Tectonic: ‘Mad Dog’ Hall Spreads Linux Word in South Africa

“‘Linux puts the business choices back into your hands,’ Jon
“Maddog” Hall, executive director of Linux International said
during the opening session of the HP Linux Roadshow in Midrand
yesterday morning. Hall, a vocal advocate of open source software,
and Linux in particular, said open source software gives users the
ability to make requests for changes or even make the changes
themselves.

“‘How much does it cost your business when your software does
not do what you want it to do? Not to mention when it does not work
at all.’ He said too often businesses had to adjust their internal
processes and behaviours to fit in with the requirements of the
software rather than the software fitting in with their individual
needs. And with each new upgrade shipped by the proprietary vendor,
businesses are often forced to re-educate their staff and often
their customer base as well.

“In contrast, said Hall, much open source software is better
able to meet the specific needs of each business. And as the
business expands and evolves the changes can be made as and when
required. He also said business is ale to ‘leverage’ off the open
source community to get get new features included and bugs
fixed…”

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