Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 17:38:10 -0700 From: "Charles Burns" <burnscharlesn@hotmail.com> To: johann@broadpark.no, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Cc: bsd@nuug.no Subject: Re: Presentation of UNIX to an ignorant crowd Message-ID: <F264Bi89QtpfTYSl1q400019d22@hotmail.com>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
>I'm about to hold a lecture on UNIX to people who don't even have the >faintest >idea of what it's all about. > >The utter perimeter of their knowledge halts at performing >government-related >tasks in Windows 98. > >My job is to convince them that UNIX -- using Mandrake on workstations and >FreeBSD on servers -- is the way to go. In other words teach them the >truth, >and make them convert. > >I was assigned to this job on a rather short notice, and therefore I havn't >really had time to do the thorough research part myself. > >I was wondering, however, if such a thing (general presentation of UNIX, >its >movements up and till now and the various benefits it may serve). My >knowledge >is filled with black holes that might twist out during this presentation, >which >is why I was hoping that this could be of assistance. I have been in that situation myself and, let me tell you, it isn't as easy as it should be. As far as the server part: We all know Microsoft pushes "TCO" as a benefit of Windows. In many small companies, they have Windows setup well by some contractor and they really can hire a monkey to administer it, that is, they can hire a cheap MCSE that reboots the system when it starts to get flaky and the company is very often perfectly happy with this. The c*'s (CEO, CTO, etc.) are probably going to expect that you will say that BSd or Linux is free and Windows costs thousands of dollars (for a server), because that is what they have likely heard in the news and through the grapevine. They have also likely heard about how much cheaper MCSEs are (which they really are, most of the time) and how Windows, according to Microsoft, ends up being cheaper in the long run--this appeals to c*'s who concentrate on the bottom line. This is much easier to combat in a big company, because big companies will need enough servers that hiring a competant admin will be worthwhile. Anyway, what I usually do is talk about how much more reliable Unix is, I point to the Netcraft uptime survey and point to several case studies in which (NT, Exchange, IIS) either crapped out, was too difficult to maintain/configure for the MCSE, or couldn't handle the load that the Unix equivalent could. Zeus Webserver, for example, which is only available on Unix is far faster, more scaleable, easier to maintain, and can handle heavier loads than either Apache or IIS. (Apache 2.0 may be more competitive and would not be a bad thing to demo). Postfix and Qmail are both FAR faster than Exchange server (particularly Postfix) and are far more secure (particularly Qmail. Exchange does have some functionality that these do not have. Anyway, Unix software generally doesn't get flaky after an arbitrary period of time and is generally updated much faster than NT software. Point this out. Additionally, show some numbers from reliable sources of the percentage of NT webservers vs Unix webservers on the internet, and how that number relates to how many NT servers are defaced/hacked vs. Unix. (Big difference, but I am not that aforementioned reliable source) Point out that FreeBSD has been chosen above all else by bigwigs such as Yahoo, UUnet, etc. and demo the articles about how MS had difficulty transferring Hotmail to NT because it couldn't hack it. After blowing them away with fact after fact (all backed up and documented. !.), nonchalantly point out that all of this software (except Zeus if you use that) is free, that they need not employ someone to track the licensing, and that due to the license it MUST be free. Many c*s fear that they are getting what they pay for, so it is important that you stress the functionality, stability, and most importantly--the popularity of the software. How could Apache be twice as popular as IIS if it was crap? See--big company A,B,C,D, and E all use Apache. Do they know something we don't? Look, Ebay uses Zeus and says that their CPU usage went from 80% to 30%. Etc, etc. In the desktop arena, show OpenOffice (StarOffice won't be free other than for Solaris) and show how it can open office documents (be sure to pre-test the office documents, and make them big nasty complex documents and point this out) and show it saving the documents. One thing that impressed me about certain Linux distros, probably Mandrake as well, is that after upgrading a video card from a G200 to a G400, the system used the card without so much as a dialogue box, whereas Windows made me download the driver, install it, and reboot again. Point out how reliable Unix is, and ask rhetorical questions like, "How much productivity has been lost over the history of the company by Windows crashing, losing data, and the employees needing to wait for it to restart if, indeed, it ever did restart successfully?" Point out that OpenOffice can be modified for company use if needed (you have the source code, after all) and point out that Linux upgrades are also free and that there is never any pressure to upgrade whereas MS always finds a way to make you spend more on software. Very important: Show examples of companies and governments switching from Windows to Unix and being successful--I have seen several such stories on the internet. Many more will follow after StarOffice 6, which will be much cheaper than Office, is released I am sure. Show Evolution, Mozilla, and other popular apps accessing Microsoft services like Hotmail to show that MS's best efforts to make them incompatible have failed (though don't word it like that, of course) and, before the presentation, ask employees what some common programs that they use are and find a Unix equivalent--then find ways that it is better, which is usually easy. It takes quite a bit of work, but all but the most dedicated MS shop that does not have many custom MS-only apps will usually see the light. If the company has many custom Windows apps, well, it wouldn't be a good idea for them to switch. Don't bother mentioning WINE, believe me. (Though, during a presentation, you might have WINE preinstalled and setup and nonchalantly show Linux/BSD running some Windows apps) Good luck. Sorry for the lack of references, but I am not at home where such info is kept. Charles Burns _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?F264Bi89QtpfTYSl1q400019d22>