Re: [Fsfe-uk] BECTA discriminate against FLOSS?

[Tom Coady]

Simon Waters said the following on 19/12/2003 22:56:

> ian wrote:
>  
>
> > TCO studies are not rational
> >    
>
> Like most statistical measures you can take an objective approach, or
> you can set out to justify your own prejudices.
>
> <snip>
>
> Despite having run Desktop Linux and Unix boxes for years it has never
> been the cheapest option. It may have been the best value, as we were
> using a lot of them for scientific, and development work, as well as
> desktop work. Recent developments in Linux may make it the cheapest
> option, but I'd still sell on stability and security, unless I was doing
> a big desktop roll out where the licence costs saved allowed a lot of
> customisation and new development work.
>  

This is an interesting point - as was Ian answer that money is a 
priority while security is secondary in an educational environment. But 
you would expect banks, for example, to apply this metric to their 
consideration. Not so for Barclays, where "It's all about the service 
wrap. You get the software free but it's a service wrapper and gaining 
clarity of your perspective on what you're prepared to accept and not 
accept in terms of service." Is this deliberate obfuscation of meaning 
or can this be translated into http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/ ?

I guess you need to bear in mind this TCO has just spent an incredible 
amount on MS solutions, and has an interesting perspective on the SCO 
litigation. For predictable rants etc, see here:

http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/12/19/1657207