Today, GroupLink's apps run on Linux as well as the open-source database MySQL and no application server, so "we can take nearly all the licensing out of the picture and beat our rivals on cost," Turner says.
Licensing looms in the Linux debate. Cost isn't the be-all, end-all around Linux, but the fact remains that many customers have grown frustrated with Microsoft's licensing policies. "Some of my customers have developed edicts that say, 'We will get Microsoft out of our business because of what the licensing is doing to our budget,'" says Fred Palmer, a senior systems engineer for Gulfcoast, a solution provider based in Largo, Fla.
Microsoft, however, will happily argue that the days of Linux as a no-license proposition are over now that the two major distributors require some kind of user license. Yet there are nuances to consider. Being open source, the Linux upgrade cycle is much less stringent than Microsoft's, and there's no requirements for client licenses or maintenance contracts like Software Assurance. Linux proponents will also argue that the OS is cheaper, not just in acquisition cost, but in terms of greater uptime and less security maintenance over time.
Curt Finch, CEO at software vendor Journyx and a participant in IBM's SpeedStart your Linux program, says the cost-savings argument vis-a-vis Microsoft is no joke. Journyx develops Web-based time-sheet applications for SMB companies that it gives away free for the first 10 users and also offers in a hosted version. It runs Linux in its hosting center, but for its sales over the Web will support customer environments on Windows and Linux. Finch says his support costs are much lower for Linux than the Redmond platform, it's more secure and is easier to write industrial software on top of it. "It's just better. It takes more effort, energy and TCO on Windows," he says.
As an example of the headaches he faces, Finch says Journyx recently discovered that 40 percent of its downloads were failing to install properly, often resulting in a lost sale. The reason? Microsoft had issued a new patch to its IIS server product, which is a requirement to run Journyx's apps. Changes like that, frequent at Microsoft, force Journyx to update its own code.
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