On Fri, Oct 11, 2002 at 04:54:48PM -0700, nate wrote: > I love reading stories that surface every now and then about > a "rouge" IT staff member(or IT team) who secretly deploys linux/bsd > or some other open source software, the rest can't tell a difference > other then perhaps it is more reliable or faster, then 6-12 months > later management finds out :) Heh, IT at Stream International in Beaverton did that. Then upper management caught wind, cleaned out the IT staff and brought it all back to Windows. And people were somehow surprised these nitwits got bought up by equally bogus Solectron. > I am certain many more companies would be open to opensource software > if they were forced to pay for all their commercial stuff. Every company > I've worked for piracy on the win32 side of the house was RAPANT. When I was with the Beaverton School District, I'm pretty certain there was only one licensed copy of everything per school, on win32 and mac. The Linux cluster was the only thing properly licensed as far as I could tell. > suddenly office 2000 pro isn't so important once some realize it > costs +/- $300/seat(disclaimer: I have only worked for small companies > most less then 100 employees). I can't imagine much variation on this at larger companies. Seems like a good way to force open source if you're in an IT position would be to tip off the Business Software Alliance[1], and when they come knocking, have something like Knoppix ready to demonstrate to management that there is a better way. [1] I'm amazed the Business Software Alliance hasn't been slapped with a C&D the size of Nebraska for referring to themselves as the BSA, which I think is a fairly obvious attempt to create confusion with the much more reputable (and congressionally chartered and trademarked) name of the Boy Scouts of America. -- Baloo
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