[GLLUG] A big opportunity for Linux?

[Andy Lee]

>>> "Michael Rudas" <audiotech50 at gmail.com> 11/19/2007 10:05 AM >>>
Here's a headline for you:

"90% of IT Professionals Don't Want Vista"
<http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/infrastructure/applications/news/index.cfm?newsid=6258>


This is something that we've been talking about for a couple years. The learning curve for users going to Vista and Office 2007 is greater than migrating them to KDE/Gnome and Open Office. That's a big selling point for Linux, and was enough to get it serious consideration in our organization. Unfortunately there are a few sticking points that make Linux not entirely compatible with everything we do, mainly due to the reluctance to include proprietary drivers and codecs. Add to that the lack of a solid marketing push by any vendor, and sadly I think the Linux community is letting the opportunity slip by. 

The first service pack for Vista is coming soon. Microsoft is the king of marketing. As we've seen before (Win ME) they can sustain a total OS flop, and they are far more tenacious than anyone else in the game. They will recover from this shaky start, and remain a major player for a long time. That said, there is still a great opportunity at hand for Linux companies to make some moves, and I really hope to see that happen.