“…Some feedback to a recent article on Linux.com expressed
how Linux would be a “nightmare” to support for a relatively
low-level end-user community. I see this quite
differently.“
“Linux as an operating system is no different from any other
operating system in terms of how to support an end-user community.
The complexity of any operating system should be virtually
transparent to the end-user community. The end-user should
realistically have no need to make any changes to the operating
system itself, and in my experience most organizations strongly
discourage this behavior. Applications are the almost exclusive
concern of end-users. What matters most to the end user are the
applications to access a database, or the word processor to create
documents, or the spreadsheet program to handle various financial
or billing issues — not the complexity of the operating system. As
long as the appropriate applications needed by an organization are
available to perform its day-to-day business, the choice of
operating system should be based solely on technical merits and
“Total Cost of Ownership,” not perceived complexity for the
end-user community.”
“Unix and Linux are a dream from a support standpoint. Linux,
like Unix, is built from the ground up to be “multi-user.” This
feature alone makes supporting Linux a sheer joy, and also helps to
greatly reduce support costs. Being a “multi-user” operating
system, not to mention all the well-developed Unix utilities that
go along with it, means that an administrator can resolve
virtually, but not absolutely, every problem from his own
desk….”