[Linux-aus] Windows: 30 billion crashes a year ?

[Jon maddog Hall]

I agree that taking Gate's statement and trying to extrapolate it is bogus,
however the basic concept is just.

I use much the same type of concept when I give talks, except I say:

 What happens if the software you use costs you $10 a day in non-productivity?

	o it crashes
	o it changes due to a forced update that you didn't want, and you
	  have to re-train your staff or your customers
	o it does not allow you to do business the way you want

I admit that no software will allow you to reduce the $10 to zero, but if
you can change the software to better meet your needs, you may be able to
reduce it to $5 or even $2 loss per day.

Then I ask people how many systems they have, and how much they could afford
to spend either as an individual company, or as a cooperative to get software
to do more of what they wanted.

I let them "do the math", but the numbers are always impressive.

The economics of closed-source programming were developed at a specific time
in history:

	o relatively expensive, limited capacity machines
	o slow-speed, limited scale networking
	o limited training in computer science
	o limited programming force
	o cloistered development teams
	o limited use of computers

These issues are now being erased, and a completely new economy of software
development is emerging:

	o extremely inexpensive, almost unlimited capacity machines
	o high and ultra-high speed networking
	o pervasive knowledge of programming skills and high-order languages
	o collaboration techniques
	o pervasive use of computers

This new order of economics, used in conjunction with the high use of
information science applied directly to business and engineering, raises
the costs of using proprietary, closed source software to new highs, even if
that software was free of royalty.

md
-- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux(R) International
email: maddog at li.org         80 Amherst St. 
Voice: +1.603.672.4557       Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
WWW: http://www.li.org

Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association

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