TCO Linux versus Windows

Last year Microsoft started it's "Get the facts" campaign about how Microsoft Windows Server was suppose to be less expensive than Linux. Microsoft cited studies which they originally claimed to be by an independent group, which turned out to be true, but sponsored by Microsoft, which means not so independent as Microsoft led people to believe.

Eweek has an interesting article about the cost of Linux: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1782587,00.asp

Here's my own simple TCO study:

Windows Server 2003 (10 node license) - $1699
Microsoft Office 2003 Professional - $583.99
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 - Price difficult to find, but appears to be per server and client.
IIS - Free
TCO: $2285.99 (assuming I got MS SQL Server for free)

SuSE 9.2 Professional (unlimited node license) - $134.99 (or a free DVD download)
Open Office - Free with SuSE
Rekall - Free with SuSE
MySQL - Free with SuSE
Apache 2 - Free with SuSE
Webmin - Free with SuSE
TCO: $134.99 (or FREE if I just downloaded and burned a typical Linux CD)

Hmmmn...tough choice. The truth about "the facts" is that facts are easy to manufacture, just as Microsoft has. You can pay someone to find ways of discounting anything given certain conditions.

The biggest problem most people have with Linux is the learning curve, but what is often conveniently forgotten is that the same learning curve applies to Windows server products as well. I recently remarked in a forum to someone that comparing setting up a FTP server isn't the same as installing a video game, not on Linux, not on Windows. If you don't know what you're doing you run the risk of being hacked. Where people are lucky on the Windows side is that there is already a big installed base. But what's happening is that the Microsoft base is eroding away. Apple's share recently grew, and the more people I talk to, the more people seem to know about Linux. This year I even shared a house with a fellow Linux user!

Linux is on the rise, and it makes good financial sense. "Get the Facts" is just one more way of misinforming consumers by twisting facts to a particular purpose.