Microsoft Windows: A Lower Total Cost of 0wnership 524
bahamutirc writes "Dave Aitel of Immunity, Inc. has written an excellent report detailing the lower Total Cost of 0wnership Microsoft Windows has over Linux. Dave takes a unique approach in comparing the two operating systems, and the results are not surprising. The paper was submitted to Bugtraq today and is available in PDF and Open Office."
Nice (Score:1, Insightful)
Honestly though, I love the graph in the article titled "Difficulty of owning Windows vs Difficulty to make this graph". When I saw that, I thought the article would be total Microsoft bashing, but hey, they ended up recomending to use Windows. I'd have to say that this true in the business world, almost everyone that I've talked to who uses a computer at work for word processing, etc is totally afraid of linux and think it is this scary beast. Until people can work with linux and not be afraid to try things, ms will win.
Heh :) (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a very clever way of making a very valid point - I can forsee this report landing on a free IT purchaser's desks mixed in with all the "real" (or MS-funded) TCO reports, because it is so well designed.
And my favorite quote? "As clearly demonstrated, other than the toy OS Mac OS X, Windows has the lowest TC0 on the market." I love it!
yhbt... (Score:2, Insightful)
Most Important (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:0wnership? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Nice (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:0wned? Please... (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously, of all the ways my modest little linux server has been nailed over the years, it's never been the installation of software itself.
Some heavy-duty software insists on root installation, but this is only ever well-known stuff for which md5s are available.
I agree, what a dumbass.
Re:0wned? Please... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Flamebait?? (Score:5, Insightful)
And we should be able to mod posters as "Didn't RTFA" / "RTFA, but didn't get that it was a joke"...
Re:A 189 KB PDF file... (Score:0, Insightful)
Not really. He knows that if his document gets posted to a anti-MS site such as Slashdot, and if the people see versions of the document that are in MS format, they will immediately dismiss his article as FUD - regardless of what other versions might be available.
Re:0wned? Please... (Score:2, Insightful)
Wow... you just don't get it, do you?
Can someone tell me why the heck this was modded insightful? More like -1: Don't Get It.
Re:Heh :) (Score:3, Insightful)
OSX has M$ Office, for the pointy-haired types that insist on it. It has a better browser (Safari) and a decent enough email client (though I believe outlook is also available). It is as solid as a rock. Working with literally hundreds of OSX machines, I've only ever seen crashes that were the result of bad hardware. Even the software glitches turned out (99.8% of the time) to be HD's dying an early death.
OSX is the most polished (more than explorer, or anything else) desktop software, has all the important software, and even games, for crying out loud. I don't think I even dare reading this stupid thing, lest I barf on the desk here.
Re:What more would you expect... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:0wned? Please... (Score:5, Insightful)
Good job! I do expect people realize it's unique "point of view".
Re:Astroturf (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, considering this is a fairly humorous joke, you still haven't.
Re:0wned? Please... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Nice (Score:5, Insightful)
FTFA:
Summary
Immunity's findings clearly show that the best platform for your targets to be running is Microsoft Windows, allowing you unparalleled value for their dollar. This result reinforces the fact that its important to consider more than just licensing fees when your targets choose their OS. Indeed, a variety of factors go into their choice, and over time, Windows has demonstrated itself to be the top contender in the, in both the server and the desktop space for Total Cost of 0wnership.
(Emphasis mine)
Re:0wned? Please... (Score:3, Insightful)
I tend not to underestimate someone for the phrases they use.
I try not to underestimate anyone, but I do use the words that come out of their mouths to gauge them. If they sound like cretins, they usually are, which isn't a dangerous thing to know, but a useful one.
Re:Most Important (Score:1, Insightful)
Because there are so many jobs available for Windows admins, more people who are not skilled are operating as Windows admins. This increases the possibility that a new, cheap hire is an idiot, which could cost more than just his salary.
Furthermore, with Linux it is more likely you do not need a dedicated administrator in the first place, because the operating system is more stable when exposed to a wild environment. You may be able to outsource your entire IT department to a competent local admin, pay him twice the hourly for a quarter as much work and save half as much.
This isn't to say Linux is better than Windows. It isn't. And Windows isn't better than Linux, either. You can't make statements like this without ignoring WHY we use operating systems in the first place (to abstract connectivity and device management from the software layer). If you have even one essential program that does not have a viable Linux analogue, the cost of Linux is incomparably high. On the other hand, if you're buying a new Server OS every 5-7 years to avoid exploits for IIS and you're only using the web server and SMTP server...you're throwing away $3000.
Anybody who tells you "X is better than Y" from a purely subjective stance is probably best ignored. Best tool, man, best tool.
Re:Errrrrmmmm... (Score:1, Insightful)
Oh, I do so agree. It's like the Onion - how can they expect to be taken seriously as a newspaper when all their articles are so poorly researched? I mean, it reads like they make it all up or something!
3,2,1,karma-ignition (Score:4, Insightful)
So tragic that the partial l337 mis-spell ruined it.
I can see the author mentally doing "lines"... .....
I must spell it 0wn3d I must spell it 0wn3d
given the number of windows users here on /. (Score:2, Insightful)
The reason these guys are not getting the joke is that about 85% of
They might have been able to get the joke if they had not been busy installing service packs, fending off viruses and email trojans, having their browser constantly puking popups and getting hijacked, dealing with network popup spam and the million other things that bother them on a daily basis before it bluescreens and they shut it down out of frustration at the end of the day.
So, I enjoy sitting here watching the Mac and windows guys (both of whom didn't understand the joke it seems) posting away about not understanding it, or trying to defend that macos as toy comment. (which we used to call macs "beige toasters" on usenet.. that was a popular flame war that went on for years.)
back to work I guess..
How the hell did you *get* to the second page.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Talk about FUD ! I see people ranting about how biased TCO studies are when they haven't even read the fucking article. Jesus Christ. Microsoft may fund piece of shit studies, but at least that includes some studying. That ranks slightly better than complete knee-jerk reactionary
--LordPixie
p.s. Pseudo-Apologies for picking on the parent post. He was definitely not the only offender.
Re:Most Important (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm not sure I agree with that. I'm the only IT guy where I work. We have Windows,Linux and some BSD here. I'll agree that it is easier to find compitent Linux people but why?
Part of it is because of the "MS Money train". You have to pay to get certified. Probably pay for books for useful documentation. Probably pay for windows just to mess with what they ALLOW you to mess with. Topple onto that the fact that in many aspects, Windows is just far too complex for it's own good.
I'm not all that smart, but I find I can learn problems with Linux and fix them. I can generally troubleshoot problems because of easily available free documentation, and giving you the TOOLS to troubleshoot. And Linux is just more comprehendable in how many parts interact. I'm not sure many of those Windows admins are all that stupid, it's just that it doesn't justify itself by spending years studying the guts of MS internals with a million books on the subject when 90% of the time you just point/click/drool anyway.
What the hell ?!? No, it's not. (Score:2, Insightful)
Go back and read the article again. Slowly. Run off the assumption that it is not serious. Apply a bit of reading comprehension and critical thinking. For the love of god...
--LordPixie
Re:Mispelled 0wnership (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:A 189 KB PDF file... (Score:2, Insightful)
My, how humor is lost on some people.
Re:Heh :) (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Most Important (Score:3, Insightful)
I grew up using Windows so it's natural that I'm more proficient with Windows than Linux and thus, Linux skills have some major catching up to do. I'm currently at a point where I'm comfortable using Slackware (one of more difficult Linux distro to use, especially for someone who's used to doing everything via GUI way) as a workstation.
You really can't learn anything by giving up when you hit a wall. Whatever problem you may have, there are many others who have experienced the same problem and came up with a solution for it. For example, I learned that you can indeed use the 5-button + wheel MS IntelliMouse Explorer and have all of those buttons work on Slackware. It wasn't quite easy as plug and play but after some vigilant searching, I found a solution for it.
Besides, it never hurts to be proficient with multiple OSes.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Nice (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Astroturf? (Score:4, Insightful)
The beauty of a satire like this is that it exposes not just the absurdity of the text being parodied, but the spiritual depravity that made such texts posssible. It shows the texture and opagueness of the shutters that have been drawn over the souls of people who actually believe that such writing can possibly have meaning.
On a more practical note, the primary means that such people employ when constructing their deceptive texts is to make up non-sensical nouns or noun phrases and then treat them as if they had meaning. For instance, this satire contains the following sentence fragment: "These three things, Vulnerability Detection, Exploit Development, and Attack Execution, were used by Immunity to determine the costs to 0wn the different operating systems." As technical people, we read sentences like this all the time. Generally, such sentences mean absolutely nothing. We repeat phrases like "Attack Execution," too embarrassed and too confused to admit even to ourselves that we have no idea of what they mean, or even if they are capable of meaning. These are entirely exploitative sentences and phrases, and have no substance whatsoever beyond what we endow them with by virtue of our blindness and fear.
Here, of course, the phrases are designed to have a meaning opposite to their apparent value. In other words, they are means of describing not legitimate forms of software analysis, but security exploits. Yet the fact that the parody has a level of meaning generally missing from the text being parodies is just part of the joke.
As a form of thought, the texts being parodied here are primarily viral. They infect not just the reader, but the writer, and ultimately, an entire society.
Buzz words (Score:2, Insightful)
George Orwell said it best in his Politics and the English Language essay. You can find it on Project Guttenberg and other sites, here is the Australian link : http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200151.txt [gutenberg.net.au]
Personally, when I see such buzz-word-infested langiage, I imagine an avalanche sliding down the mountain valley, long stripped of vegetation to stop it. That is the purpose of such a language - to get you in a programmed channel of thought.