Ralph,
it really sounds to me like $$$ still... downtime is expensive, constant
upgrades is expensive, slow operating computer is expensive, obsolesence is
expensive... even losing customers because you deal with criminals
(microsoft) can be expensive its all expenses every way you can minimize the
expenses helps.
Jamie
On Wednesday 31 October 2001 23:57, you wrote:
> The free beer aspect of Linux may be one of the first things that companies
> are attracted to, but it sure isn't the only reason. Reporting about the
> amount of money saved is just something exciting that can make a splash in
> the news headlines.
>
> $$$ is definitely NOT all that big companies care about. It's just not
> that simple. Businesses care about things like being dependent on a single
> source for getting products that are important to success. And also
> about planned obsolescence built into windoze products. They care about
> existing hardware vendor support, and about being able to adapt existing
> software and hardware to tomorrow's needs. And about the ability to
> upgrade, and the expectation about upgrade costs in terms of time and
> effort and about simplifying the issues related to license compliance.
> Big businesses care about downtime and reliable delivery of goods and
> services. That's why Linux makes sense for business.
>
> Like you, I like the GPL concept, and I'm glad that it works. It's
> probably attractive to some businesses, too. Especially those outside
> of the software development industry. If a business creates some useful
> piece of software, it doesn't hurt to share it if the direct competition
> isn't unjustly enriched.
>
> I'm appalled that many businesses find it acceptable and even appealing
> to continue doing business with a supplier that has so blatantly and
> repeatedly broken anti-trust laws. To me, it's like hiring a felon, or
> taking on partner that you already know is dishonest. Why would a
> business want the disgrace?
>
> At 10:32 AM 10/31/2001, Justin Bengtson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >big companies, on the other hand, have to worry about "per seat liscences"
> >and other such nonsense. $$$ is ALL they care about. thus, linux is a
> >viable alternative because it's free (as in "free beer") compared to
> >micro$quish.
> >
> >and while people may mail me back with some links about how such-and-such
> >company or the other is "embracing" the GPL, in my mind it all boils down
> > to $$$. greed is a powerful factor when dealing with today's (and
> > yesterday's) business'
