[Gllug] Open Source lobbying meeting - UKUUG London Thurs 19th

[Christopher Hunter]

On Sunday 15 Oct 2006 09:50, Richard Turner wrote:

> I can't speak for larger companies, but I've found that the last three
> SMEs I've worked for have all been very interested in FOSS. Sadly one of
> those had a new IT manager arrive a couple of years ago and since then
> it's been Microsoft all the way (actually that was a charity so could
> get "good deals" on MS software!).

My experience with SMEs  is that they complain that they "can't run Sage" 
easily.  I've come across companies still using the DOS versions of "Sage"!

> The last two places I've worked have been very pro-FOSS - one using
> Debian on all of its servers and a few techie workstations, another
> using Debian and Ubuntu on all but a few legacy servers and about a
> third of its desktops (plus VMWare for some Windows apps).

I've always found the various emulators and virtualisations too much hassle 
for the average user - this is something that really needs to be simplified.

> FOSS becoming mainstream isn't something that will suddenly happen -
> there won't be some Earth-shaking event that catapults FOSS into the
> "mainstream"; however, if more and more non-technie folk use Linux,
> because it's free and safer than Windows on a PC with broadband,
> eventually people will start to want to use the same software at work as
> at home. Many IT managers, at least in smaller companies, might well
> welcome that!

"Vista" might be the first "earth-shaking" event - it needs much higher spec 
hardware than the average desktop machine - particularly in terms of memory - 
1 Gb is the realistic minimum, despite MS' claims.  The "eye candy" gimmicks 
also require an above-average video card.  It breaks compatibility with older 
Windows software - even Office XP doesn't work properly.  It has the same old 
security flaws and fundamental instabilities - despite MS' claims, it's still 
the same old NT codebase (there's nobody left at Microsoft capable of writing 
anything new).  Last of all, it is very expensive, and has all sorts of usage 
restrictions that will make it almost impossible to run "within the rules" - 
I can guarantee that most copies will be hacked to avoid the "Windows Genuine 
Advantage" validation, and will never be properly patched.

Microsoft are ceasing support or their older "operating systems", in an effort 
to push customers toward the newer versions.  This will leave a lot of 
"legacy" systems un-patched, connected to the 'net, vulnerable to anything 
that anyone wants to throw at them.   

> When a non-techie person notices the IT manager using Ubuntu on his
> desktop and asks if he can do so too, because that's what he uses at
> home, then FOSS is really "mainstream".

My recent experience is that the non-techie types are seriously impressed with 
XGL and all the 3D gimmicks that I've got running on one of my desktops and a 
laptop.  They see "eye candy" effects that leave the "Vista" demonstrations 
they've seen way behind.  That's the first "selling point".  

The machines are also visibly much faster than anything "running" Windows, and 
the lack of expensive "anti-virus" and "anti-malware" software running in the 
background amazes Windows users.  When you explain the fundamental security 
differences between our OS of choice and Windows, they start to see that FOSS 
might be a good idea.  The "deal-breaker" is often games.... 

Chris

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