[Gllug] Assistance with arguments to use Linux!

[Philip Hands]

On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 11:28:09 +0000, Benjamin Donnachie <benjamin at py-soft.co.uk> wrote:

> So far I have tried arguing greater security and lower costs but,
> unfortunately, management cringe every they hear Linux and go running
> for the safety of Microsoft.

They are presumably scared of making a "brave" decision.

I'd point out to them that their data will be relying on GNU/Linux,
and/or perhaps *BSD, to get to the Internet anyway, and it's just a
question of deciding at what point that transition happens.

I seriously doubt that they're running windows on their routers, so you
could just point out that you're wanting a more flexible layer of router
to allow for load sharing, etc. near the perimeter that's already
non-Windows.

If you're wanting to do SSL on Linux, you could point out the
availability of the Entropy Key that was mentioned on the list last
month, which will allow you to support a lot more SSL connections
securely.

You could also mention that Google, who have the chance to do
statistical testing on the software and hardware they run ... run Linux,
which of course means that your company relies on Linux for most of the
traffic that arrives from the Internet anyway.

On a lighter note, you could mention:

  http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Paw-Prints-Writings-of-the-maddog/Windows-Too-Unstable-For-Anything-As-Important-As-An-Organ-Concert-Debian-Day-DebDay-talk-in-NYC

in which it is mentioned that Marshall and Ogletree, with a budget of
about half a million dollars, chose Linux over Windows as their platform.

So you need to convince them that the "brave" decision is trying to
rely on Windows alone for something as important as their web site.

Instead, why not pull the border between the reliable *nix based systems
that run the Internet a bit further into the building where they can
take advantage of that reliability while adding some more flexibility.

Cheers, Phil.

P.S. Of course, I'd recommend Debian, because it allows for smoother
upgrades than RH, but the local sysadmin's preference should rule.
-- 
|)|  Philip Hands [+44 (0)20 8530 9560]    http://www.hands.com/
|-|  HANDS.COM Ltd.                    http://www.uk.debian.org/
|(|  10 Onslow Gardens, South Woodford, London  E18 1NE  ENGLAND
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