Open Source Vs Closed Source

Gripe Ed, Ed Fosters gripe log has a great article on the two polarized Linux Windows camps, and how each camp has its hard core adherents, while the vast majority is in the middle. Ed Foster makes a good case for using the technology that makes sense for the organization, both sides of the debate have things to offer, depending on what you want to do.

In Favor of Linux and Open Source software is that in some cases it works better, faster, and obviously cheaper than its commercial competitors. The new features in Vista have spooked some managers, who use a lot of Java or other software that does not play as nicely on windows as it does on Linux. As well as a dependency on Apache/MySQL to run a number of web sites, which works ok on Windows, but cooks on Linux. The gripe in the article is all about sophistication of development tools, and no, there is no comparable infrastructure in Linux that compares to the visual studio system. While there are emulation software like Wine, well, people who want to do very sophisticated programming will use visual studio.

In Favor of Windows is the rich IDE’s like Visual studio, plus the idea of knowing who to call if there is an issue. Using the Dot Net framework to crank out good stuff for the company in a hurry, dot net works, which then ties you to the IIS/Windows infrastructure, that determines adoption in the company.

Once the arguments for or against are done, Ed pretty much so sums up that it is not really the environment, you can do what you want to do equally in either Linux or Windows, if you have the right people to do the work. That is the final real score on all this

Finding the right people to do what you want to do is hard, and in some places near impossible.

It does not matter the technology, Linux or Windows, it all boils down to people, and there are good people on either side of the raging debate on who is better. The real question is what does the company want to do, and how are they going to support it.

Choose Linux, Choose Windows, it really does not matter in the longer run as long as the business objectives and budgets can be achieved. Which ever way the company decides to go, it really has to boil down to a business decision, and what the company wants to do.