InternetWeek: How One Microsoft User Made The Switch To Open Source

“Since 1995, my friend Tristan Louis ran his Web site TNL.net on
Microsoft Windows. He started his site on Windows NT using
Microsoft IIS. In late 2000, he moved to Windows 2000 and continued
to run on this until recently, when he switched to Linux. So why
did he decide to change things? Here is his story:

“First were upgrade issues. With the introduction of Windows
2000, Microsoft started upping the price of Internet servers,
requiring a separate set of licenses for the Internet services as
an add-on to the operating system costs. As my site grew in
popularity, I was going to need more horsepower than just using
Microsoft Access, so I purchased a license to SQL Server. That was
the first problem. I quickly learned that I had to start worrying
about another set of patches on a weekly basis. As new security
patches were released weekly for Windows 2000, IIS, and SQL server,
I found myself spending more time doing basic administration of the
box and less and less time doing development on it. “Then came
licensing issues. Microsoft made changes to its licensing
structure, drastically increasing prices and forcing me into yet
another upgrade cycle, whether I liked it or not. Microsoft was
essentially telling me that if I wanted to play long term, I would
not only be forced to pay more but also be forced into buying
software on a subscription basis. This would not do. I was already
an eager Microsoft user and, having paid for all my licenses, had
already laid out a substantial amount of cash into staying with
Microsoft…”

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