Linux On Desktop - Myths!!

We recently covered about Linux where I wrote, commercial adoption model for Linux as a choice platform for Desktop is the missing link. Once we have Linux or any other platform as a desktop choice - it requires huge organisational commitment to support, upgrade and make lot more write applications on the platform. With so may versions and very limited takeoff - Linux future as a platform for desktop looks doubtful!!Microsoft does not appear in any imminent danger of losing much market share on the desktop productivity front to any Linux or open-source competitors. In a presentation at this week's Gartner Symposium/ITxpo here in San Francisco titled "Client OS and Office – Charting a Course to Longhorn (or Linux)," Michael Silver, a Gartner analyst, said that just because Linux is free does not mean it is cheap.
Among the impediments to using open-source office software products among businesses are compatibility and fidelity issues.All users can not be just moved to StarOffice / OpenOffice.org. Some Microsoft Office may have to be kept.
- Macintosh might be a better choice than Linux on the desktop at the moment, as there is Office for the Mac and it has a better, more intuitive user interface.
Silver outlines ten myths about adopting Linux on the desktop :
- Linux is be less expensive than Windows because StarOffice/OpenOffice.org can be used instead of Microsoft Office
- Linux is free
- There are no forced upgrades. ("We expect there to be as little support for older versions of Linux as for older Windows," he said.)
- Linux requires significantly less labor to manage- Linux has a lower TCO than Windows because of the available management tools
- Applications are inexpensive or free - Skills are transferable
- The hardware can be kept longer if Linux is used, or older hardware can be used;
- Linux should be deployed as soon as a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement expires, and
- Linux on the desktop is an all-or-nothing equation.