Re: Linux 1, Microsoft nil

[John Currie]

>Not quite 1-0
>
>On Mon, 2003-07-21 at 15:54, Phillip McGree wrote:
>>
>>http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-07-13-microsoft-linux-m
>>unich_x.htm
>>
>> Linux took on Microsoft, and won big in Munich

Onno Benschop wrote

>Stories of the death of Microsoft were greatly overrated because the
>machines will be running VMware, which allows them to run Windows :-)

>While I'm no fan, reporting accurately appears to still be a challenge
>for some...

Accurate reporting is extremely rare. as is accurate comprehension. The
original article did not say Microsoft was dead, merely that it had an
attack of German measles which could possibly become leprous

John

Re: Linux 1, Microsoft nil

[Paul]

On Monday, July 21, 2003, at 04:55 PM, Onno Benschop wrote:


Not quite 1-0

On Mon, 2003-07-21 at 15:54, Phillip McGree wrote:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-07-13- 
microsoft-linux-munich_x.htm


Linux took on Microsoft, and won big in Munich


Stories of the death of Microsoft were greatly overrated because the
machines will be running VMware, which allows them to run Windows :-)




While I'm no fan, reporting accurately appears to still be a challenge
for some...


Onno Benschop


I tend to agree however with the sentiments of some of the other 
slashdot contributers; that the use of PC emulation software was to 
provide a stop gap rather than a compromise.


I feel this way mainly because I now have no windows PC at home and I 
use VirtualPC for a handful of win-only apps as I wait for OSX 
developers.
I also feel that as an administrator, I would be asking a lot of my 
users to make that particular *Leap Of Faith* in one jump.


You are indeed a hard man to please Onno :-)

Cheers
Paul

Re: Linux 1, Microsoft nil

[Onno Benschop]

Not quite 1-0

On Mon, 2003-07-21 at 15:54, Phillip McGree wrote:
> http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-07-13-microsoft-linux-munich_x.htm
> 
> Linux took on Microsoft, and won big in Munich 

Stories of the death of Microsoft were greatly overrated because the
machines will be running VMware, which allows them to run Windows :-)



While I'm no fan, reporting accurately appears to still be a challenge
for some...


Onno Benschop 

Connected via Optus B3 from S33:37'33" - E115:07'30" (Dunsborough, WA)
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Linux 1, Microsoft nil

[Phillip McGree]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-07-13-microsoft-linux-munich_x.htm

Linux took on Microsoft, and won big in Munich 

On the brink of losing a pivotal account to an ascending rival, Microsoft last 
March dispatched CEO Steve Ballmer to the rescue. 

The German city of Munich was balking at a $36.6 million proposal from 
Microsoft to upgrade 14,000 desktop PCs to the latest versions of Windows and 
Office. 

Instead, Munich - Germany's third-largest city and a technology hub for Central 
Europe - was leaning toward a switch to Linux, the upstart computer operating 
system whose open-source code is continually improved by volunteer programmers 
worldwide. 

A Linux victory in Munich would be a stunning blow. So Ballmer visited Mayor 
Christian Ude to assure him Microsoft would do what it takes to keep the city's 
business. Documents obtained by USA TODAY show Microsoft subsequently lowered 
its pricing to $31.9 million and then to $23.7 million - an overall 35% price 
cut. The discounts were for naught. 

On May 28, the city council approved a more expensive proposal - $35.7 million 
- from German Linux distributor SuSE and IBM, a big Linux backer. 

The vote wasn't just another win for Linux, as it continues to gobble chunks of 
the computer server software market - a market Microsoft does not dominate. 
Munich is about to become the largest tech user to deploy Linux for everyday 
use on desktop PCs, the wellspring of Microsoft's profits. 

USA TODAY obtained government and corporate documents that provide a rare 
insider's look at Microsoft's efforts to keep from losing a key customer. Among 
other things, it: 

* Agreed to let Munich go as long as six years, instead of the more normal 
three or four, without another expensive upgrade, a concession that runs 
against its bread-and-butter software upgrade strategy. 

* Offered to let the city buy only Microsoft Word for some PCs and strip off 
other applications. Such unbundling cuts against Microsoft's practice of 
selling PCs loaded with software. 

* Offered millions of dollars worth of training and support services free. 

The result in Munich shows that the world's largest software company is again 
under attack from a powerful outside force. But this time the encroacherisn't 
government antitrust lawyers or a rival tech giant. 

Instead, Microsoft is defending itself against the open-source-code movement. 
In the past two years, dozens of government agencies and schools across Asia, 
Europe, Australia and the Americas, along with financial institutionsand 
moviemakers, have helped establish open-source software on beefy computer 
servers that display Web pages and crunch numbers. Now they have begun 
embracing open-source software running on ordinary desktop computers. 

"What's striking about the Munich deal is the use of Linux on the desktop,"says 
Paul DeGroot, tech industry analyst at research firm Directions on Microsoft. 
"It's a threat to Microsoft's real source of strength, the desktop, where it 
has no competition and is used to winning all sorts of battles." 

Should its desktop software sales stagnate or, worse, decline, Microsoft's 
profit could plummet, and it could find itself with a diminished ability 
tobankroll promising, but costly, new ventures, such as tablet PCs, smart 
phones and online video games. 

Anchored by the Linux operating system, open-source software is the antithesis 
of Microsoft's proprietary codes. It includes a growing number of freely 
distributed applications, such as OpenOffice, a Microsoft Office clone, and 
Mozilla, a Web browser that can perform basic workplace tasks. Created and 
honed by volunteer programmers worldwide, open-source alternatives are 
generally cheaper to acquire and easier to customize, and cost nothing to 
upgrade. 

Though Microsoft underbid IBM and SuSE by $11.9 million in Munich, city 
officials were concerned about the unpredictable long-run cost of Microsoft 
upgrades, says Munich council member Christine Strobl, who championed the 
switch to Linux. And the more Microsoft discounted, the more it underscored the 
notion that as a sole supplier, Microsoft could - and has been - naming its own 
price, she says. 

"Microsoft's philosophy is to change our software every five years," 
Stroblsays. "With open-source, it is possible for us to make our own decision 
asto when to change our software." 

Munich must still prove that Linux is ready for prime time on the desktop. 
Research firm Gartner cautions it won't be until 2005 before it is known how 
well it works in Munich. 

Whether other big tech buyers follow Munich's lead remains to be seen. Analysts 
say Microsoft has the will and resources to vigorously defend its turf. Windows 
and Office run on more than 90% of the world's desktop computers and command 
gross profit margins of up to 80%. The company has $46 billion in cash and will 
spend $5.2 billion this year, up 20% from last year, on research to improve i