Open source group urges switch to avoid 'costly' Windows worms

Open Source Victoria has expressed concern that the use of "insecure and vulnerable Microsoft platforms" have cost Australian industry and government a great deal in lost productivity and money and urged these sectors to upgrade to open source platforms such as Linux and FreeBSD.

In a media release issued today, OSV, an industry cluster of over 60 Victorian firms and developers which provides services and technology related to free and open source software said: "We urge these sectors to accelerate their current plans to upgrade to open source platforms such as Linux and FreeBSD, which are immune from the viruses and worms that continue to plague Microsoft's platforms."

..."We note that system administration is far easier and safer to undertake with open source platforms, due to the well thought out and well-executed package management technologies which underpin these platforms," he said.

Fellow OSV member Andrew Pam said: "We call on all industry analysts, like Gartner and IDC, to include the massive costs of both preventing Windows malware infestations as well as the clean-up operations and system downtime, in their future TCO calculations. When such costs are added, we believe that open source platforms leap even further ahead with lower TCO and higher availability than their corresponding Windows platforms.