begin oe_protect.scr
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Tuesday 06 June 2006 07:55 \__
>
>> begin oe_protect.scr
>> Roy Culley <rgc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>> begin risky.vbs
>>> <7Cfgg.12152$Qg.11116@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>>> Colin Day <cday3@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> UK's ESR migrates to Linux and OSS
>>>>
>>>> What's ESR? Does the UK have its own Eric S. Raymond?
>>>
>>> Perhaps you should read the link. :-)
>>
>> It would help. This is my favourite bit:
>>
>> <quote>
>> Harmer appreciates the freedom that open source software
>> brings. "We are not tied into any forced upgrade cycles dictated
>> to us," he says. "We now have ownership of the network and we
>> can do whatever we like without incurring extra costs." In fact,
>> Harmer says, cost reduction has been the biggest bottom-line
>> benefit ESR has seen since moving to open source. "The charges
>> for network management were very high per person each year," he
>> says. The new system is faster, much more stable, and much less
>> expensive than it had been on NetWare and Windows, according
>> to Harmer. "We now have a system where to add another user we
>> do not have to pay out for any more licenses. This limits the
>> licensing costs to the desktop machines. Also, the hardware
>> will have a longer lifetime because of the lower demand placed
>> on system resources by Linux."
>> </quote>
>>
>> summary of linux advantages:
>>
>> * no forced upgrade
>
>
> I am not sure /anyone/ is forcing an upgrade. Urging? maybe. Forcing? I doubt
> it very much.
>
It happens all the time to us. The supplier merely withdraws support
for a given product (can be hardware or software), and that's that, we
have to upgrade or buy something else. They then pitch a new offer at
us which is carefully graded to be slightly cheaper than throwing out
/all/ of their offering and replacing it with something else.
Basically, they create an economic exit barrier, and pitch new offers
just underneath the exit barrier. This worked really well when the only
"competing" offers were in their own way just as locked-down. As things
are starting to open-up, we can genuinely move onto platforms which are
open, and thus not be forced to upgrade any more.
If this hasn't happened to you, you've been lucky, I would say.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
There is brutality and there is honesty. There is no such thing as brutal
honesty.
|
|
