Balance Sheet Liability?

Linux users to Microsoft: What 'balance sheet liability'? 'I took great offense to Ballmer's comments,' says one CIO Eric Lai November 21, 2006 (Computerworld) -- While Microsoft Corp. may cast the Nov. 2 patent cooperation agreement it pushed on new partner Novell Corp. as a way to protect corporate users of the SUSE Linux operating system from potential lawsuits, CIOs today said they weren't worried in the first place. (Computer World)

The firestorm that Steve Ballmer stirred up last week with his comments about Linux owing Microsoft continue and for a surprise, in very strong, anti-Microsoft directions. Everywhere from /. to the mainstream press, Microsoft's posturing is seen as little more than that: posturing, spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) and in some cases, as stated in this article, making people really think about the real choices they have in deploying technology today.

Facts are, you really do not need Microsoft in the server room for most core server room functions today. Open Source/UNIX solutions are viable, especially core functions for DNS, DHCP, email and web services - many of which predate any Windows operating system and others integrate so tightly that unless you know your back office is not running Windows, you would not know what it is running. And that is how it should be.

On the desktop, progress is being made. This blog is typeset in a simple text editor application running on Fedora Core 6. I switched to Fedora as my desktop, almost exclusively, about a year ago and really have not looked back (sorry, until someone Open Sources Visio, I still need Windows, and there are a couple of vendor web sites that only work with IE, but I am complaining to the vendors about that limitation). To run Windows, rather than rebooting, I open a virtualized session, do what I have to and then shut it down. Faster than dual-boot and more efficient.

The last bastion of Microsoft only solutions will quickly fall as vendors realize that the cost of the operating system is trivial. It is the maintenance of that operating system that is the long pole. As an IT manager, I do not like being forced to upgrade my operating system when it is working quite well thank you for what 90% of my office is doing with it. Microsoft has reached the end of their functional life. Now we watch as they attempt to remake themselves and they are already behind the curve. Unfortunately, they cannot yet be counted out of the race.