[CS-FSLUG] [Fwd: [plug] Not So Fast, Linux]

Tue Nov 2 21:44:39 CST 2004

People, have we seen something like this posted here before? I find this 
an interesting read.
"Forrester Research Inc. (FORR ) and Yankee Group (RTRSY )" are these 
more inclined to MS?

Art
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[plug] Not So Fast, Linux
Date: 	Wed, 3 Nov 2004 10:32:07 +0800

To: 	PLUG List <plug at lists.q-linux.com>

Not So Fast, Linux
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_45/b3907083_mz054.htm
Many European local governments are thinking about ditching Windows,
but Microsoft is fighting back

Anticipation built for weeks beforehand. The city government of Paris,
with 17,000 desktop PCs and hundreds of servers, was mulling a
technology shift that would have been unthinkable just a few years
ago: retiring Microsoft Corp. (MSFT ) Windows software from every one
of its machines and converting them to the Linux operating system. So
when the results of a feasibility study were finally announced on Oct.
13, the recommendation to stick with Windows provoked shock and dismay
among Linux fans. "I'm totally bummed," wrote one French blogger.

In Europe, software isn't just about bits and bytes anymore. It has
become a matter of politics. In city governments from Paris to Vienna
to Rome, civil servants and politicians are caught in a fight over
competing visions of the future of computing. On one side is
Microsoft, which is trying to hold on to its dominant position in PC
and server software. On the other are factions backing the open-source
model, which flouts convention by selling software cheaply -- or
giving it away -- and sharing code. The contest playing out in city
halls has turned Europe into a key battleground in the global software
wars.

It's no wonder open-source is fueling such passion. European
governments chafe at Microsoft's market power and want to encourage
alternatives. "They don't like being beholden to a monopoly," says
analyst Philip Carnelley of researcher Ovum in London. At the same
time, many policymakers see Linux as Europe's best chance to reclaim a
role in an industry dominated by American giants. Two of the world's
three largest Linux sellers started in Europe.

There's a cultural element, too. Europeans have an affinity for Linux
because it was created by a Finn, Linus Torvalds. And the
communitarian culture of the open-source movement strikes a chord with
the political Left. "There's an attraction to a business model that is
closer to utopian socialism," says François Bancilhon, chief executive
of Paris-based Linux software maker Mandrakesoft (MDKFF ), which sells
and supports Linux software.

AN UNDISCLOSED DISCOUNT 
So far, Microsoft has taken most of the lumps in Europe. Vienna has
begun switching over hundreds of its 16,000 PCs to Linux. Norway's
second-largest city, Bergen, has decided to convert a score of
database servers running the UNIX operating system to Linux, not
Windows, and could eventually move 32,000 PCs used in its schools to
Linux as well. But the most closely watched case is Munich, which aims
to switch 14,000 desktops to Linux by 2008, despite Microsoft's offer
of a 35% discount to stick with Windows. The number of such defections
clearly caught Microsoft off guard. "Microsoft wasn't prepared for a
popular uprising," says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at San Jose
(Calif.) consultancy Enderle Group.

Yet over the past 18 months the giant from Redmond, Wash., has
unleashed a fierce counterattack, and there are signs that it's
working. Paris was only the most recent and important victory. Last
January the borough of Newham in London reversed course on a planned
change to Linux after a consultant's report said Windows would cost
$600,000 less to support each year. To seal the deal, Microsoft
offered Newham an undisclosed discount. The Finnish city of Turku also
changed its mind about dumping Windows after a three-year experiment
with Linux showed employees resisted the switch. There are reports of
glitches and cost overruns from other Linux adopters, including Munich
and the German Parliament, which had to revert to Windows servers
temporarily in mid-October when a third of its 5,000 PC users couldn't
access the Internet or get e-mail. "We're seeing a turning of the
tide," says software analyst Tom Berquist of Citigroup's Smith Barney
unit in San Francisco.

The comeback is classic Microsoft. After all, this is the same company
that missed the rise of the Internet and then went on to crush browser
rival Netscape Communications Corp. (TWX ). Microsoft has thrown
itself into tackling Linux, hiring dozens of experts in open-source
software and offering deep discounts to hold on to clients. It's also
sharpening its pitch to address more than just software. "We need to
talk in a broader way about investment protection, security, and tying
together different kinds of software," says Ashim Pal, Microsoft's
European director for platform strategy.

Now, Microsoft hosts booths at Linux trade shows and has set up a Web
site brimming with customer testimonials and market-research studies
poking holes in Linux. Last summer, Microsoft mounted a four-city "Get
the Facts" tour of Britain to pitch its story to IT managers. And it
took the unprecedented step of inviting 60 government agencies around
the world to view the top-secret source code for Windows and so allay
concerns about its security and blunt the advantage of openness
enjoyed by Linux. "Transparency increases trust," says Jason Matusow,
director of Microsoft's shared-source initiative.

Microsoft's charm offensive isn't all that's vexing Linux. After an
initial rush of excitement, governments are weighing more factors.
Linux and open-source programs may be cheap, but they can cost plenty
to implement. Munich budgeted $35.7 million for its Linux makeover --
$12 million more than Microsoft's last-ditch offer. While most users
insist Linux is cheaper to operate, reports from researchers such as
Forrester Research Inc. (FORR ) and Yankee Group (RTRSY ) assert that
the "total cost of ownership" -- including upgrades, support, and
insurance against potential intellectual-property suits targeting
Linux -- can be higher than for Windows.

For Paris, the killer was the expense of having to rewrite programs
and train thousands of employees on new software. The German city of
Heidenheim recently chose not to adopt Linux for similar reasons. "We
would have to spend a lot of money to make it happen," says Carsten
Urban, head of the city's IT department.

Linux partisans aren't about to surrender. Bancilhon predicts Paris
will opt for smaller-scale Linux rollouts in neighborhood offices.
Richard Seibt, the European president for U.S. software maker Novell
Inc., sees no flagging of interest in Linux among European
governments. "What has been announced so far is just the tip of the
iceberg," he says, noting that Novell has hundreds of potential
government sales of Linux-based products in the pipeline worldwide.
All told, figures Gartner Inc. (IT ), the proportion of PCs sold with
Linux installed will climb from 4.4% last year to 5.7% in 2005. A big
shift. But it might be a lot bigger if Microsoft weren't turning up
the heat.
--
Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List
plug at lists.q-linux.com (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph)