On 04-Feb-2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > I love their claims of scalibility with their mail server. "UNIX-like
> > scalability at a fraction of the cost". Hurrumph. How much does it cost
> > to put Linux and Qmail on an old Pentium or Pentium II?
>
> I would guess at around $10,000 for the installation, and then around
> $1000/month ?
>
> the cost of software is not in the hardware, nor in the actual cost of the
> license, but in the cost of the people to implement the solution, either
> consultants or exsiting sysadmins. This is the underlying business model
> behind open source software.
But this is without the cost of the license fees for a proprietary
OS and a proprietary MTA. It's a fallacy to believe that -for the
sake of the argument- NT and Mailsite 4 would not require knowlegeable
people to install it, or existing sysadmins to maintain it.
The European Commission just installed a new mail system based on
MS Exchange. They did not simply go out and buy the boxes off the
shelves of their local retailer, no siree! They issued a call for
tender, and are paying a "consortium" of consultants a load of
spondulicks to install and run it.
The Open Source business model just allows you to pay your staff and
contractors better money, and have them do more interesting work, so
they stay longer.
Stefaan
--
How's it supposed to get the respect of management if you've got just
one guy working on the project? It's much more impressive to have a
battery of programmers slaving away. -- Jeffrey Hobbs (comp.lang.tcl)
