Is the following article accurate?

Post #23,985 by brettj 1/11/02 9:11:04 PM Reply	Is the following article accurate? Is this a typical Linux migration scenario? [link\|http://www.cio.com/archive/010102/shop.html\|How to run a Microsoft-free shop?] DO YOU FIND that you're incapable of stopping upgrades? Do you spend much of your day patching security holes? Do you have a vague sense that you're spending too much money on software? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you may have become overly dependent on Microsoft. Here's a handy 12-step program to cure your condition. STEP 1 WE ADMITTED WE WERE POWERLESS TO MANAGE OUR MICROSOFT SOFTWARE. Many CIOs feel they are in a double bind with Microsoft products. The software itself seems always in need of security patches. The Windows 2000 server, for example, currently has 154 files available for download at Microsoft.com, nearly half of which are security updates. Windows XP makes things worse. The product's new subscription licensing model has raised the ire of many executives because they feel it forces them into frequent upgrades in order to get their money's worth. But in a recent CIO survey, a majority (65 percent) admitted they weren't considering any alternatives. "A lot of us will just cry foul but then pony up," says one CIO. STEP 2 WE CAME TO BELIEVE THAT A POWER GREATER THAN OURSELVES COULD RESTORE OUR IT DEPARTMENT TO SANITY. Linux is that power. It is less expensive to acquire. It takes up less hard disk space and requires less memory to run. There is elegance in the open-source code license: You can have the source code for free, allowing you to upgrade or patch systems as you like. The only rule is that when you develop something new out of the source code, you must share that code with everyone else. Many developers believe this open-source model makes Linux inherently more secure than a proprietary operating system. "We think we'll get blazing performance," says David Larsen, director of IS in Murray City, Utah, who's starting a migration to Linux desktops. "The other thing is, Linux is being taught in schools. It's getting easier to find skills. It's something whose time is coming.".
Post #23,997 by static 1/12/02 1:17:45 AM Reply	Yes, I think it is. Following his steps all the way to the end would probably be a bit too daring for a lot of executives, but going part of the way is entirely feasible. I've worked in several places where some infrastructure was Linux-hosted instead of Windows-hosted and you always have to do it piecemeal. Wade. "All around me are nothing but fakes Come with me on the biggest fake of all!"
Post #24,005 by kmself 1/12/02 2:42:56 AM Reply	It's a good article. Point WRT author as well Scott Berinato's written a nice, realistic, piece there. It's a good roadmap, and it's another of MSFT's worst dreams (Redmond must be full of nightmares these days). More interestingly, Berinato's the author of a piece back in 1999 which I'd responded to, leading to some....heated discussion. I'll just say that he's doing a nice bit of work these days. ...other than misspelling Michael Tiemann's name ;-) `-- Karsten M. Self [link\|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com\|kmself@ix.netcom.com] [link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|[link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/]] What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?`
Post #24,023 by mhuber 1/12/02 9:47:38 AM Reply	Only one problem: Looks reasonably accurate to me, but... The use of the 12-step form might imply to some that an addict has to give up Microsoft products entirely. That isn't almays practical, isn't neccessary, and for some of us, represents an undesirable software religiosity. It isn't hard to keep your current software, upgrade some of your systems to open source, and reduce your reliance on Microsoft, maybe eventualy to zero if that works for you. Using alternative software doesn't require a big moral commitment, or self-denial, or anything hard enough to do 12-stepping. It is easy and cheap and, for some of us, fun. Some of us might need a 12 step to get off of it. Except that there is no need to get off of it. ---- "You don't have to be right - just use bolded upper case" - annon.
Post #24,024 by brettj 1/12/02 10:09:35 AM Reply	That's what I couldn't put my finger on. Thanks. I was hoping someone could explain to me what was bugging me about the article. The migration to Linux doesn't mean that Microsoft is thrown out completely. Migration should be about running the best software for the particular application taking into account cost, quality, security, support, etc.
Post #24,039 by jb4 1/12/02 12:36:04 PM Reply	Agreed, but consider this... Migration should be about running the best software for the particular application taking into account cost, quality, security, support, etc. Agreed. But with Micros~1, it's generally an all-or-nothing proposal. As soon as you write your first Word document, or Excel spreadsheet, you're "hooked" into Micros~1's proprietary file formats, data management, etc. They're about lock-in, as anybody whose been following the trial will immediately remember. jb4 (Resistance is not futile...)
Post #24,053 by kmself 1/12/02 2:41:49 PM Reply	jb4's comments, plus an admission The key to me was the "admitting you've got a problem" bit. IMVAO, a lot of shops still aren't there. The issue y'all's is talking about, realizing that free software may not be a total solution, is covered in step ten. That said, the fact that it's Microsoft, not free software, that's a creeping virus, as jb4 pointed out, is well worth remembering. `-- Karsten M. Self [link\|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com\|kmself@ix.netcom.com] [link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|[link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/]] What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?`
Post #24,059 by brettj 1/12/02 4:07:30 PM Reply	y'all's ?! I like it! Can you think of a word that has more than two apostrophies in it? P.S. I appreciate y'alls insight, y'hear. ("
Post #24,065 by kmself 1/12/02 4:53:38 PM Reply	Grammatically incorrect I've been fingered as a southern imposter. The correct plural form is "all y'all", not "y'all's". `-- Karsten M. Self [link\|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com\|kmself@ix.netcom.com] [link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|[link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/]] What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?`
Post #24,067 by Ashton 1/12/02 4:59:28 PM Reply	What about "you'unses" (?)
Post #24,068 by jb4 1/12/02 5:02:49 PM Reply	Isn't that like... ...subtlety, as in: "If y'all's don't look closely, y'all's gonna miss the you'unses of the collahs in this hyah Ren-wah paintin'!" jb4 (Resistance is not futile...)
Post #24,079 by Ashton 1/12/02 6:36:50 PM Reply	Go__to__your__room.
Post #24,130 by brettj 1/13/02 10:56:54 AM Reply	You need to throw a fixin' in thar somwheres. Something along the lines of : I heard y'all's fixin' to go down yonder to the dad gum new fangeled picture show buildin' and see one of them thar movin' picture shows. P.S. I do love southern hospitality and I sure get a kick out of their accent/slang.
Post #24,149 by Yendor 1/13/02 4:24:42 PM Reply	No no no. I heard y'all's fixin' to go down yonder... No, you spelled my name wrong. It's Yendor. -YendorMike "The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by the skeptics or the cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need people who dream of things that never were." - John F. Kennedy
Post #24,174 by brettj 1/13/02 7:24:41 PM Reply	Down Yendor? Ain't that where the water goes counter-clockwise down the drain? ("
Post #24,330 by tseliot 1/14/02 4:18:52 PM Reply	Close. I reckon y'all's fixin' to go down yonder to the dad gum new-fangled picture-show buildin' and see one of them thar movin' picture shows. With apologies to our Aussie friends, who probably didn't know "reckon" was considered backwards in the non-Southern U.S.A. --------------------------------- A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of their own ideas;...despair and time eat away the bonds of iron and steel, but they are powerless against the habitual union of ideas, they can only tighten it still more; and on the soft fibres of the brain is founded the unshakable base of the soundest of Empires." Jacques Servan, 1767
Post #24,435 by brettj 1/15/02 10:42:15 AM Reply	By Golly, I reckon ya hit the nail square on, dag nab it!
Post #24,229 by CRConrad 1/14/02 3:12:59 AM Reply	But that's NOT a PLURAL "s", it's a POSSESSIVE "'s" (Note ')
Post #24,250 by drewk 1/14/02 8:40:48 AM Reply	Bzzzzt! It's a contraction, and redundant at that. We have to fight the terrorists as if there were no rules and preserve our open society as if there were no terrorists. -- [link\|http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/05/opinion/BIO-FRIEDMAN.html\|Thomas Friedman]
Post #24,255 by CRConrad 1/14/02 9:32:21 AM Reply	Well duh, aren't they all? Contractions, that is. Yes, they are: "He's" can be a contraction of, f'rinstance "He is", and "she's" can be a contraction of, among other things, "she has". And "Joe's" is a genitive-s "contracted" onto Joe to indicate that we're (that's one too! And so's that! And that! :-) talking about something OF Joe's, probably (judging from the similar treatment in writing) descended from some ancient "Joe Hathes" or "Joe Seins" or something. All of which doesn't matter: What matters is, Karsten's "Y'all's" was _not_ prima facie _a plural_, as he claimed (and it may well have been intended -- but didn't come out -- as) in his apology, but, as you so rightly note, a contraction. Sure, I misread his original post and somehow got the impression the contraction in question was correct there, which it clearly (in retrospect) isn't... But what does that have to do with you telling me that it is a contraction -- where did I say it wasn't?!? Christian R. Conrad The Man Who Knows Fucking Everything
Post #24,269 by drewk 1/14/02 10:53:59 AM Reply	Right there in your subject line Where you called it a possessive. We have to fight the terrorists as if there were no rules and preserve our open society as if there were no terrorists. -- [link\|http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/05/opinion/BIO-FRIEDMAN.html\|Thomas Friedman]
Post #24,366 by CRConrad 1/14/02 7:17:04 PM Reply	So you missed the bit... ...where I explained[] how possessive's are* contraction's? It was only right there in plain sight, prolly the longest paragraph in the post... [] OK, OK -- "fudged". :-) Christian R. Conrad* The Man Who Knows Fucking Everything
Post #24,343 by Ashton 1/14/02 4:45:00 PM Reply	OK then: __"Y'all's gotta go see.."__ Yeah proper Suthnlish woulda been, y'all've gotta go see ... (but we can't get testy 'bout ary steenkin co-relashuns; younses're jest soundin like them there smartalek Yankee college guys. Ya wanna stick upside yo head?) (Oops, that last were from visitin uncle Snake in the ghet-toe) Cracker Creations Ltd. Conjugations & Conjugal Visits R'Us
Post #24,055 by Ashton 1/12/02 3:35:56 PM Reply	Likely this is a more critical nuance than most have fully 'noticed' (?) Question it raises, obviously - so how does one keep the M$-proprietary files in a sand-box? How many of these outputs must be interchanged? read? written-too? cross-platform, in order to accomplish one's biz. purpose? Corollary: is it better to have two M$ machines in a germicidal room? or do WINE-type stuff and intermix Bestial pheromones with civilized ones. two = both Ghosted regularly. Likely one will work (?) when it's important.. Mike? Andy? Might'nt this need to be a matter addressed early-on in the Self-Help screeds as on aax.net? 20/20 - seems to me that the all or nothing assumption: is precisely the place where M$ spin is used as their clinchers, in those cases where one of the [quite properly!] scared - happens to tip their plans.. to a mole. No? Thanks for a reminder of this key er 'issue'. I gotta revise my spiel-of-opportunity too (y'know.. for just after someone's whinin about the latest loss of two days over ___ or ___) Still and all.. RH et al have Gots to get Better !! missing-out on coattail ride on the XP hype and many other recent opportunities: makes the whole idea of Linux seem to be unserious Ashton
Post #24,190 by brettj 1/13/02 8:25:27 PM Reply	I'd retiltle it: "The Usual Way Linux becomes a Biz Strategy or something to that effect. P.S. Do you see where I'm getting to?

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