want to see some desktop Linux migration (Sun, Novell? hmm, I dunno). That company/individual would come up with some way to deploy/manage Linux in a way that is attractive to the small to 250 person shops he points out. Maybe some sort of wierd Kickstart/Auto-Yast setup that makes company-wide configuration a no-brainer, from the software management to the user management.
What he's done, in other words, is point out the weak spots, and I think that's valuable.
--FeriCyde
The savings from a switch to Linux can be anything you want, from negative to a huge positive, depending upon your assumptions. How many seats, what time period, how much for security problems, training costs, etc.
One thing under rated is that the costs of Windows goes on (and up) forever, while a switch to Linux should show decreasing costs over time as people adjust (users and IT staff).
I guess the two main points I got from the article were:
1. It is very hard to get people to change from what they know (short term pain vs. long term gain).
2. A variation on the old saying that "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM". That is "Nobody ever got fired for sticking with Microsoft". So keeping the status quo is the safe, cover-your-ass choice for the corporate types.
One thing under rated is that the costs of Windows goes on (and up) forever, while a switch to Linux should show decreasing costs over time as people adjust (users and IT staff).
I guess the two main points I got from the article were:
1. It is very hard to get people to change from what they know (short term pain vs. long term gain).
2. A variation on the old saying that "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM". That is "Nobody ever got fired for sticking with Microsoft". So keeping the status quo is the safe, cover-your-ass choice for the corporate types.
Well -- Paul'n all --
I gots a coupla quibbles...
First, on the choice thing...
It's there if you want it, gone if you don't.
When I install SuSE, KDE comes up. OpenOffice goes in. Easier than Windows, in fact. I don't have to buy and install a second product to get word-processing.
If I don't want to be bothered by choices , I just put my hands over my ears, hum "la-la-la-de-da-da-la" and take the defaults.
A completely legitimate way to get up and going.
After that, it's not so different from Windows world (Quicken or Money, McAfee or Norton, etc).
As to ease of use? For me, having used Linux as my primary (often sole) desktop for nearly seven years, Windows ain't even close. That, of course, is a learned thing.
I gots a coupla quibbles...
First, on the choice thing...
It's there if you want it, gone if you don't.
When I install SuSE, KDE comes up. OpenOffice goes in. Easier than Windows, in fact. I don't have to buy and install a second product to get word-processing.
If I don't want to be bothered by choices , I just put my hands over my ears, hum "la-la-la-de-da-da-la" and take the defaults.
A completely legitimate way to get up and going.
After that, it's not so different from Windows world (Quicken or Money, McAfee or Norton, etc).
As to ease of use? For me, having used Linux as my primary (often sole) desktop for nearly seven years, Windows ain't even close. That, of course, is a learned thing.
As a wizened I mean wise old Linux and winduhs sysadmin, one of the biggest reasons users hate to change to something new is PHBs refuse to authorize time or training. They're expected to sit down and instantly be competent, and continue to crank out the work as though nothing had changed. I've bumped into this time and again- PHBs would rather have staff limp along inefficiently indefinitely, rather than paying for good training at the start.
I get really bored with all the emphasis on desktop environments. What a useless waste of breath. Users who really have work to do click on a button to open an application, they don't devote their lives to tweaking and admiring their desktop environments. Something like FVWM or IceWM would work for 99% of users. Just set up their menus, give them a first-rate file manager, and get out of their way.
I get really bored with all the emphasis on desktop environments. What a useless waste of breath. Users who really have work to do click on a button to open an application, they don't devote their lives to tweaking and admiring their desktop environments. Something like FVWM or IceWM would work for 99% of users. Just set up their menus, give them a first-rate file manager, and get out of their way.
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The same goes for Windows. The "fact" that any monkey, that can drag a mouse and click some shiny buttons, can improvise a Windows installation, doesn't mean that this setup is usable, reliable and secure.
That there is more knowledge about Windows is a myth. All the drones clicking away in the interface don't know what they are doing, they are just repeating what they were tought, without ever understanding the mechanisms behind the things they do. Just because they aren't scared anymore by the familiar Windows interface, doesn't mean they "know Windows".
There are far fewer Windows admins than there are drones, so real Windows skill isn't up for grabs either. Propagating the illusion of a larger knowledge about Windows, just because more people know what the desktop looks like, is plain silly.
Mr. PHB is promoting the status quo, seemingly on behalf of the people that should refrain from trying to influence IT decisions. Just another useless "let's just all stay with Windows, shall we, it's easier that way" article.