> If I have a prlbem with Linux, I have no _guarantee_ that anyone will look at
> it, never mind actually solve it. If it's a priority 1 problem for me and
> I receive no support from the Linux camp, how good does it sound to explain
> to management "I posted the problem a week ago, but no response." ? It's
> the guarantee of some sort of support service which management need. ie.
> they can yell at someone else and get a head kicked if nothing happens.
> Who's going to do that for Linux ?
Quite a few indeed and this is especially where linux shine. With any
commercial OS, only the vendor is allowed to do this:
They have sources
They are allowed to release test version "at large"
No third party can do that.
The problem is that supporting "the world" has proven to be an impossible
task. If you have a problem and this problem is not for them a big
priority, unless you are a very very big account, they won't fix it.
(many have reported that being a very very large account was not enough in
some case). Or they won't fix it in time.
This is what most people have reported on the net. Mostly the argument you
are pushing make sens but does not verify in practice. Now with all those
consultant/reseller/support channels which are poping up for linux
(Caldera has a partner program and Redhat is building the same), you are
getting something of unequal quality.
And you still have the source to fix it yourself. Now this does not sound
that exciting, this is nevertheless a huge opportunity which you can't
even think of with commercial OS. This is why more and more companies
looking for vertial apps turnkey solution for a large audience are using
Linux.
-They can get better support
-They can support themselves
And finally, usenet has proven to be incredibly effective, especially for
the organisation who have invest a little in linux.
--------------------------------------------------------
Jacques Gelinas (jacques@solucorp.qc..ca)
Linuxconf: The ultimate administration system for Linux.
see http://www.solucorp.qc.ca/linuxconf
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