Possible project

[David P. Schwartz]

uh, did you mention to them that sticking with Apple and upgrading to OS-X _IS_ switching to *nix?  Filemaker Pro will undoubtedly port
their stuff over, so what's the issue?

I'm not being "pro-Apple" here, just pointing out what might not be obvious to some folks.  I understand that OS-X has a pretty complete
*nix implementation under it's skins -- I seem to recall it might be a FreeBSD derivative -- with a Mach microkernel at its core.

You want to remember, the real VALUE in your clients' situation is in their current applications.  If you don't need to recreate these
apps for any other reason, don't force them into a solution that leads to unnecessary expenses just because of the move.

Also (and this is addressed to ALL so-called "consultants"), consider that your opinion of the "long-term viability" of one company or
another, and Apple in particular, is totally irrelevant.  For instance, everybody "just knew" that Borland was going to shrivel up and
die because the big bad Borg (Microsoft) was going to kill them (or assimilate them).  Well, a little consideration leads one to the
conclusion that it's not in Microsoft's best interest to have all of their key competitors die.  MS settled a lawsuit and then invested
further in Borland mostly to keep them alive, just as they invested in Apple before that.

Apple fans also need to remember that Microsoft has a very LARGE software division that earns SIGNIFICANT revenues through the existence
of Apple Computer, and it's far cheaper for them to make another investment in Apple to keep them alive than to let them die and loose a
few billion dollars of income.  Similarly, Borland is the ONLY independent software development tools vendor left in the market place,
and it behooves MS to help them stay alive if only to make things APPEAR like they HAVE some competition!  It also helps that Borland
has TERRIFIC tools, just as Apple has some great products, too.

If your clients would be willing to invest in Microsoft stock rather than Apple, tell them that their stock would take a big drop if
Apple closed its doors because Microsoft makes so much money selling software to Apple customers, and see what they think of them
apples...

Not to mention the fact that, if all their competitors died, that would be a very clear signal to the powers that be that MS is, in
fact, a huge monopoly that poses a very large threat to competition in the market place -- so strong that even their strongest
competitors couldn't survive.  Not good.

Finally, my experience in these situtions is that if you start getting clients to question their fundamental business decisions, they
start rethinking just about everything, including what the heck they're doing talking with you (a lone ranger) instead of a larger more
"established" firm that won't go out of business due to an unfortunate car accident one night. You might find that you've won the battle
and lost the war.

-David Schwartz

Craig White wrote:

> I have a non-profit client that is entirely invested in Macintosh and
> have been for quite some time. We had a discussion about the future of
> Macintosh and I am not convinced of Apple's long term viability so we
> discussed the possibility for a complete changeover in platforms.
>
> I had about 4 jaws hit the table when I suggested that they would be
> better served by linux than by Windows. Of course, none of them had ever
> seen linux so I pulled out my little Sony Picturebook Cx1 and gave them
> a glimpse. The economics is a powerful thrust and software licensing for
> them on Windows would easily reach $6000
>
> If I get them to chase down this path - which will be a major
> undertaking since their primary data engine is Filemaker Pro which now
> has an OSX client but the only linux planning is to port their 'Server'
> product to Redhat - supposedly to be shipped in August. They have not
> admitted any interest in a linux client application which is really the
> only problem with switching them over.
>
> My question is...
>
> I see a real value to putting the big money into a honker server and
> having like 10 thin clients using xwindows. I am in love with the
> Windows 2000 Terminal Services and think that linux could do it even
> better. Does anyone have any setups like this running? Does this seem
> impractical for 10 clients? Anyone have any insights to offer on this?
>
> Craig
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