Re: [Linux-aus] ZDNet: Windows to Linux, and vice versa

["Brent Wallis" <brent.wallis@gmail.com>]

On 4/26/06, Jonathan Oxer <jon@ivt.com.au> wrote:

It's not entirely clear if these figures are correct because of the
way the article is written, but it's also interesting to note that in
the case of the Coffey migration they appear to have gone from 4 IT
staff to 11 with the switch from Linux to Windows.

Think there is even more than that that we can learn from this. There are also clues to what was alluded above. This is very well organised PR!:

1. Look a little more closely at the Austereo story ... the "issues" with "Linux" were actually issues with they overall design of what they wanted to do...

eg: 
"-- exposing the limitations of the Linux-based environment in some very painful ways.".....
"remote users struggled to grapple with a virtual private network (VPN)
login system that required three different passwords to establish a
connection."

....is a function of the IT department not keeping up with developments in technology.....they simply didn;t know what they were doing. Not a function of the tools
they were using.

eg:
"Working with Microsoft consultants, he and his team sat down to map out
their future infrastructure and found that their requirements could be
easily met using an integrated suite of applications built on top of
Windows Server 2003."

...doing this whith their Linux and Open Source Infrastructure....ie....sitting down and planning....would achieved trhe exact same results.

2. There are several catchy emotive statements , PRECISELY scattered throught the story, ie they are sparse in the early parts, but become more frquent and "urgent" towards the end.....

eg:
"We were assured that there were procedures and processes you could
follow to recover down to the individual message, but when it came to
reality, it was a lengthy process and an absolute nightmare."

and
"Fixing that issue took Forgione back to the doors of the same company
he had shunned those three years earlier -- yet even he concedes that
the Microsoft option "just made more sense".

and
"It was a hard decision, but even Forgione concedes he was impressed
when comparing the company's existing and potential computing
environments."

and my absolute fave....a scribes masterpiece:
""I'm probably the hardest sell Microsoft has ever had," he laughs. "I
had to decouple myself from my love of open source because of the
availability of tools."

...ad nauseum....

I have been in touch with the journo that wrote this. (http://www.braue.com)..a couple of weeks ago ,to discuss a couple of stories about clients who have taken the hybrid approach to implementing FOSS......he seems genuine.
My stories will take some time to put together but he needed something. They (ZDNet) put out a general call for stories of Win to Lin and it looks as though the MS PR people probably gve him the only copy 
he could get.

SO!....while I am busy getting my stories together how bout anyone else? Any of you out there with clients that would be willing to talk about their FOSS adventures? You can contact the journo via his website posted in the last paragraph....

Rgds
BW