[Leaplist] Determining Whether Ubuntu Linux Is Right for You

["pberry2" at cfl.rr.com]

Phil Barnett wrote:
> On Thursday 22 February 2007 23:48, Jim Hartley wrote:
>   
>> Why in Hell would I pay $195 to determine if free software was
>> appropriate for me??? Boy, that's chutzpa!
>>
>> Jim Hartley
>>
>> Phil Barnett wrote:
>>     
>>> http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=501403&subref=advs
>>> earch
>>>       
>
> Gartner is a trusted research organization. At work, we consult them often 
> enough that we pay a flat fee to look at anything they have on anything they 
> study.
>
> It's a heck of a lot cheaper than researching it ourselves.
>
> If you were about to spend 30 million dollars, $1000 worth of research on the 
> subject is a cheap start. Big corporations use them all the time.
>
> Their studies are not meant for the common folk like us. I'm sorry I brought 
> it up. The study was good, but I can't legally cross quote it to the list.
>
>   
Don't  regret the effort, as it did remind me that  businesses must 
tread carefully in implementing change.   Unlike  the individual  
person,  they can't  just make sudden changes or adopt new technology, 
without some assurances of success.  I can slip a new or different OS 
into a spare computer at my own discretion, but, when you are executive 
to a business, and make a decision, you can affect a larger swath of 
resources and might experience unforeseen consequences.  

Decision making is a great deal different with a committee or Board, 
than with an individual.  The fallout is greater, and the concepts are 
to be experienced before most of us really understand why a study, such 
as this, or my favorite example, Commuter Rail through Central Florida, 
and even on to the complete I-4 corridor, would be worth the money 
spent, before the serious commitment is brokered.  

In that case, the studies each cost $1 million or more, and each 
entailed a few years of endeavor by a large team of professionals.  The 
project was proposed to cost in the tens of billions of dollars, so 
planning necessitated  the expense of the initial studies. 

But, there were more than one study, over the past 12 years, mainly 
because a lot of enthusiastic folks who wanted cheap rides or better 
demographics for their businesses, were more willing to try to spend 
your money, through proposed taxes or tax hikes, were adamant that they 
knew best.  Well, the study and polls, and research proved that the 
expense was not justified, at that time. 

I would hope some of us could see the factors at work that make it 
worthwhile to have some research at hand before making major decisions 
that cost huge amounts of time, money, and resources.   I suspect that 
few individuals would spend the money for a Gartner report. 

For us, there are several magazines that contain fairly good reviews at 
a cost most of us don't mind paying.  At the Neal Boortz book signing 
last evening, we were in line a good part of an hour, joking, talking, 
and, I was handing out LiveCDroms of PCLinuxOS and SimplyMepis. 

As we wound through the aisles of magazines, I noticed that SimplyMepis, 
Suse, and other GNU/Linux distros are on DVD or CD with magazines, and 
those magazines cost as much as $19.  But, that is money well spent, for 
the written opinion of someone competent who has actually run the 
distros, noted the strengths and weaknesses, and stuck their neck out in 
recommending to us what is available. 

I made sure to give Neal and crew several LiveCDroms.  But, I didn't 
have time to explain anything about GNU/Linux, the Open source 
movement.  I trust that he knows to try them out in an isolated 
computer, and watch to see if they are a 'good thing' or some kind of 
viral bomb from a liberal leftist!   He might not be aware of the  nice 
magazines,  books, and reference charts  in that store, that are all 
about  'Linux'. 

He certainly doesn't know me from Osama, or Obama.  I hope to hear him 
comment in future days, on his exposure to FREEdom in computing!


  
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