On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 06:36 pm, Matthew Palmer wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 25, 2003 at 05:33:20AM +1100, Phillipus Gunawan wrote:
> > I have a client who intend to get win2003 than using Linux (redHat) Is
> > there any documentation that compare and contrast the features of each
> > OS?
>
> My "standard" way of doing things is to ask clients what they want to do.
> If Linux will do everything, I then ask why the client percieves Windows
> as being an option. I then quote both ways, and ask "are the benefits
> you cited worth the $n thousand more that Windows will cost?".
>
> I've only done one Windows server install in the past two years, and that
> was for a TS system that Linux just couldn't handle.
>
> - Matt
I can concur with this. (Yep this is one of those "me too" replies...).
Rather than sitting around comparing features, ask yourself (or the client)
what is it they actually want from their equipment. Function first, form
(OS etc) second. If Linux/?BSD can do everything Windows says it can do
(but not necessarily achieve without Voodoo and animal sacrifices) then it
will come down to a simple $n,000 versus $0.
Either way, if a company is so clueless about their IT they employ the
services of someone to advise and set up their equipment, they are going to
be paying someone to maintain it all too. My usual line in these
circumstances is that the maintenance costs are going to be close to equal
for Windows versus Linux etc:
Windows = monkeys can maintain it, but you have to feed them regularly (plus
all the down time this entails with "change mouse pointer = reboot").
Linux = admin needs $CLUE but you'll only see him/her *if* things go
wrong. We've all seen the Linux uptime vs. Windows.....no contest.
In the end the TCO of Linux comes in somewhat less than Windows in most
circumstances (despite what Ballmer is screaming). All that said though,
there are some cases that only Windows can handle - like Windows Terminal
Server for running distributed Windows apps.
--James
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Despite the best efforts of a quantum bigfoot drive (yes I know everyone
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