(LinuxWorld) — Linux gets a lot of press these days, but much of it
appears condescending and is more about the phenomenon of its emergence and
growth than it is about the value and use of the technology. That may be
about to change, and for the better.
As a group, the so-called "mainstream press" often appears to favor Microsoft
and show an appalling lack of technical depth in its enthusiastic repetition
of the latest Microsoft press release. There’s been a lot of
speculation on why this is and whether it even happens. So far, no definitive
research provides answers one way or the other.
I think there are two explanations. First, the press is largely the victim of
a Microsoft marketing strategy that plays off of the social rules people
learn in high school: ... (more)
(LinuxWorld) Does what Microsoft is doing with XML spell the end for
open-source office applications in general and OpenOffice.org in particular?
Gary Edwards, a design consultant for Web applications and OpenOffice.org's
representative on the OASIS Open Office XML Format Technical Committee, seems
to think so. Certainly, he has repeatedly expressed his concern that
next-generation Micr... (more)
(LinuxWorld) -- We examine two different scenarios in an attempt to find when
it's smarter to choose Unix or Windows.
In scenario 1, a college administrator chooses Unix or Windows for a
500-student system.
In scenario 2, the board of a 5,000-user manufacturing company looks at that
same decision.
Under each scenario, we examine some of the direct and indirect consequences
of the decis... (more)
(LinuxWorld) — This article compares the Microsoft client/server
architecture to the Unix approach in terms of systems decisions facing a
university faculty. To put this in context, imagine that you are being
interviewed for a job as the faculty's systems manager. The chairman of the
selection committee asks you to come in to discuss whether the faculty would
be better served if it... (more)
(LinuxWorld) -- Editor's note: The "I" in this story belongs to a systems
consultant brought in to advise the executive committee on the choices they
face with respect to Information Systems (IS) operations and an internally
generated systems change proposal.
Martin Cutter Mills Inc. of St. Paul, Minnesota, its staff, structure, and
plans, are fabrications but the situation presented, and... (more)