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Windows replaces Linux in mining industry
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kittychunk
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Surprising - my impression of the mining industry (in SA anyway) is that they've always been MS-centric.
I can't think of a single one of our clients, local or international, who use or have ever even dreamed of using OSS IT systems except in very specialised niche applications.
I can't think of a single one of our clients, local or international, who use or have ever even dreamed of using OSS IT systems except in very specialised niche applications.
hmmm - interesting - why would they avoid OSS?
GavinMannion
Executive Member
The reason a lot of our clients avoid Linux is because of the cost and difficulty in maintaining and expanding....
There are not enough people with the required skills and unless you want Java there is not much else that anyone programs in for OSS systems...
In comparison you have a million and 1 M$ techies and you can code in virtually any language and it will work on Windows out of the box...
Official corporate support is also important.
Cadavre777
Expert Member
Yet another sucker caught by MS. When will 'managment' wise up and start doing research. Not one valid reason why they're moving from OSS to MS.
Sure devloping and debugging software takes time... just ask MS how long it took them to release Vista
Sure devloping and debugging software takes time... just ask MS how long it took them to release Vista
McSack
Executive Member
Yup and they're more than happy to get involved in "free" training/learnership/internship programmes.
I'm not so sure they have to try so hard though. I don't recall coming across any big corporate considering moving away from M$
Probably true but the cynic in me thinks that its an Microsoft inspired story from ICT world. That said Im sure journalists could find plenty of examples of companies moving from Microsoft software and platforms to the many flavours of unix out there with the associated cost savings.
I always imagined heavy-metal (or indeed teeny) industrial apps would favour *nix environments. Although I guess you're bound by your industry - favoured apps.
redhat, novell?
kittychunk
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Some interesting feedback here. Incidentally, although the R&D company I work for runs primarily MS, I use Ubuntu on all my machines as I find it more of a natural fit to my HPC and computer modelling work.
I think the corporate support issue is a big driver for most large mining houses. Not to say that OSS products don't have excellent corporate track records, simply that the mining and metallurgy business sector is (a) largely ignorant of them, and (b) an extremely risk-averse industry.
The sheer scale of the businesses involved means that the MS bias may be less to do with what the best solution for the job is, and more to do with decision paralysis and the "better the devil you know" syndrome. Someone would need to come in and market enterprise OSS solutions to them very aggressively in order to change their minds.
I think the corporate support issue is a big driver for most large mining houses. Not to say that OSS products don't have excellent corporate track records, simply that the mining and metallurgy business sector is (a) largely ignorant of them, and (b) an extremely risk-averse industry.
The sheer scale of the businesses involved means that the MS bias may be less to do with what the best solution for the job is, and more to do with decision paralysis and the "better the devil you know" syndrome. Someone would need to come in and market enterprise OSS solutions to them very aggressively in order to change their minds.
McSack
Executive Member
The other issue is that most IT managers want someone to blame when the sh!te hits the fan... preferably someone with a bit of a reputation.
As in
"But I used <insert relevant industry player here>... what more could I do? I thought they knew what they were doing... Just look how much we paid them! Those cable ties at 80 bucks a pop are the business"
As in
"But I used <insert relevant industry player here>... what more could I do? I thought they knew what they were doing... Just look how much we paid them! Those cable ties at 80 bucks a pop are the business"