I thought the group might be interested in this article in a "pro-MS" newsletter. Just another indication that Linux is definitely on the road to becoming corporate desktop software in the near future.--Al Johnson ============================
Brewing Storm http://www.crn.com/sections/News/Top_News.asp?RSID=CRN&ArticleID=42476 At long last, a battle ground is emerging. The SuSE Linux Desktop showed up on the radar screen at the Enterprise Linux Forum last week, and Microsoft is the obvious target. The difference here is that the Linux product is aimed at the corporate desktop, and priced accordingly. A five seat license with five year maintenance contract will go for $598, a steep discount when compared to Windows XP on those merits alone, but that doesn't factor in the time to train IT staff (or hire Linux geeks outright), train users, come up with a migration strategy, integrate with existing server environment, etc., and these are all things that have to be taken into consideration. Still, with a five year right to upgrades, a very large community available for guidance, and the ability to hack away at the OS if you find something you don't like, SuSE is barking up the right tree. They aren't the only ones doing so, however. Ximian and Red Hat aim to go more "corporate" soon enough. I've maintained for years that Linux isn't ready for the mainstream desktop, despite my own liking of the OS genre, but I have also acknowledged that it's making great progress. This is a huge step for Linux, and an equally huge step for Microsoft, regardless of whether they think so. Why? Competition, my friends. Whether you care to use Linux or not, it's that ability for Linux to compete that will make Windows better. Microsoft has to focus on making it easier for companies to choose Windows, easier to support, and much more broadly compatible with the very products that they are now hearing in their sleep... Mac OS X and Linux. Mark this day on your calendar. It opens a new chapter in the operating system world. Submit a Resource | Discuss | Recommend _______________________________________________ TriLUG mailing list http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ: http://www.trilug.org/faq/TriLUG-faq.html
