Jeremy Bradley wrote:
>
> Please do not take this as a flame, I am serious about this. I would like
> to hear opinions of why users of this list are so happy with Redhat compared
> to Microsoft.
I think you've gotten some cogent answers so far. Here's a slightly
different perspective. Due to reorganization at the university library
where I work, I ended up managing our (small) network operations unit.
I didn't know much of anything about networking but I had a very adept
network administrator. We had an aging and ailing (mostly overworked)
NT server, tight budgets, and an environment that demanded both
qualitative and quantitative improvements in services and capabilities.
As we moved toward replacement, Linux was the clear winner in terms of
cost. The Linux/Apache/Samba combination was more than able to meet our
needs. As a publicly supported institution, I couldn't bring myself to
spend the thousands of dollars needed to replace and expand the network
as we needed to using NT or other proprietary solutions. So, my bottom
line reason for getting involved in Linux was the bottom line. I, of
course, loaded it on my machine at home so I could learn faster.
As far as the work environment, Linux has been superb. Months pass
between reboots (and that only because the power went out), and open
source software has let us do things we probably couldn't have afforded
to do using commercial products. That means I have lots more money to
spend elsewhere.
Our network admin warned me from day one that the learning curve for
Linux was steep. Since I'm getting along in years and do not have the
mental dexterity of yore, I've found it slow -- sometimes painfully slow
-- going. But, over the space of slightly more than a year, I find that
I've abandoned Windows for all practical purposes. I simply never boot
the windows partition at home and only do so at work when I absolutely
have to. Why? I waste a whole lot less time using Linux -- no crashes,
much faster program operations, more control, no arguments with the
paperclip, when my browser crashes it doesn't take the whole OS, I can
reconfigure networking on the fly, not having to reboot every time I
install a new program....the ability to fix things I don't like about
programs.
I share the opinion that some others have expressed that the various
Linux distributions are not quite ready for the mass market. It takes
time, effort and a whole lot of experience to become a "guru" -- and I'm
nowhere close to that status. But I think the getting there is worth
it, I've learned new ways to solve problems, developed a different
attitude toward the tools I use (they are more tools and less tyrants),
learned how to do some fun gee-whiz stuff, and saved the taxpayers a
bunch of money along the way. It's been fun.
Marc
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Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditonary Force
1986 - 1957
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