OSS for companies: Main complaints about Linux

II-2.2.2- Main complaints about Linux

Before developing this part all user of Linux should know one thing:

Linux is not Windows under a free license

"It is logically impossible for any thing to be better than any other thing while remaining completely identical to it. A perfect copy may be equal, but it can never surpass. So when you gave Linux a try in hopes that it would be better, you were inescapably hoping that it would be different. Too many people ignore this fact, and hold up every difference between the two OSes as a Linux failure. "
Firefox was successful because it was better than IE, and it was better because it was different.
1st complaint: Linux isn't exactly the same as Windows
This complaint comes with the citation I copied above.Most of the people want to acquire a free legal software of Windows.Because they cannot find one they think about the Linux alternative and hope to find some Windows inside Linux.As we saw above Linux is not Windows under a free license.
2nd complaint: Linux is too different from Windows
To explain this complaint we could identify these two operating system as ways of transportation.For example imagine that Windows is a car and Linux a motocycle.Both of them provide you in a certain way the same service:to move you from A to B.They have a lot of common points(need some oil to run,you need to indicate when you turn etc...).
But they are different in many points(you don't drive your motocycle in the same way as you drive your car).
Users expect to drive a new car with Linux...whereas they have to pass their motocycle license.
I admit that this comparison is a bit too simple but the main idea of this complaint is right there.
3rd complaint: Culture shock
This complaint is also very interesting to analyze.
"Windows users are more or less in a customer-supplier relationship: They pay for software, for warranties, for support, and so on. They expect software to have a certain level of usability. They are therefore used to having rights with their software: They have paid for technical support and have every right to demand that they receive it. They are also used to dealing with entities rather than people: Their contracts are with a company, not with a person."
Linux users are in a community relationship. As a peer they don't buy the software, they don't have to pay for technical support. They download software for free & use Instant Messaging and web-based forums to get help. They deal with people, not corporations.
4th complaint:Linux is too technical
One slogan of Linux is interesting to analyze:
"By geeks, for geeks."
Most of the Linux users are geeks.
It's an open-source, fully-customizeable set of software. That's the whole point. If you don't want to hack the components a bit, why bother to use it?

OSS for companies: Linux

II-2.2-Linux


Maybe the most famous Open Source solution heard in the world but also maybe the one that most people speak about it without knowing what it really is.In this part we are going to discover this software and make a comparison between it and the giant Microsoft Windows.

II-2.2.1-Presentation of Linux

Linux or more officially under his real name GNU/Linux is an operating system such as Microsoft Windows.His logo is a penguin.This animal is to my point of view the symbol of the Open Source phenomenon.

Linux has the reputation to be cheap(actually it's free whereas Microsoft Windows is around 200 to 300 euros) and quite technical(this is one who scare the non IT specialists).

Finding some good and easy information about Linux is quite hard.The best source of information I found is on a French website called "Le site du zéro" which explains in a very simple way what is it and how to install it.

Linux is a huge software.It is distributed under a lot of names which have each of them some specific characteristics,here are some of the most famous:

Each of these distributions have a specific use,for example Ubuntu has the reputation to be the easiest version of Linux so for non IT specialist.Linux/Ubuntu is for people who are not use to work on a Linux environment whereas some versions which are more technical are more for computer programmers such as the RedHat distribution.

As a very simple comparison under Windows we will have such a scheme:

This scheme could be far developed for example under XP professional it exists also the pack for Small and Medium companies.

Here is the repartition of Operating System in France for professionals.

Système d'exploitation des postes de travail des professionnels français

Système d'exploitation	PdM septembre 2005PdM août 2005	Evolution
Windows	87,3%88,9%	-1,6%
Mac OS	3,0%2,5%	+0,5%
Linux	1,1%0,9%	+0,2%
Autres	8,6%7,7%	+0,9%

Source Benchmark Group

As we can see Linux is not a revolution but it is still taking some market shares on Microsoft Windows.

OSS for companies: Advantages and drawbacks

II-2.1.3-Advantages and drawbacks

The main advantage of this solution is that it is free.

The second advantage is that it has more functionalities that the other main suite office software:Microsoft Office.

The main drawback is that the format of the openoffice documents is not recognized by the Microsoft Office software.

For example a Writer document cannot be read by the Word software of Microsoft whereas a Word document of Microsoft can be read by a Writer OpenOffice software.

Another drawback is when an user swift from Microsoft Office to Open Office there is a delay of adaptation because even if Open Office seems as the first sight of a perfect copy,it has still some differences.These differences are for example some names,some added functionalities etc...

I read also that companies such as Microsoft prefer to have people who use some pirate copies of their software instead of using open source solutions which use a different state of mind and a different way of using the software.

OSS for companies: Price of the software and consequences of it

II-2.1.2-Price of the software and consequences of it


139 euros is the price of the suite office of Windows.

0 euros is the price of the OpenOffice suite office which contained the same functionalities as Microsoft Office but with two extra applications.

Because of this high difference of price, the use of OpenOffice.org comes to be more and more generalized, this is for example the case in the French admnistration

Some figures found on the Internet said that in 2004 OpenOffice had 14,3% of the market according to a Forrester Reserch study made on140 large North American companies .

OpenOffice.org becomes progressively a reference suite office software in the field of education,admnistration and the professional world.

OSS for companies: Open Office

II-2.1-Open Office

Because Open Office is to my point of view the software which the most used by public basic user(people which are not IT specialist) I think it has his place in this report

II-2.1.1-Presentation of the software

I will describe the Open Office software as an office suite with a lot of common points with the Microsoft Office software with exactly the same functionalities.

For example in this software you find the equivalent of Excel,PowerPoint,Word,Access of Microsoft Windows.

They are respectively named Calc,Impress,Writer,Base under Open Office and two others applications are added: Math(create mathematical equations with a graphic user interface or by directly typing formulas into the equation editor) and Draw(produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations).

OSS for companies: Some examples of some Open Source solutions(Linux,OpenOffice)

II-2 Some examples of some Open Source solutions(Linux,OpenOffice)


In the previous part we saw the figures about nowadays OpenSource situation inside companies.I would like now to introduce some Open Source software in order to see concretly what it is and then to guess step by step the pros and cons of choosing this solution as an alternative to proprietary software.

OSS for companies: Trends towards the Open Source Applications in the coming years

II-1.2 Trends towards the Open Source Applications in the coming years

Source:http://www.ioug.org/IOUG_Open_Source_07.pdf

As we can see open source adoption will keep growing over the coming year. A majority of respondents, 52 percent, say their use of open source software will increase over the coming year, versus only two percent that foresee decreased usage.

These figures show us that Open Source is not a revolution in the IT world.This is not the "Gold Rush" that we could have expected with 80% of increasing.

It could be interesting to analyze why we have only 8% of growth in terms of increase significantly and 44% of increase moderately instead of the opposite.

What are the brakes of this adoption can also be an interesting point to develop?

52% recognize that opensource is the future alternative for companies.

As we can see companies are ready to go towards the integration of Open Source solutions instead of decreasing them.Companies are more favorable to their integration.So we have here the recognition of this alternative.

However most of the companies are still prudent by integrating these solutions.They are not ready to migrate entirely to these solutions (Increase moderately: 39% and 46%).

There is also a big gap between the percentage of large companies which are ready to increase moderately the adoption of Open Source solution and the one which want to increase it significantly.