Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

$RantMode == 1;

Gartner is a respected consulting firm right? Wrong! I used to think these guys meant something and knew what they were doing until they were hired by a customer that I also worked for and they came in to do a comprehensive "report." They managed to figure out everything about he IT needs and requirements of that particular business without ever talking to the IT staff or administrators. Needless to say the report was a bunch of crap (and actually erred on the positive side in its reflections of the IT department, but still was in error).

Now for the Linux part. Gartner has released various reports about Linux. The majority of them trashing Linux (some were favorable, yeah it makes no sense, pick an opinion). And, these are generally out of context, so that leeway is implied. Even with that in mind, failing to recognize the potential and benefits of Linux is a serious mistake.

I hope that this will finally help dissuade the Gartner faithful. Face it, they don't care about any of this crap (nor understand it apparently) they just hope someone is still paying for there opinion, whatever it is.

The latest flap from Gartner:
Linux is the "hype du jour" that is thought by some to have the potential to upset Microsoft's dominance on the mainstream desktop. We believe Linux deployments for desktops will not usurp OS dominance from Microsoft. The lack of standards in the Linux community, coupled with a lack of key productivity applications and with Unix complexity, will continue to make Linux a poor choice for the mainstream business productivity user. Linux will continue to appeal to its devotees and, as it improves over time, to broader audiences."

Ok, now lets get started. "Hype do jour", thats not even a language its Frenglish (joke). Hype, hype this, I am tired of the hype talk, Linux is for real, its hype to those who don't understand it, but ignorance != hype. "Lack of standards in the Linux community," the Linux community wrote the standards books (and the RFCs) that Microsoft has been forced to employ (you aren't using NetBIOS to read this, but you are using it on your NT network like it or not), choices are abundant, but if you can tell the difference between a standard and a choice you will be fine. If you can't, then get a job at Gartner (maybe someone will pay you for that poor judgement). One thing about this article I will admit is that it is desktop focused and Linux has further to go on the desktop.

Face it naysayers, Linux is capable, configurable, supported, open-source, free, fast and much more adaptable than anything Microsoft ever even thought of. Yes, Linux is relatively new in the mainstream and is still being improved (constantly). The PC server market will be obliterated by Linux unless commercial competitors deal with reality and improve products while lowering prices significantly. The desktop market will follow for the same reasons, stability and cost. Yes, it is more complicated to setup if you don't understand it, but if you do it is generally easier, things make sense, things don't blow up for no apparent unknown reason (BSoD). You might have to read a little, or understand something to use it, but trust me, Linux is your friend, don't be afraid. Don't fear the penguins, well, keep and eye on Jules, but in general penguins are nice.