SPAM: Score 3.3: Re: Instead of freebsd.com, why not...

[Matthias Buelow]

Anthony Atkielski wrote:

>>Or the city administration of Munich, which intends to move its
>>Windows desktops to a Linux/KDE-based installation.
> Why not just burn taxpayer euro in a bonfire?  It would have the same
> end result and it would be faster.

Well, if you just run a set of 1-3 applications, and don't do anything 
else with the computer, there shouldn't be much of a difference.  Think, 
for example, of the software that the clerks feed applications for 
driving licenses or passports into.  That's (most likely) one do-it-all 
software running on the terminal-like PC all the time.  Or a secretary, 
using some kind of office software (I don't know if they consider 
OpenOffice).  Apart from making a political statement, the advantage is 
of course being independent from the Microsoft update cycle.  Of course 
whether it's cheaper having the inhouse staff or a consulting firm 
update the Linux desktops needs to be evaluated first (and I'm sure they 
did).  Another point, as far as I got it, was security, i.e., higher 
resilience towards worms and viruses.