Paul Murphy/Winface.com: RE: IDC Declares Linux 80% Cheaper Than Unix

“Lets recognize that Linux, BSD, Darwin, Solaris,
Tru64, and Unixware are all Unix varients. The right comparison
isn’t between Unix and Linux; it’s between all of Unix, including
Linux, and the range of Microsoft Windows products.

On that basis the bare bones cost comparison is a no brainer:
Unix wins easily. The issue there isn’t whether Unix is cheaper
-that’s a gimme- the issue is whether it’s smarter and that depends
mainly on what you do with it. Is Linux on Intel smarter than
Windows on Intel? For most Linux applications that’s a comparison
between a cheap and highly reliable system on one side and Windows
on the other – not exactly a difficult choice. Is Unix on SPARC a
smarter choice than Windows Advanced Server on a couple of
rackmounts of little machines? That’s the same question, with the
same answer, just on a different scale.

Getting people to make smarter choices means getting them to
make informed choices. That’s hard, most people are deeply
resistant to new information and eager to grab onto anything,
however dishonest, that supports not changing their opinions. That,
more than anything else, is what’s wrong with this IDC report –
that Red Hat would sponsor something so distructive [sic]
of the Linux/Unix community it relies on for commercial
success.”

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