On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 4:21 PM, Jarvis, Matthew <[email protected]> wrote: > > "The government's response to the SPD's question states that, although > open source has demonstrated its worth, particularly on servers, the > cost of adapting and extending it, for example in writing printer and > scanner drivers, and of training, have proved greater than anticipated." > > Huh? Are folks out there really having to code this stuff from scratch? > What sort of equipment are these people using anyway???
Well, as with Windows, if there's a supported driver, you're all set and, if not, you're likely out of luck. If they had a bunch of specialty equipment, it's possible there aren't drivers. Then mention scanners. Linux supports most out-of-the-box, but there's a bunch of proprietary stuff at the margins (like high-speed, high-capacity scanners a government agency might use) that are pretty inaccessible. > I'll admit to seeing/experiencing a lot of suck factor w/ Linux based > open source software at times, but I've never heard of anyone in my > circles I know of actually having to WRITE code to use some piece of > equipment... Proprietary networking equipment seems to be one of the real buggers. I think "training" was more likely the big cost, and the realization that some things are just not drop-in replacements. If you have a bunch of Access databases, you can't just drop in MySQL and say 'there!' I suspect the process of migration wasn't handled that well. In my experience, mixed environments are often the answers: let the folks who can use Linux or Mac. Let those dependent on other platforms use those platforms while you evaluate and consider alternatives. My big competitor in one niche uses SQL Server, IE and VBScript on the desktop, so his clients are locked into Windows. My product is HTML, so they can use Macs, Windows, Linux, iPhones, Android, iPads or WebTVs. It depends on what the client needs, and whether they're willing to take on the switching costs. Costs are always higher than estimated in migration projects, from what I've seen. The demo is whizzer, but the actuality is always tougher to pull off. -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
