Re: [ossig] how true is this?

[Poh Yang Ming <pohyg@xxxxxxxxx>]

IMHO, it points to the lack of skills sets. Whoever
was the resident "IT pro" is not doing his/her job to
migrate or at the least keep the management inform on
the facts and the requirement to do so (to gain on
using linuxes). 

Getting freelancer's support? That sign board
"Kompyoouter Speshalist" must be flashy. :D 

Point is if one do not have the capacity to use linux,
either the build that capacity to enjoy linux or find
other alternatives.

But at the least they tried. I would wish to hear
local stories on the successes in migrating to linux.
share of experiences and if possible the requirement
and associated cost.

--- Raja Iskandar Shah <ris.riscniaga@time.net.my>
wrote:

> the way i read the article - it was more of a
> migration problem - 
> jumping into something without looking ?? decisions
> made based on what was heard about ??
> 
> i know of some linux environments who have had
> problems with printers 
> and updates - it is not going to go away too soon.
> 
> the other problem is expecting that a box will do
> everything. in 
> whatever environment - this is a big problem.
> usually in my sales pitch 
> i usually try to scale expectations into realiasable
> 'packages'
> 
> with respect to diy - he..he.. i and a number of my
> clients do it all 
> the time... one of them even goes as far as doing
> 70% of the office 
> renovation (except air-con and main electricals).
> 
> 
> 
> cdemarco@fastmail.fm wrote:
> 
> >On Tue, Nov 23, 2004 at 09:55:44PM -0800, Poh Yang
> Ming wrote:
> >
> >  
> >
> >>how true is this?
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >Perhaps  it's   100% true, perhaps  100% lies.   
> Certainly this  is a
> >Microsoft advertisement which it paid  some
> marketing person to write,
> >and is from the point-of-view of a dissatisfied 
> Linux user who is not
> >likely to  give glowing accolades to Linux.   So
> while Thong  paints a
> >sad  picture  of    his    experience,      we must
>    ignore      the
> >Linux-bad-Windows-good message (what  else   do you
> expect from   a MS
> >marketing piece?) and focus on the few objective
> facts we're given:
> >
> >
> >  "The  company engaged a freelance  Linux service 
> provider to set up
> >  the system."
> >
> >Since we don't know who this "freelance ... 
> provider" is, we can only
> >speculate as to his   competency and/or honesty.   
> But as a rule   of
> >thumb, a business   will not generally  hire a 
> freelance  lawyer or a
> >freelance plumber,  the job will  go  to somebody
> with an  established
> >business, somebody  who's staked his income on  his
> ability to provide
> >quality work.   I can imagine  many other scenarios
> where somebody has
> >hired a freelance consultant and gotten bitten by
> the quality of work.
> >
> >
> >  "At a rate of RM250 per visit, that works out to
> RM6,000 a year. And
> >  that figure  would have  been  higher if we had 
> engaged established
> >  Linux services companies rather than
> freelancers," he adds.
> >
> >Switching control variables in our experiment, are 
> we?  You can fault
> >your "freelancers" for bad work, or  your "service
> companies" for high
> >prices,  but you can't  mix-n-match.  While it's
> technically true that
> >"250/visit  = 6000/year; therefore   increasing
> $/visit would increase
> >$/year",  it's  possible  that visits/year  will  
> *decrease*.  Hire a
> >better  consultant next  time;  don't blame Sony 
> if  your teenage son
> >can't fix the Playstation.
> >
> >
> >  "Like most SMEs, Peng Hong Hardware is not big
> enough  to hire an IT
> >  specialist. "...it is important  to have a
> user-friendly IT platform
> >  which does not require extensive technical
> support," says Thong."
> >
> >1.  So  Thong is himself a "freelance"  IT
> specialist.  Let's  ask our
> >small-business  owner  friends (Tze Meng?     Raja
> Iskandar?)  whether
> >they'd try to, say, re-wire their office for extra 
> power outlets.  If
> >you DIY some critical aspect of your business,
> about which you have no
> >special or professional training, you're  asking
> for trouble.  Like it
> >or not, if you  want quality work  (and if you're
> riding your business
> >on something, you should care enough to  get
> quality), you have to pay
> >for it.
> >
> >2.    RH9 is    *not* a   "user-friendly   IT 
> platform",   it   is  a
> >general-purpose OS.  MS  WSMB is *not*  a
> general-purpose OS, it is an
> >appliance  designed to provide very   specific
> functionality to a very
> >specific market.  Comparing apples and durian.
> >
> >
> >  "significant  Linux deployment or total switch 
> from Windows to Linux
> >  would be three to four times more expensive and 
> take three times as
> >  long to deploy  as an upgrade from  one version
> of  Windows to newer
> >  Windows releases."
> >
> >Now we see who  this advertisement is targetting  -
>  the lazy and  the
> >stupid.  Why do  I bother dissecting the  ad any
> further?  Of *COURSE*
> >migration  costs to    Linux  are higher,  that's 
> why   it's called a
> >"migration" and not an "upgrade".  <SIGH>
> >
> >
> >  "[Linux vendors] have  begun charging  hefty
> premiums for  must-have
> >  items such as technical service  and support,
> product warranties and
> >  licensing indemnification."
> >
> >This  is just getting silly.   When was the last 
> time MS  (or Sun, or
> >IBM, or fscking Proton Edar) gave you free tech
> support?
> >
> >
> >  "Thong was also unaware that Red Hat 9  was an
> "end of life" product
> >  which was no longer supported  in terms of
> security alerts, patches,
> >  bug-fixes or enhancements.  "The  reseller did
> not  tell us  that we
> >  were running a Linux OS which is not supported
> anymore.""
> >
> >Then sue the incompetent fool, or next time don't
> run your business on
> >shit you buy   from some guy  standing  on a 
> street  corner holding a
> >cardboard sign reading "Kompyoouter Speshalist".
> >
> >
> >  
> >
> > begin:vcard
> fn:Raja Iskandar Shah
> n:Shah;Raja Iskandar
> org:RISC Niaga Enterprise
> adr:Seksyen 6, Wangsa Maju,;;Suite 15-1, Jalan 3 /
> 27 D,;Kuala Lumpur;WPKL;53300;Malaysia
> email;internet:ris.riscniaga@time.net.my
> title:General Manager
> tel;work:+60-3-41496966
> tel;fax:+60-3-41497166
> tel;cell:+60-17-3325065
> url:http://riscniaga.netfirms.com
> version:2.1
> end:vcard
> 
> 



		
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