Google Abandons Windows for Better Security
Open Source, the Recession and the Lower-TCO Promise.
Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer & a team of his best engineers couldn’t clean viruses off of a Windows PC. If they can’t make their own PC’s work, who can?
Google: The browser is the computer
Highlights from a large study on Free & Open Source Software (F/OSS) and its economic influence on the EU. Particularly stunning is the estimated time to reproduce this software in proprietary format (131,000 person years) and the estimated amount of donated programming effort in monetary terms (800 million Euros per year).
“Linux as an operating system for the desktop is much less established in enterprise use, with 39 percent of respondents in the Gartner survey currently using it and another 22 percent expecting to use it within the next year.” ~ Gartner 2008 CIO Survey
Open Source in Every Business within 12 Months, says Gartner
IBM To Enterprise: Ditch Windows For Our “Microsoft-Free” Terminals
David A. Wheeler has done an amazing job with his “Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!” This paper provides quantitative data that, in many cases, using open source software / free software (abbreviated as OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS) is a reasonable or even superior approach to using their proprietary competition according to various measures. This paper’s goal is to show that you should consider using OSS/FS when acquiring software. This paper examines market share, reliability, performance, scalability, security, and total cost of ownership. It also has sections on non-quantitative issues, unnecessary fears, OSS/FS on the desktop, usage reports, governments and OSS/FS, other sites providing related information, and ends with some conclusions.
“The lower-priced PCs are increasingly seen as interchangeable and disposable commodities, and vendors are having difficulty differentiating. To drive sales of more than one PC per customer, vendors must make it easier to manage data and programs on more than one PC at a time. The lower price point makes it difficult to profitably provide adequate and expected service and support,”…Because the PC market has changed so radically, vendors must look to establish more long-term relationships with buyers and provide more valuable post-sale services, according to the research firm. PCs are becoming a service business.”
