A Linux Warning: Information or Disinformation
October 5, 2010
A reader sent me a link to a story on TechNewsWorld. “Penguins Old, Penguins New, Penguins Battered and Penguins Blue” provides some cautionary words about open source in general and Linux in particular. I am not able to say whether the information in the article is 100 percent spot on, but I did want to capture its main points. The arguments may be germane as open source software continues to chug forward. Later this week I will be at the Lucene Revolution Conference, and I want to make sure I know the pros and cons of the commercial versus open source landscape.
The key point in the TechNewsWorld write up is that Windows 7 is a better option for the use case described in the story. Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
The project’s afflictions included implementation delays, immature software and “disgruntled employees whose displeasure allegedly culminated in the creation of a home page dedicated to venting their gripes and who were so busy grappling with Linux that they no longer managed to do their jobs,” explains a special report in The H.
After indicating that there may be a role for Linux in this particular client situation, the author says:
Three “not-so-easy lessons” can be taken away from the Solothurn story, Hudson suggested:
Problem #1: “There will always be a significant minority that will resist any change.”
Lesson #1: “Plan for resistance, and be ready to modify plans accordingly. Giving up a little early on can mean not losing everything later. No battle plan survives the first engagement intact.”
Problem #2: “Trying to change from one computer monoculture to another ignores practicalities.”
Lesson #2: “Be practical. Save ideology for church on Sunday or discussing politics at the family reunion.”
Problem #3: “Nothing was ready on time, and a lot didn’t work as promised.”
Lesson #3: “Don’t over-promise, don’t over-sell. You’re not the 800-pound monkey — you can’t sell vaporware and then fling poo at your customers and hope some of it sticks.”
Yep, without resources, knowledge, and commitment, change is tough. I suppose that’s why 66 percent of Windows users are still running XP.
I am not convinced that this use case is necessarily representative.
Stephen E Arnold, October 5, 2010
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