British government to start using Macs: Windows too expensive, Linux insecure

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kudistos Megistos
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I would just like to point out one place where a *NIX system has a huge advantage

I need to type the location of my music on Windows: "C:\Documents And Settings\Cupcake\Local Data\My Music"

*NIX: "/home/Cupcake/Music" or "/users/Matt/Music" for OS X

Which one looks easier, and less cumbersome to type to you?
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You could just lrn2use Windoze and create symbolic links, making your music available for example at \music.

*shrugs*
 
You could just lrn2use Windoze and create symbolic links, making your music available for example at \music.

*shrugs*
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...Or use a decent OS that has no need for different types of folders and links, and has a decently laid out file system.  Open Source is also another pro to *NIX Operating Systems, imo
 
Since when has Windoze had different types of folders, or has had a need for them?

As for needing links... you do realize that symbolic (and hard) links are originally a feature of *NIX - which you seem to so dearly love - and are heavily used in such systems?
 
...Or use a decent OS that has no need for different types of folders and links, and has a decently laid out file system.  Open Source is also another pro to *NIX Operating Systems, imo
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So my (main) OS sucks cause it doesn't have different types of folders?! I gotta admit this is one feature I hope never makes it into windows as it sucks! One thing is clear though, the British government is cheap! Windows FTW!

*Runs away*
 
I'm sorry but... no  :evil:
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For general office use, yes. You do realise that the needs of the government are very different from your needs, right?

MS Office is still the best office suite out there and Windows has a lower total cost of ownership than Linux. Just try teaching thousands of employees to use Linux when they've only just got used to Windows. And try getting some decent support for Linux when you need a problem fixed within minutes.

Macs in offices are obviously retarded and giving an explanation as to why is completely unnecessary.
 
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MS Office is still the best office suite out there
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ohgoditbosolaagain.jpg

But no. I've always said 'if you need Microsoft Office, you don't need Microsoft Office'. By this, I mean that if your requirements are so high that OpenOffice et al won't do, you'd more likely than not be better off with a premium application. OOWriter not good enough? You probably need Framemaker or Arbortext anyway. OOBase isn't suited to your heavy duty data processing? You likely need a 'true' (eg served) SQL solution. Don't like impress? Ok, fair enough, Impress is crap. But the point still stands.

If the task matters, your organization should be able to shell a couple of grand out on an Adobe suite. If it doesn't, the open source alternative will be more than sufficient. There is no good reason to saddle yourself with mediocre software at moderate cost, except for employees too stupid / helpless / lazy to shift UIs.
 
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ohgoditbosolaagain.jpg

But no. I've always said 'if you need Microsoft Office, you don't need Microsoft Office'. By this, I mean that if your requirements are so high that OpenOffice et al won't do, you'd more likely than not be better off with a premium application. OOWriter not good enough? You probably need Framemaker or Arbortext anyway. OOBase isn't suited to your heavy duty data processing? You likely need a 'true' (eg served) SQL solution. Don't like impress? Ok, fair enough, Impress is crap. But the point still stands.

If the task matters, your organization should be able to shell a couple of grand out on an Adobe suite. If it doesn't, the open source alternative will be more than sufficient. There is no good reason to saddle yourself with mediocre software at moderate cost, except for employees too stupid / helpless / lazy to shift UIs.
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That last bit undermines your whole argument ;D
 
For general office use, yes. You do realise that the needs if the government are very different from your needs, right?
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That explains the "Windows FTW!" Part...

Chances are very good that your employees are used to Windows already from personal experience. The amount they are spending to re-train every employee to become accustom to one "one click" wonder shows an extreme lack of foresight on the part of the British government. Completely ignoring all these facts, its easy to see he is an apple fanboy. Quote:

"I use Apple at home. I know it's not very open but I use it. I love it, it works and I think it is great - I'm Steve Jobs' best customer.   

                                                                                                                                                                              -Ian Watmore

There is very few things I hate in this world, Apple Fanboy's are one of them... They are unable to recognize that the other OS's are great in there own way too. They refuse to believe anything can be greater then apple's OS ever.

I am not going to get into the fact that apple's are brutally more expensive then PC's, with less power.
 
For general office use, yes. You do realise that the needs of the government are very different from your needs, right?
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No I didn't realize that  :roll:

Anyway, IMO, the real problem lies in computer education and the fact that, as you say, the majority of workers would be too dumb to use Linux. My point wasn't that they should use Linux, but that they should be able to.

If we lived in a more perfect world, and a majority of people actually understood the science behind computers and held the ability to program and debug an application, then I think Linux would be the clear choice in any situation.

however we don't, so for the time being, your right.
 
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Didn't I say that grandmas and childen can use Mint?  How hard is it to teach someone to click on "Menu", mouse over to "Office", and click "Abiword" or "Writer" or "Gnumeric" or "Calc"?
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Harder than you think. Try dealing with some normal people and see how open they are to using new software where things have different names and are in different places. To them, it's like everything has been translated into Chinese whenever you change an icon.

So you can get decent support for Windows when you have a problem?  That's news to me.  AFAIK, Microsoft sells software, not support.  They have no reason to provide free support for their software.
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No, they have no reason to provide free support.

And remember that IT folks who know how to fix Windows issues are far more common and far cheaper than IT folks who know how to fix Linux issues.

There's a forum for Mint here, and I have no doubt that if Mint had even 1% of the PC market, they could make money just by providing support via telephone, and maybe have ads play for a minute on the phone before someone answers, and while you're on hold.
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I can't see many corporate and government people wanting to rely on a forum. They'll pay big money to have "official" support from "qualified" technicians, even if that support is of a lower standard. The general public hasn't quite come around to the fact that enthusiastic hobbyists often know more about computers than tech monkeys, which is why the Geek Squad makes so much money.

And why do so many Linux aficionados act on the urge to declare every year the "Year of the Linux Desktop"?  Maybe if they spent as much time improving Linux as they do pontificating about it, we'd see some more market share.
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I think most of those people are joking, but it is true that Linux would be far more usable and far more attractive to the general public if its supporters spent as much time improving it as they do proselytising and asserting the superiority of the command line.

Governments need a secure OS, where finding and installing encrypted email support, biometric or ID card log-ins, and hardware disabling (specifically USB ports), is a trivial matter, and a complete office suite.
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British government workers tend to leave unencrypted USB sticks on trains. I don't think they'll be able to "do" security, whatever OS they have.
 
I think most of those people are joking, but it is true that Linux would be far more usable and far more attractive to the general public if its supporters spent as much time improving it as they do proselytising and asserting the superiority of the command line.
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Comment of the year, I love linux I just don't want to deal with typing large stings of info out every time I want to install/use something :(. So I dual boot instead...though I am never on linux, even though it was a pain to get going.
 
No, they have no reason to provide free support.

And remember that IT folks who know how to fix Windows issues are far more common and far cheaper than IT folks who know how to fix Linux issues.
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You'd say that, but remember there's a lot of Unix sysops out there maintaining servers. I'd think the bigger issue with linux support is the range of distros and configs possible. Give me three people with Windows 7 and, unless someone's been twiddling with the registry, I can expect all three OSes to act similarly. Offer me three Debian users, however, and there's a mountain of config files and subvariants to investigate.

The solution would be a Mint-like, relatively 'locked down' OS with a very narrow range of configs that closely resembled server distros. Then, you'd be able to use existing expertise (who expect a server OS) without the inefficiencies of diagnosing a 'flexible' OS.
 
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