[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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