Growing city bets future on Linux messaging platform

After a devastating computer virus attacked the city of Canton, Ga. and crippled their Microsoft Exchange Server, the IT department went into overdrive looking for an alternative. Read the full story.

[snct]

Yeah... It seems the big named distros (Novell/SuSE, Redhat... ) are being tried first by the new adopters that are close to 'enterprise' size. It's good though.

[maccorin]

Suse/Redhat/etc... _are_ good for enterprise servers, so I am glad that they are choosing to try them first. In a home something like debian may be better, but a workplace is a completely different thing.

[ZennouRyuu]

Wow what a small world, I was just driving through there this weekend.

[beezlebubsbum]

The problem with American companies and governments is that it is okay to use Microsoft stuff because they are american. It is basically keeping the money in the economy. Whereas anywhere else, that is a deciding factor, that's why I think that there are not too many people using the Linux stuff.

The problem with American companies and governments is that it is okay to use Microsoft stuff because they are american. It is basically keeping the money in the economy. Whereas anywhere else, that is a deciding factor, that's why I think that there are not too many people using the Linux stuff.

I don't think thats the case....

For years, Unix has been much more expensive to run (both on the hardware and software side) and has had very limited Desktop use.

Now, MS has the majority of the market (because they were innovators wether we like it or not) and people are locked in to MS products. Word is a standard. So are many other MS products that Linux hasn't managed to match yet.

I don't think its so much as what you described as its is actually cheaper (in time, money and learning) to keep using MS products.

The Day Word is released for nix, is the day ms will conceede defeat.

[snct]

The problem with American companies and governments is that it is okay to use Microsoft stuff because they are american. It is basically keeping the money in the economy. Whereas anywhere else, that is a deciding factor, that's why I think that there are not too many people using the Linux stuff.

...
(because they were innovators wether we like it or not) ...

I don't agree with that at all. The only thing M$ is innovative at is buying other people's innovation. I remember when Word first got started. It sucked so bad it was even funny. Then M$ started copying/borrowing/steeling ideas from WordPerfect, and others and then marketing word differently... Plus there's the "captive" factor: Where a given user was already using Windows and WordPad and Office where Word, or something like it was already there (the same mechanism that got IE to where it is in the user base today, in other words).

[beezlebubsbum]

Microsoft didn't even make DOS! It bought it off a company and then made customisations to it. But you have to admit, if you are American, and you buy microsoft products, then you are just reinjecting the money into the economy. When you buy things like Madrake Linux, or whatever your flavour is, the money goes overseas (which is ashame, because I really don't like the French). Yeah, Microsoft is a copycat, but that is not all it is. It copies the ideas (normally in a botched effort), and then it swamps the media with advertising, a campaign that few companies could compete with. They also use many anti-trust stuff, and I hate them for that. They did it to Netscape, Wordperfect, Corel, and even Novell. Being a huge company like Microsoft isn't wrong, but being irresponsible is. Microsoft should take a leaf out of IBM's book.

[maccorin]

what the hell makes you think IBM is any better, and by the way, i would say this is prolly not the forum to express you hatred for france. you make yourself look ignorant

I think he means in the way IBM has embraced opensource....