[NTLUG:Discuss] Re: Micro$oft is killing small town budgets-

Steve steve at cyberianhamster.com
Mon Oct 8 19:40:27 CDT 2001


Pat Blackard wrote:

> I know there are endless problems promoting Open Source:  clueless
> officials, entrenched IT folks, etc.  I just enjoy using "targets of
> opportunity" to remind people that there are alternatives.  


I still think the best way to get open source into non-open source organizations 
is piecemeal rather than ripping out large chunks. Replace a fileserver, replace 
a print server, webserver, etc., something seamless where the enduser doesn't 
know what's going on.

And then after it works (and dedicated tasks hopefully means less variability of 
implementation and maintenance. Remember that challengers have a smaller margin 
of error than incumbents.), you've shown its value and you should find it easier 
to introduce new ones.

But whatever you do, for crissakes, don't sell ideology to potentially hostile 
decision makers when trying to get your foot in the door. Selling ideology is 
nice when you sell organic foods or recycled paper. They don't care about your 
ideology. They care about solutions that will probably make them look good and 
definitely won't make them look bad. Don't go on about GNU and free as in beer 
and freedom. As soon as somebody tries to start selling me on ideology, I'm 
wondering where my priorities are in the equation vs. his ideology.

Just lay it out as a business proposition that they can't refuse with an 
emphasis on *business*. It helps if you can provide some metrics, marketshare 
numbers, etc.



> Microsoft was smart to set up MCSE and other certs.  They give employers
> and clients a sense of security.  Is there an Open Source cert?


Red Hat has theirs (RHCE). There's the SAIR one. LPI.org. There was some Linux 
certification that was to be avoided (i.e., it's whole purpose was to sell you 
their particular training materials), but I forget which one it was.


Steve




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