m0gely wrote: > > You make it sound so simple. :) Can you offer a practical example of > what you mean by the above, and how maintenance fits in? > > Don't get me wrong. Microsoft does things that confound me to no end. > I'm only a Linux hobbiest, but all my edge appliances run OpenBSD, and > all my web/db/app servers run FreeBSD. I'm fine to recommend and > implement OSS where it makes sense. The fact that it is a rant is that it's oversimplified, nonsensical, and not very practical.
Small-med biz's seem to use the std. MS suite (Windows, Exchange/Outlook, AD) with out much thought. And I get it as I was there once. For many years I had to have MS Office, because MS Word/Excel were the penultimate apps. And I thought MS Win was the only viable desktop OS. I paid for them ea. time a new vers came out and never got my money out of them. The biggest problem I have with MS prods is the kitchen sink feature set. I think it's safe to say that most people don't use a 10th of the feats. It seems to me that for the most part there's not a lot of consulting that happens when small to med bizs implement MS prods. They buy it, install it and set it up. When I said "customization", what I meant was to consult w. bizs. Understand their biz, work flowa, data needs, etc and then propose a solution that fits their needs. It might be that commercial closed source prods are the best solution for them. I want to live and work in a community that thinks about why and how they do things. What I'm getting at really is the process, or my perceived lack thereof, of selecting and implementing software for a biz. My personal approach is to look for the FOSS solution first. If it doesn't suit my needs or there's just a set of features that I just can't live without then go seek out a commercial closed source prod Maybe I'm living in my own fantasy world, but what I envision is a bunch of independent IT consultants working together to provide solutions for the bizs in this town. Such that maybe 1 person does the server / desktop OS, virtualization. Another person designs and implements the network. Another person does web dev. And another person puts in Asterisk VOIP. I like this vision of Portland and I will continue to walk around this town with my rose colored glasses on... As for saving money, I mostly mean around licensing fees and buying the new vers every time it comes out whether you have a justified need for all the new whiz-bang feats or not. I don't hate MS, but I stopped drinking their kool-aid a long time ago. Maybe I'm drunk on Linux/FOSS. It's not perfect by any means. But it it makes so much sense to me and I believe in it. . _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
