[Gllug] [OT] Support model for Linux vs M$

[Simon Wilcox]

On 12/3/09 13:48, salsaman at xs4all.nl wrote:
> On Thu, March 12, 2009 14:22, j.roberts wrote:
>> salsaman at xs4all.nl wrote:
>>
>>> So, you count the cost of the Windows lock-in to be a part of the TCO of
>>> any alternative solution ?
>> Yes of course. There IS no practical non-Windows solution in these
>> cases. So why pretend there is?
>>
> 
> Can you give a few examples of Windows software for which there exists no
> Free alternative ? I am frequently asked by FOSS developers for ideas for
> products to develop.

On the desktop - Photoshop.

The Gimp is OK but it's just not the same for getting the job done in a 
professional design studio. It's not worth retraining users to use it 
when there's a perfectly serviceable paid-for alternative. Photoshop 
also gives you a much larger pool of possible candidates when recruiting 
new staff and it makes it possible to simply exchange files with a whole 
ecosystem of people that use the same defacto standard.

In specialist applications - I've never seen veterinary practice 
software that isn't Windows based. I also don't know a decent FOSS 
equivalent of QuickBooks for running the accounts of SME businesses. And 
by decent I mean one that won't cost me more than the relatively modest 
cost of QuickBooks in fiddling time and frustration.

Being pragmatic, I'm quite happy to pay for specialist applications 
where they add value to my business.

Here's something I find really weird though - I noticed last week that 
the new display boards at Farringdon are running Windows XP - why was 
that choice made ?

Presumably because the cost of the license wasn't significant in the 
overall package price and the developers were already using Windows. 
We'll probably find that they're actually using .NET

S.
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