Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> __/ [ Rex Ballard ] on Saturday 24 June 2006 09:46 \__
>
> > More accurately
> > END Users are not given the opportunity to make an INFORMED CHOICE.
> > Imagine going to work and your boss demands that you give him your Cell
> > phone and then he gives you a phone with horrible coverage, roaming
> > rates the minute you leave the office building, and that drops calls
> > every 3 minutes. Then he tells you he's cutting your salary 20% to
> > cover the cost of this horrible phone. Furthermore, you will have to
> > keep paying your personal phone plan, but you are not allowed to use
> > your personal cell phone anymore.
>
> When a nearby vendor stocks a competing phone with other payment plans,
> customer will sooner or later stray. But there are other barriers: habits,
> disinformation and the fear of being different (which to many is a great
> factor).
The scenario above, where a corporate IT officer makes the decision,
says you are not ALLOWED to go to the other vendor. You could go to
the other vendor, but if you take it to work, it could be comfiscated
or you could be fired. (Many of those who install Linux or OSS
software on their corporate machines have had their machines re-imaged
and or been fired for having Linux on their machine, even if it is a
machine that was about to be discarded and their manager has approved
the second machine.
These days, more and more employers have realized that, if they want to
keep creative and talented employees, especially UNIX people, they
pretty much have to let them manage their own machines, especially the
installation of OSS and Linux. Many companies have even established
policies around Linux and even have a "corporate image" which provides
software required to be compliant with regulatory requirements.
Some companies are also now tracking the number of Linux users from
within their network. Many are quite surprised at how many users are
using Linux, Cygwin, and other OSS.
Most larger enterprizes have procurement policies that now specify
Linux-ready systems, and often the evaluation of a candidate for
corporate desktop or laptop will include a test of Linux compatibility.
For example, how long would it take to install SUSE or Red Hat, and
would all features (3d, sound, wi-fi, network, modem) work with little
or no special configuraton.
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