NewsForge Secretaries use Linux, taxpayers save millions

[Mike Coleman]

"Jonathan Hutchins" <hutchins at opus1.com> writes:
> I'm sure there are places where crashes that lose work are still common,
> but they're not run by someone competent enough to develop a *NIX office
> system.

I think this is a very good point (although perhaps not quite in the sense
that you intend).  To put it another way: In a typical Windows shop, the users
suffer considerably due to Windows, experiencing problems such as frequent
crashes, lost work, viruses, security holes, hangs, and other bugs.

Linux sounds like the answer to this, but most of us who are suggesting it are
probably picturing the outcome given what a sharp Linux admin would do.  If an
average Windows admin were to switch the site over to Linux, most likely
disaster would ensue.

I think that having sharp admins is probably even more important than choice
of platform.  If you don't have sharp admins, generally you're going to be
screwed, though it'll be a little less ugly, and you'll have to suffer less
blame if you use Windows in this case.  If you *do* have sharp admins,
generally things will work pretty well, but you'll experience better
reliability and lower costs with Linux and probably more productivity if
you're doing more technical than the standard Office stuff.

> I still think Linux is the answer.

Me, too.  Or, at least, I like the company it keeps.

--Mike

-- 
Mike Coleman, mkc at mathdogs.com
http://www.mathdogs.com