begin oe_protect.scr
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> SMEs and open source - a perfect marriage?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Because open source software is generally free, companies pay only for
>| a mixture of physical distribution and technical support but for simple
>| open source installations it can be just as easy to download the software
>| and install it yourself.
>|
>| Taking the open source route can also reduce future costs, contends
>| Mark Taylor, CEO of open source consultancy Sirius IT. "You have to
>| think about future upgradeability and avoiding lock-in," he says. Not
>| having to worry about software licence fees and proprietary protocols
>| makes you less vulnerable to changes in vendor strategy.
> `----
>
> http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/sme/0,3800004380,39160230,00.htm
The summary you've posted above is truly good - it includes all the
main/key points; OSS is free, you pay for the installation, you pay for
support, but you can do both yourself if you want. It only misses one
point, that you can tender for support and installation competitively,
in order to get the price/functionality deal you want.
The second para covers the critical pieces about the exit barriers -
avoiding lock-in and freedom from upgrade problems; not worrying about
licence fees and so on.
It doesn't seem like 2 minutes since silicon.com was posting pro-MS
after pro-MS article, and linux was derided from time to time, often
using a Gartner or similar article as lead item. It seems that the key
points, as enumerated above, have got through to the right people, such
that the marketing folks have nothing more to add, or to take away.
I think we might be witnessing an interesting epoch in computing history
- the beginning of the end of proprietary software.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
One of the disadvantages of having children is that they eventually get old
enough to give you presents they make at school.
-- Robert Byrne
|
|
