[ale] Request for information - how linux saves $$$

[John Wells]

Charles,

With the win4lin server, do you have to buy seperate windows licenses for
each user who will use it on a terminal?

Thanks,

John

Charles Marcus said:
>> From: John Wells [mailto:jb at sourceillustrated.com]
>> Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 9:57 AM
>>
>> Here's the deal.  After forwarding this
>> (http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949913.html?tag=fd_top)
>> article to our location manager, he stopped by and said
>> he'd like to take a look at how much we actually could
>> save by switching our desktops to Linux.  Now, I'm
>> tasked to draw up this comparison and need some help.
>>
>> I understand there are dramatic savings to be reaped
>> from a purchasing standpoint, but what about from a
>> conversion standpoint?  I'm not familiar with the way
>> the Microsoft licensing scheme works, and one of his
>> questions for me was "Well, if we already own 60
>> licenses for Win 2000, how will it save us money to
>> switch to Linux?".
>
> No *immediate* savings, in this particular case.  The up-front licensing
> savings won't be realized until you would have upgraded to WinXP (or
> .NET, or whatevers coming next), OfficeXP, etc.
>
> As of Aug 1, if you haven't signed up for their new 'software assurance'
> licensing scheme, in order to move up to the desired version, you will
> have to buy full retail versions of whatever you are 'upgrading' to (ie,
> no more 'upgrade' versions/rebates on their s/w).
>
>> Can anyone provide more information?  Anyone out
>> there done a cost/benefit analysis for their
>> company?
>
> Haven't done one, but some thoughts on points to concentrate on in
> developing your report...
>
> Training/retraining.  I don't think this cost is nearly as much as M$
> shills would have us believe, but it is a real issue that you have to
> consider.  If you already have Linux proficient people in-house, it
> shouldn't be much (beyond their salaries, which are already being paid
> anyway).  Here, you can make the argument that, yes, you may have to
> spend more time up front doing some training/hand-holding, but once
> everyone is familiar with the new systems, support costs will actually
> go *down* due to the increased reliability of Linux over Windows.
>
> Also, viruses won't be nearly as big an issue (do *not* tell them that
> it is a non-issue, as it is only a matter of time before Linux/Unix
> viruses start appearing) - if/when Linux viruses start to appear, they
> won't be able to cause nearly as much damage as they can and do on
> Windows systems.
>
> Implementing LTSP w/s could further decrease support/maintenance costs.
>
> No more costs involved with keeping up with all those licenses (this can
> be a big deal in large organizations).
>
>> I *really* want to make this report a stellar,
>> persuasive one.  If we switch to Linux at our
>> location and really show benefits from the
>> conversion, it could easily expand into much of
>> the company.  We're talking approx. 6000 employees
>> internationally, and approx. 65 locally.
>> This is a real chance for a win!
>
> Your location is an ideal situation for an LTSP setup.
>
> Setup a small LTSP network using boot floppies (so you don't have to do
> a thing to the workstations), then setup a small demo
> Linux/Win4Lin/Tarantella box for the Windows apps, get them
> installed/working, then just show the boss.
>
> The LTSP w/s boots up in about 40-50 seconds, and after that, the
> Windows session boots up in about 20-30 seconds whenever it is started.
> You could even have an LTSP workstation boot straight into a full-screen
> Win4Lin session for any workstations that *only* use the Windows apps.
>
> Be sure to explain to the boss that you'll never need to upgrade the
> hardware again (at least, not in the next 5 years or so) - except maybe
> for the Server.
>
> You can get really creative and setup some redundant/failover servers to
> limit downtime, etc.
>
> These things sell themselves.
>
> Charles
>
>
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