Re: [nukkad] Interesting Viewpoint (Windows 2000 Offers Better Total Cost Of Ownership Than Linux)

[Harshal Chhaya <>]

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Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. 
-William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
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Net Geek wrote:
> Microsoft's Windows 2000 offers a better total cost of ownership 
> (TCO) than Linux for most traditional server workloads over a 
> five-year time span, according to an IDC study financed by Microsoft. 

The last few words - 'financed by ...' - tell most of the story.
I wonder if the study would have seen the light of the day had
the results been otherwise.

The other part is that there is no well-defined way to calculate
the TCO. For the IDC definition of TCO (which is reasonable but
is not the only way), Win 2K certainly is more affordable than Linux.

For eg. see the news story at
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-10-08-019-26-NW-BZ-MR
talks about another (seemingly independant) study that found
'Linux TCO: Less Than Half The Cost of Windows'. 

Based on how you define TCO, what are its components and the relative
importance of these components, you can come up with any scenario
to fit your needs. 

Based on this:
> "Over time, the gap in support costs between Linux and Windows will 
> contract," the study stated.
it will be interesting to see if they re-visit this in a few years.

Regards,
Harshal

-- 
 http://www.mumbai-central.com : Where Mumbaikars meet


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