Basil Chupin wrote: > Kenneth Schneider wrote:
>> Linux is used far and wide by the federal government for it to go away. > > But Ken, your federal government must have used some other OS before > switching to Linux which means that 'they' are a fickle lot and will > switch from Linux at a drop of a hat. If they abandoned the other OS > then they will abandon Linux given the appropriate excuses. Indeed, linux is used heavily in the server rooms, as it should be, but it isn't that hard to imagine a scenario where some convicted monopolist gives a government agency a sweetheart deal, applying pressure at several points: bribes for the decision makers, offers of free software and free support for 3 years, reams of "studies" showing that microsoft servers are super duper, and that "everyone else is going that way". The hapless bureaucrat might well shrug and say "we're using 100% microsoft on the desktop, why not in the server room too". But even a 10% linux presence on the desktop would be a powerful deterrent against such a checkmate. There really is a network effect, that the clever business people at microsoft understand well. When there are a lot of interdependencies, you can't just yank one piece out - but in the case where linux is isolated in the server room, it can be replaced, even though technically speaking, it should not be. Read Linus statements about the importance of desktop Linux for a heads-up. Joe -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
