I know I'm not on the list much these days. Believe it or not, I'm spending most of my time USING my SuSE Linux installations, rather than configuring them. There are still a lot of issues with Linux and with the SuSE distribution which make using it less convenient than it should be. It still needs work - and will always need improvement. Such work takes time on the part of skilled developers. I believe major corporations should sponsor Open Source Software in the same way they sponsor other arts and sciences. There is a small amount of such support from some IT companies, but I don't believe the Ford Motor Companies of the world are doing what they should. I use SuSE Linux all day long, every day. I feel the least I can do to ensure the continued development of the product is to buy one box each time it's released. I believe everybody who has the available resources, and who uses the product should do the same. One day, when I grow up (born in 1960), perhaps I too will be able to hack code and contribute to the ongoing growth of OSS, but for now the most I can do is report problems, make suggestions, and pay for what I use. I own licenses for several software products from the proprietary company, and the only reason I use them is because I _have to_ in order to participated in the economy. Over the last couple of years there was a big OSS craze which seems to have settled down a bit. People became very enthusiastic about the available products. This was good for the OSS community. Many people were probably disappointed that it wasn't as plug'n'play as they wanted or needed. They became discouraged and returned to software produced by *the* company. OSS surly picked up a lot of new devotees in that period. It also caused a lot of companies to hire new people to handle the demand. I suspect the demand for distributions may not continue to grow as it had been, and may even fall off in the short-term. For a company such as SuSE to continue to produce their fine product, they must have a reliable market demand through thick and thin. That means people need to pay for the product. It's easy not to pay for something when you can get it for free. But the product is not produced without expense to companies such as SuSE. -- Open Source Software depends on your support. If you use it, be sure to give something back. http://www.suse.com | http://www.kde.org http://www.mozilla.org | http://www.xemacs.org
On Thursday 13 September 2001 4:52 pm, Steven T. Hatton wrote:
I know I'm not on the list much these days. Believe it or not, I'm spending most of my time USING my SuSE Linux installations, rather than configuring them. There are still a lot of issues with Linux and with the SuSE distribution which make using it less convenient than it should be. It still needs work - and will always need improvement. Such work takes time on the part of skilled developers. I believe major corporations should sponsor Open Source Software in the same way they sponsor other arts and sciences. There is a small amount of such support from some IT companies, but I don't believe the Ford Motor Companies of the world are doing what they should.
Well actually... Ford (Europe) are looking into Open Source software (i.e. Linux) for its 33,000 desktops. As Richard Thwait, their Director of IT says "[we're] always looking for potential vendors of the desktop other than Microsoft" and "I think ultimately we will look for an Open Source desktop. I think that's eventually where the industry will go". Quoted from LinuxFormat, September 2001. I agree with your sentiment though. Buy Linux and influence others, particularly executive management that there is a viable alternative to Microsoft. I mean have you seen how much Microsoft wants for its Software Assurance? Their proposals could cost UK local governemnt £1Billion over the next 3 years! And, for no added value just the opportunity to have the latest word processor whoopie do. M
On Thu, Sep 13, 2001 at 07:35:13PM +0000, Martin Webster wrote:
On Thursday 13 September 2001 4:52 pm, Steven T. Hatton wrote:
Well actually... Ford (Europe) are looking into Open Source software (i.e. Linux) for its 33,000 desktops. As Richard Thwait, their Director of IT says "[we're] always looking for potential vendors of the desktop other than Microsoft" and "I think ultimately we will look for an Open Source desktop. I think that's eventually where the industry will go". Quoted from LinuxFormat, September 2001.
I agree with your sentiment though. Buy Linux and influence others, particularly executive management that there is a viable alternative to Microsoft. I mean have you seen how much Microsoft wants for its Software Assurance? Their proposals could cost UK local governemnt 1Billion over the next 3 years! And, for no added value just the opportunity to have the latest word processor whoopie do.
M
The problem here is the in-place infrastructure. I work for a company that provides E-commerce software that runs under Unices, it is also developed under UNIX. The clients however are Windows .. and I see no possibility that will ever change. What is more galling is that the company mail infrastructure is based on Exchange, so there are always messages about viruses (which of course don't do much on UNIX workstations running netscape!) and outages while exchange is upgraded or otherwise repaired. To persuade them to replace the mail system with a proper conformant one (i.e. an Open Source one) would be a soul-destroying undertaking I think. I could argue about all the technical merits, but the economic ones are not withing my competence to explain. In this case it is the bean-counters who need to understand the issues involved. That sounds pessimistic, which I am not at all. Open Source is infectious, but it will take time. I have been in the past involved in bid-evaluations for a very large project..and what you always ask for is "reference sites". If companies like Ford etc. start taking this on, then you have them! -- Regards Cliff
On Thursday 13 September 2001 15:14 pm, Cliff Sarginson wrote:
On Thu, Sep 13, 2001 at 07:35:13PM +0000, Martin Webster wrote:
On Thursday 13 September 2001 4:52 pm, Steven T. Hatton wrote:
Well actually... Ford (Europe) are looking into Open Source software (i.e. Linux) for its 33,000 desktops. As Richard Thwait, their Director of IT says "[we're] always looking for potential vendors of the desktop other than Microsoft" and "I think ultimately we will look for an Open Source desktop. I think that's eventually where the industry will go". Quoted from LinuxFormat, September 2001.
I agree with your sentiment though. Buy Linux and influence others, particularly executive management that there is a viable alternative to Microsoft. I mean have you seen how much Microsoft wants for its Software Assurance? Their proposals could cost UK local governemnt 1Billion over the next 3 years! And, for no added value just the opportunity to have the latest word processor whoopie do.
M
The problem here is the in-place infrastructure. I work for a company that provides E-commerce software that runs under Unices, it is also developed under UNIX. The clients however are Windows .. and I see no possibility that will ever change.
What is more galling is that the company mail infrastructure is based on Exchange, so there are always messages about viruses (which of course don't do much on UNIX workstations running netscape!) and outages while exchange is upgraded or otherwise repaired. To persuade them to replace the mail system with a proper conformant one (i.e. an Open Source one) would be a soul-destroying undertaking I think. I could argue about all the technical merits, but the economic ones are not withing my competence to explain. In this case it is the bean-counters who need to understand the issues involved.
Have you been following all the shenannigans that MS is now pulling? And their pricing schemes for the future? The bean counters will understand those. Point them to the following article about MS's License Assurance Campaign. Particularly the 5 points within the article. http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/09/10/010910opfoster.xml +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + Bruce S. Marshall bmarsh@bmarsh.com Bellaire, MI 09/13/01 15:27 + +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ "How much deeper would the ocean be if sponges didn't live there?"
participants (4)
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Bruce Marshall -
Cliff Sarginson -
Martin Webster -
Steven T. Hatton