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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Dan Attwood wrote on 19/09/14 09:05:<br>
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<div dir="ltr"><span
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Bloated</span><br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">A fresh imaged version of
windows 7 will cotain the based os, the browser, notepad a
caculator and some bit and bobs. Not really what I'd call
bloated. They probably won't have much more software
installed on them either. Given the that the machines are
in a public they will also almost certainly be creating
and destroying user profiles at each login so they won't
cruft up much over time. <br>
</font></div>
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<font face="arial, sans-serif">It looks like this could begin a long
and pointless debate about the role of linux in public
institutions. I would only request you check on the vector of
changes. There are a growing number of public institutions
switching to free software.<br>
<br>
By "bloated" I was referring to the code and the comment thereon
made by (former) employees of Microsoft. You and I (or at least I)
don't have access to that code so we can't evaluate it.<br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Buggy</font></div>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">I've used windows 7 for
about 4 years now full time at work. I've had a handful of
blue screens and crashes over that time. I've probably had
ubuntu lock up about as much. This is on machine that runs
virtualbox, encodes videos, runs full adbobe suite and
programming tools and has me constantly fiddle with things.
On a clean library machine any potential bugs will be even
less</font></div>
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<font face="arial, sans-serif">Again this is not a value judgement.
Compare the length of the Microsoft bug list with that of linux. </font><br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Virus prone</font></div>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">True but, they will be
behind a firewall and internet filtering system which will
cut out a lot of these problems. They
will almost certainly have local antivirus on them</font></div>
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<font face="arial, sans-serif">At what cost? </font><br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Cost</font></div>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">This is a one you really
have to be careful on. The cost of the OS is only one part
of the puzzle. You have to factor in the cost of employing
linux skilled people and the cost of managing linux
maxchines en mass.</font></div>
<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">For example we use SCCM here
at work to manage around 2000 devices. It enables all
software installs and updates to be
done automatically pushed out to machines. the systems that
do this for linux (landscape, satellite, chef entrpirse
etc ) can actually be very expensive by comparison.</font></div>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">As Nathan points out you
actually have to point out the cost of user acceptance. the
first time a member of the public opens a word file in libre
office and gets back garbage you're' going to meet a lot of
frustration.</font></div>
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<font face="arial, sans-serif">Here I feel a bit more confident. I
have been working with pensioners (many even older than I am) with
very little experience with computers. They are now using Ubuntu
14.04 and not encountering any inordinate difficulty using it. </font>I
can pop on Eldy for people needing a "totally simple" experience
(check it out if you're not familiar with Eldy). While I was living
in Italy I helped out my friend who runs a computer shop/internet
point. I installed Debian testing on one of his older machines and
it was released to his public in 2009. I maintained the machine
until last October when I returned to the UK. Before I left and at
his request I installed linux on all his remaining machines (a total
of 5) and this time used Lubuntu since (a) I wouldn't be around (b)
the machines were old. We stay in contact and there are no problems.
All the time I was in Gorizia (nearly 5 years) there were no
complaints (only some questions) involving the linux machine. I rest
my case.<br>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">I make these points as an
ardant Linux fan boy who would love to see more Linux being
used. Projects like Limux, Udine and the French Police are
awesome. But if you're going to be approaching the Council
about this you need to make sure you have very sound
reasoning and not just 'Windows is rubbish and Linux is
awesome' or you will just be pushed aside as a zealot.</font></div>
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<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Natahn suggestion of putting
in a FOI request is a really good one. <br>
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<br>
I have followed Nathan's suggestion and already posted a FOI
request on the "whatdotheyknow" web site. The title is:<br>
<i>The choice of an operating system (OS) used on library computers</i><br>
<br>
The last time I used Windows was around 2006. I was attending a
conference in Paris and wanted to send some email. I borrowed the
hotels computer which I carried into their dining room and plugged
it in. I was in a hurry and sent out a couple of messages and then
tried to shut down Windows. Well, it wanted to put in some updates
and would not give me the option of saying "later please" after 3-4
minutes of cajoling in vain the only solution was to unplug the
thing and leave it on the desk for the hotel to sort out. What a
piece of garbage.<br>
Cheers,<br>
Jonathan<br>
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