Ray Cote wrote: > At 1:19 PM -0400 7/25/01, Jeffry Smith wrote: > >Dan Jenkins said: > >This does bring up a point - assuming these folks are currently using Windows (or >planning to), how do they intend to do support on that? You got the quoting a bit off. I didn't say the above. It was Jeffry Smith who said that. Ray Cote also wrote: > Through the service organization that installed it. > Through their licensed NT-certified support staff. > Through their Microsoft-trained in-house support staff. > Through their paid support contracts. > On just about every third street corner in town where there's a little computer >store. > > Not saying support is great, but there's a feeling it is at least available. > > This really is an excellent issue. > Are you ready to just evangelize or back it up with a support contract for local >organizations? My company has been providing support contracts for Linux (as well as the other operating systems) for years. (Our first support contract for Linux was in 1993 or 1994.) I don't evangelize. I use the best tool to solve a problem. In many cases, it is Linux. In some cases, it isn't. In most cases, I mix. For example, Windows and Mac desktops, Linux file, backup & mail servers, NT fax server, Novell SNA gateway, and IBM RS/6000 running AIX at one client. Well to slightly nitpick the above sources of support. This discussion started out about doing an installation for a non-profit with apparently NO money: they needed volunteers to install everything gratis. So (1) the service organization doesn't exist since it won't get paid, (2) they have no support staff (NT-certified or not), (3) ditto for in-house support staff, (4) ditto again for support contracts and (5) the little computer store wants to get paid too. They probably have someone in-house who sort of knows how to operate a computer - or who has a niece or nephew who does. ;-) (I may be exaggerating a bit.) What you say may be true for larger organizations. However, most of the companies and organizations I deal with are too small (under 500 employees) to have a support staff per se - that's what they hire my company for :-). In my mind, small businesses/organizations have the most to gain from Linux. The licensing costs are far heavier for a small (presumably cash poor) organization than a Fortune 1000. The equipment costs are often lower for comparable (or better) performance. Support costs for a small group cannot be "evened out" over a large population of users. They rarely can be predicted and must be dealt with as they arise - rather than budgeted from experience. So often problems are handled by people who are not technical staff, just computer literate - or at least willing to try. This sometimes means a poorly or non-trained user "fiddling" with a NT server to see what fixes the problem of the moment. I have found that a Linux server is generally harder to semi-randomly "click at" than a NT server. This is a benefit for a stable production environment. Non-trained users shouldn't be administering servers. Since a NT/2000 server looks like a Windows desktop, I have often found organizations treat it with the same, somewhat cavalier disregard as the corner PC. Again, we're talking organizations where the servers are next to the copier or in the back closet. A well configured Linux server can run with minimal attention and negligible downtime, in my experience. (So can a Novell server, for that matter - at least the older versions.) A well configured NT server can too - if little modification is done with it once set up and it is not heavily loaded with different tasks. I've found I can easily remotely manage a Linux server. I cannot do this as easily with NT. So I often recommend Linux. It's less expensive for the client, it allows them to spend the savings on training or support - which they are going to need anyways, and it's easier for us to administer remotely - saving them on-site visit costs. Remote administration also makes service calls more convenient and quicker - reducing the temptation for local users to "fiddle" to try and fix it. -- Dan Jenkins ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Rastech Inc., 21 Curtis Lane, Bedford, NH 03110 -- 603-627-0443 *** Technical Support for a Quarter Century
begin:vcard n:Jenkins;Dan tel;fax:1-603-627-7513 tel;work:1-603-627-0443 x-mozilla-html:TRUE url:http://www.rastech.com org:Rastech Inc. adr:;;21 Curtis Lane;Bedford;NH;03110;USA version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] fn:Dan Jenkins end:vcard
