Very true. The company I used to work for was strictly an MS shop, then a new Linux guru IT Director came in and we moved everything we could to Linux. So much for my MCSE. I eventually left and a short while later the director left. They had to keep him on as a consultant because they couldn't find an experienced Linux guy. I think this was his plan all along. They finally hired some MS guys and switched everything back to Windows. I know of other companies of less than ten people who run Exchange because the "consultants" they hired didn't know anything else. Anyway, what was the question...??
----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Scharbrough" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2004 8:22 AM Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Beating the Micro$oft Cost > I have often been asked by my clients the same questions you are asking and > after much consideration of Linux verse Microsoft I always come back to the > same question. What is really best for the company not what does someone in > the IT department want to do? The hard fact facing any company today is that > IT people change jobs often. Can your company easily hire Linux people in > your area or do you have a signed in blood agreement never to leave (ie are > you the owner). I always ask my companies to look at who can support their > infrastructure if and when I am gone. Good network design calls for an > operating system that you can hire people to administrate. I have great > admiration for the Linux OS but I have to look at the long term interests of > my clients. > > I began my certification on Novell and I love it. The darn thing never > fails. However in my geographic area I am seeing a lot of firms switch to > Windows because they can not find experienced Novell engineers and > administrators. The same is true of Linux, I do not see a wealth of talent > out there yet. I am sure that in the future Linux people will be easier to > find but for now I can not in good conscience advice my clients to make the > switch. > > Thank you, > > Joe Scharbrough > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Marc A. Funaro > Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 9:25 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Beating the Micro$oft Cost > > Hi Everyone, > > I think my message may have implied emphasis on something that, in > retrospect, is only a part of the bigger picture... I do very much > appreciate your points of view. I guess I should clarify my situation a > little better... > > The move to Linux actually involves more than just a decision to save money; > in reality, I think that saving money will simply be a fringe benefit IF in > fact it is fully realized. *I* think it will be fully realized, but I can > just as easily be wrong. To be totally open about the decision, I would > also have to include the facts that (1) As a web applications development > firm, we're moving a way from ColdFusion and towards Java/Java Server > Pages/OO programming, (2) I have a personal interest in becoming an > experienced Linux/*nix admin (adding diversity to my skillset, something > that can't possibly hurt, can it?), and (3) my own experience with Windows > since the 3.0 days (NT and WFWG) has given me enough "trouble" to want to > seek the much-acclaimed stability of the *nix platform in general, while I'm > still young enough to care. :) > > I have a personal love of technology that REALLY delivers on its promise and > I guess part of me is looking to find out, in a way, if the *nix people are > just MS bashers, or if they "really have a point" when it comes to overall > platform stability. The last time I really, truly experienced technology > "at its finest" was with an installation of Novell 4.1 at a law firm I once > consulted for; at the moment they were pushed to go with a "wonderful" > Microsoft solution, when I went to "down" the server for the last time for > them, it had been up and running for around 475 days straight. When I asked > about it, they said "yeah, it's kinda just sat there and ran... I think > [someone] rebooted it a year or so ago, when we needed an OS patch or > something..." (which leads me to believe that the uptime was probably even > longer). That, to me, is delivery on a promise. Once they moved away from > that platform, they got used to the "oh yeah, occassionally you have to > reboot the server" thing.... as I think most of us have. (I can't complain > too much... our Win2k3 servers have actually been doing very well.) > > So, i was really "wrong" in how I phrased my initial post, as it was too > focused on cost savings. There's really much more to it than that for me > personally as well as professionally... I just don't want to continue to be > an "MS drone", and never seek the answer to the question "Could this be > better?"... if I at least explore this new avenue, I'll be adding to my > skillset AND answering the question at the same time... while perhaps > improving the services we offer our clients. If it turns out that I cannot > come up with a reasonable alternative to iMail, then it's a no-brainer to > stay on Win2k3 and iMail, and move on to something else. I know I should > expect some bias, since I *did* post my question in the iMail newsgroup (and > you'd all be totally right to flame me for that transgression!!), but I know > that there's also people on this list that are in fact experienced *nix > admins, and may have (strong?) opinions regarding the stability of the > Windows/iMail solution compared to some other enterprise-level solutions > they may have been involved with. It's those people that I'm most > interesting in hearing from... because they have what I seek -- experience > from both sides of the "fence". > > Again, I hope I'm not offending anyone... iMail has been very very good to > us. But I think it's kinda important to continue to ask questions and learn > more about what's out there too. My apologies for making it sound like > simply a "money-based" decision when, as I said, after thinking about it > there really is much more to it than that. :) > > Thanks again everyone, and apologies again for this relatively off-topic > post. > > M > > p.s. I didn't really grasp what the response below was trying to say... "My > ISP" ?? Not sure what you mean... please feel free to clarify. > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Matrosity Tech Support [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 8:39 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Beating the Micro$oft Cost > > > > > > I agree 100% as NOTHING is really free in life. Your ISP may > > be finding > > themselves looking for Linux gurus instead of keeping you as well. > > > > Bill > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > > Matt Robertson > > Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 7:08 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: [IMail Forum] Beating the Micro$oft Cost > > > > > > Marc, > > > > I would give serious consideration to buying a Win2k server license. > > As was pointed out, you are headed for a learning curve that otherwise > > doesn't exist. While it won't cost in hard dollars lost time > > has to count > > for something. imho a lot more than 800 bucks; especially > > considering the > > customer service issues that are go with this if you are an ISP. > > > > Just a thought that admittedly doesn't address your core question... > > > > -- > > --Matt Robertson-- > > MSB Designs, Inc. > > mysecretbase.com > > > > To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html > > List Archive: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ > > Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html > > List Archive: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ > > Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ > > > > > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html > List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ > Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ > > > > To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html > List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ > Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ > To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
