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Ubuntu for business: Yes or No?
Is Ubuntu for Business viable?
Introduction & Preamble The aim of this article is to share my experiences of using Ubuntu in a business environment and to give you an unbiased review to aid your decision making process. My reason for trying Ubuntu: As a business person I want to reduce operating costs. The table below highlights the cost benefits of moving away from commerical Windows software in favour of open source solutions. It should be noted that I am looking at Ubuntu from the perspective of a web design business and have therefore included software relevant to my industry – having said that, the findings will be relevant to most businesses. The testing environment: I installed Ubuntu 8.04 (also known as Hardy Heron) on my laptop, work computer and home computer and didn’t use Windows for a period of two months during testing and as such gained a fantastic insight into Ubuntu and the open source software that can be used. The tester (Scott Bowler): I run a web design business and my background is in computing, technology and programming. Having said that, my interactions with Linux as a desktop have been marginal and I would have described myself as a complete Ubuntu novice at the beginning of the test. My key business questions: * Is Ubuntu familiar enough for people to move away from Windows XP/Vista?
* Is Ubuntu easy to use? (with a bit of training/learning)
* Is the open source software performance neutral? (i.e. speed and quality of work will either stay the same or improve)
* Would client interaction be affected (positively or negatively) by working on a different operating system and using different software to them? Ubuntu shows promise but in my opinion it is not ready for the business world. From my testing I have found that I spent a large amount of my time fiddling with the terminal and trying to figure out why things went wrong instead of running my business. * The open source software simply isn’t up to the standard required for day to day business use and the end result is reduced productivity – and as we all know, time is money.
* Over a period of a year, the time lost in fiddling with a Ubuntu installation and the software that surrounds it would cost the business a lot more money in terms of reduced productivity, angry clients, missed deadlines and staff moral than shelling out £2,600 for software that is tried, tested and proven to be robust in a business environment.
* Having said all this, don’t disregard Ubuntu as an option for the future – keep an eye on it (and the various other Linux operating systems out there) as they are very close to hitting the mark! In addition, we have made a move away from certain software packages such as Dreamweaver and FlashFXP in favour of open source alternatives which run under Windows.
* Ubuntu is here to stay and within a few years it will be a real competitor to the Windows Office Environment. Open source software has a lot to offer and the work that people are putting in to keep it moving and progressing is exceptional. The aim of this article isn't to create a Windows vs Ubuntu debate but rather to look at the issues that will be faced by businesses who are considering changing their platform. |
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The copyright for this content entitled "Ubuntu for business: Yes or No?" has been specified by the contributor as:
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This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
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