[dundee] Dundee City Council goes Linux!

[Mark Harrigan]

On Sat, Dec 06, 2003 at 01:46:22PM +0000, Andrew Clayton wrote:
> > 
> > Yeah and you still will, Linux doesn't run on the bare metal, it needs
> > z/VM in there too. And I suspect that the applications running on it
> > will still be rather proprietary too. The cost saving probably comes from
> > increased reliability and the consolidation of the servers into a
> > single system that won't need replaced or maintained as much, plus why
> > have a team of well paid computer specialists when it only takes one
> > or two with that system?
> 
> I don't think your last point really stands up.... just because it's all
> on one system doesn't need to mean lots fewer people running it...
> depending on what software they are running, they will still need the
> people with the application skills that they currently have...
> 
> Sure, Unix/Linux does generally require less *administrators* than say
> Windows.... but e.g if you running an ISP type shop, you still need mail
> admins, dns admins, web admins etc, whether it's on one box or not...
> 

Yeah I realised that, I was thinking about reasons why people might be
hostile to open source etc at the time and this struck me as a
possible reason. The consolidation of systems and change in skillset
may create interesting effects in regard to people's employment
etc. Then again they might learn a whole new skillset so it's swings
and roundabouts.

> 
> > 
> > ... /me ponders
> > 
> > and we're sure this is a positive move? 
> > 
> 
> Absolutely.. it can only be good. Others will watch with interest and
> hopefully follow. They'll have done the math, I doubt they'd be doing
> this if it was going to be a lot more expensive than what they already
> have.
> 

Never implied otherwise.


Mark

-- 
Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. 
Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, 
by definition, not smart enough to debug it. -- Brian W. Kernighan