On Mon, 2003-07-14 at 22:04, Dennis Kibbe wrote:
> On Mon, 2003-07-14 at 18:23, mazdaracer wrote:
> > If you haven't seen the Linux article in USA Today for today, it's 
> > neat!  Linux beats M$ to load up 14000 PCs for Munich.
> > 
> > pete
> 
> And the important message that i got from the article is that the issue
> wasn't about money but rather freedom. München would have paid M$ LESS
> (up front that is) then they paid IBM.
> 
> Now I won't be surprised to see Tux take his place in München's famous
> Glockenspiel! http://glockenspiel-usa.com/gworld13.htm
> 
-----
I think that there is entirely too much emphasis on money / cost of
software which sort of diverts everyone's attention.

With free software / open source - you get the source code.

This means that you can modify at will, ensure distribution on any and
all machines without restriction. You are not locked into a software
investment owned by a corporation and thus subject to their marketing /
upgrade whims, their financial demise or acquisition by a competitor who
ultimately discontinues development of the software.

It's not about the money and therefore the costs involved in Munich were
not totally material and it's obvious that some thought that Microsoft's
late discounts and thus the lower price were about manipulation. The
truth is that the initial cost of the software is probably less than 10%
of the lifetime cost of the computer system.

Craig