Open Source more expensive than proprietary?

[towsonu2003]

I found (from "Global Voices Online", which I am considering not to read again) this retarded blog at http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2005/12...nd-azerbaijan/

It claims that because Windows is pirated in Armenia and Azerbaijan, adopting open source will be more expensive in those countries.

In other news, Microsoft will sue the ass off of those countries bc. of piracy sooner or later... Your RIAA and stuff is already doing that (for music piracy) in my country using the local record producers.

[briancurtin]

every day someone comes out with a new study about how open source is cheaper to maintain than windows, and then the next day someone finds that windows is cheaper to maintain.

i think every day for the last year ive read articles on new studies that find such and such is cheaper

[Lord Illidan]

Wait, you mean "free as in beer" programs, right, not necessarlily "free as in speech". Well, you got it there.

Can anyone explain how I got this OS, running Ubuntu and doing everything with Opensource apps that I could do on windows, without paying a cent?

[prizrak]

Well if you talk about piracy it is cheaper to run Windows than it is to run Linux. You don't have to train anyone and you don't need IT personnel with *nix skills (who tend to be more expensive). Considering the problems with pirated software though, it won't be cheaper for long. Already you can't install any service packs for pirated Windows (unless you do some magic) leaving you w/o the much needed improvements. There is also costs due to the time it takes to deal with malware/registry issues.
Conclusion: In the short term pirated proprietary is cheaper than FOSS, in the long term FOSS wins.

[poofyhairguy]

It claims that because Windows is pirated in Armenia and Azerbaijan, adopting open source will be more expensive in those countries.

In other news, Microsoft will sue the ass off of those countries bc. of piracy sooner or later... Your RIAA and stuff is already doing that (for music piracy) in my country using the local record producers.

Its funny. Many nerds hate the RIAA for suing music downloaders because we see it as them fighting new means of distribution. Yet if MS began to sue illegal Windows users, we would applaud their efforts to drive users to open source software (even if that was not the intention).

Life is rarely black or white.

[commodore]

I like that music downloading is illegal. IMO it's totally normal.

Windows is cheaper because of piracy? I laugh my lungs in to pieces. Piracy is not a way for comping.

[towsonu2003]

if MS began to sue illegal Windows users, we would applaud their efforts to drive users to open source software

not me... for one, the user should come to open source after s/he is fed up with MS, not because s/he was kicked out.
but I see your point, and I can imagine the comments in slashdot if that would happen (like the comments after MS poked Korea for a brief while)...

[sal]

Its funny. Many nerds hate the RIAA for suing music downloaders because we see it as them fighting new means of distribution. Yet if MS began to sue illegal Windows users, we would applaud their efforts to drive users to open source software (even if that was not the intention).

Life is rarely black or white.

there was a case a few years back.
a big guitar company hired a new employ, a secratery or something, and instead of re-imaging the pc with windows for the new user they just gave it to the person the way it was, so the software cops came in with microscum and gave them big fines.
so the owner of the company told the IT guys, "**** microsoft, switch everything to linux" a few months later they where running suse.

the only thing that really pisses me off with linux, is when i try and convert my customers to it (home users) they refuse because of all the years of MS proppaganda thats been shuved down their throughts.

[curuxz]

Sal I find the same thing, though im using other systems as proving ground. Ie show your business/you are right about a diffrent computer issue and that will trigger a "hey if he was correct about that, maybe all that linux stuff was right" in the heads of your customers. Find a chink in their perfect little ms world and slip foss software in to widen the crack untill you can get linux converts. then when people start using it you get it spreading.

[egon spengler]

Generally, doesn't Microsoft not sue countries for widespread piracy of Windows because ultimately they know that millions of people using Windows is helping them in the long run?

I'm not sure if espousing Windows as cheaper thanks to piracy is stupid or merely pragmatic. I wonder if the author would argue that buying stolen goods is better than going to dixons because it's cheaper?