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Open Source in General
"It's about doing our jobs effectively ...
We want stable software that does what it
says it will do."
—
Employease CIO John Alberg,
quoted by Malcolm Wheatley in
"The
Myths of Open Source",
CIO Magazine, 2004-03-01.
"The main thing is to be in control of your own data."
— Sao Paulo University Professor Arnando Mandel,
quoted by Mark Ashurst in
"Brazil falls in love with Linux",
BBC News, 2004-02-01.
"I know I saved $80,000 right away by going to open source, and each time
something like (Windows) XP comes along, I save even more money because I
don't have to buy new equipment to run the software."
— Small business CEO Sterling Ball, quoted by David Becker in
"Rockin'
on without Microsoft",
CNET News.com, 2003-08-20
"We like to think of it as 'free as in market.'"
— Merrill Lynch executive Robert Lefkowitz, quoted by Stacy Cowley in
"Panelists
consider the 'business case' for open source",
InfoWorld, 2002-10-01.
(Context: "Free Software"
as in free speech vs. free beer)
"This paper provides quantitative data
that, in many cases, using open source
software / free software is a reasonable
or even superior approach to using
proprietary [software]. ... OSS/FS is
often the most reliable software, and in
many cases has the best performance.
OSS/FS software often has far better
security, perhaps due to the possibility
of worldwide review. Total cost of
ownership for OSS/FS is often far less
than proprietary software. These effects
can be shown quantitatively. [Other
advantages include] freedom from control
by a single source, and freedom from
licensing management (with its
accompanying risk of audit and
litigation). ... OSS/FS options should
be carefully considered any time software
or computer hardware is needed. Organizations
should ensure that their policies
encourage, and not discourage, examining OSS/FS
approaches when they need software."
—
Computer security expert and author David A. Wheeler,
"Why Open Source Software /
Free Software? Look at the Numbers!", updated 2007-04-16.
Linux Operating System
"Cost - Resources - Performance - No bloatware -
Security - Dual booting - Installation - Reinstalling -
Keeping track of software - Updating software - More security -
No need to defrag disks - A wealth of built-in utilities"
— Kim Brebach,
"13 reasons why Linux should be on your desktop",
DesktopLinux, 2007-10-16.
"... a new approach to the usual technology
tradeoff between fast, reliable, and
cheap. You usually have to pick one or
two of those traits, but the effort now
is to gain all three; Linux is an enabler
in that effort."
—
"Amazon
moving to Linux for data warehousing",
Application Development Trends, 2004-02-11,
on presentation by Amazon VP Tom Killalea.
"It's pretty cool. Not having Windows Withdrawals at all."
— Whizman customer Brian, on Mandriva [then Mandrake] Linux
"In terms of security and man-hours to keep the network up and running,
Linux is invaluable. ... Patches in the Linux world both work and
leave the machine fully functional. That has not been my experience in the
Windows world, where on many occasions I've had to back out a patch to
regain functionality and on at least a few occasions cratered a machine by
applying a patch.
...
There is just not enough budget to use Windows. It cost an arm and a leg to
equip a Windows machine with what is standard load on most major Linux
distros.
...
Converting to Linux has allowed our lab to go from saying,
'Sorry, we do not have funding to provide that' to saying, 'We can do
that.'"
— NASA Administrator John Smith, quoted by Michael S. Mimoso in
"Users: No second thoughts on Linux use",
SearchOpenSource.com, 2004-03-25.
Linux vs. MS Windows
“‘We're not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,’ said one
Google employee.”
—
“Google ditches Windows on security concerns”,
Financial Times,
David Gelles & Richard Waters,
2010-05-31.
"If you use a Windows personal computer to access the Internet, your personal
files, your privacy and your security are all in jeopardy. An international
criminal class of virus writers, [crackers], digital vandals and sleazy
businesspeople wakes up every day planning to attack your PC.
And the company that controls the Windows platform, Microsoft, has made this
too easy to do by carelessly opening numerous security holes in the
operating system and its Web browser. Even if you install the recent Service
Pack 2 update to Windows XP, you will still be vulnerable."
—
Walter S. Mossberg,
"How to
Protect Yourself From Vandals, Viruses If You Use Windows",
The Wall Street Journal, 2004-09-16
"Who controls your computer? If it's a Windows computer, not you.
...
FOSS enforces trust on a couple of levels. One, the community values of
openness and sharing, and two, there is no place to hide. Everything is
transparent."
— Carla Schroder,
"Linux: Genuinely Trustworthy Computing",
Enterprise Networking Planet, 2006-01-20.
"Who owns your data?
Before answering this question, read your software's license agreement.
...
Your software vendor can triple the price of your software and stop
supporting your version, or even prevent you from using it.
...
What choice do you have?
...
[The] compelling reason to switch away from the Windows
desktop [is] the importance of your data."
—
Steve Litt,
"The
Windows to Linux Conversion",
Troubleshooting Professional, 2001-04.
Case study:
Successful transition to Linux and Open Source solutions by
Ernie Ball, a small business that produces guitar strings, after
abusive software licensing audit.
David Becker,
"Rockin'
on without Microsoft",
CNET News.com, 2003-08-20
"Before you make the decision to upgrade to another version of Windows, be
sure to compare it carefully to Linux. In many ways, the open source
alternative is more secure, more affordable, and more reliable.
...
Any organization running Windows ... would be wise to evaluate Linux
before committing themselves to another round of Windows upgrades."
— Paul Rubens,
"Why Switch From Windows to Linux",
DevX, 2005-07-27.
"As a daily user of Mac OS X, Ubuntu [Linux] and Vista, I'm keenly aware of
what works and what doesn't. Mac and Linux work."
— Don Reisinger,
"Why Microsoft must abandon Vista to save itself",
CNET, 2007-09-26.
Internet Web Browsers
"The Mozilla Firefox browser returns simplicity and ease of use
to the Web browsing experience, while adding security and useful new
features. With its streamlined interface, broad cross-platform support and
top-of-the-line capabilities, the free, open-source Firefox
(www.mozilla.org) is the best stand-alone Web browser option available today
and is generations ahead of Microsoft's IE."
— Jim Rapoza,
"Firefox 1.0 Lives Up to Hype",
eWEEK, 2004-11-09.
"This article shows a side-by-side comparison of Acid2 results amongst
the top [web browsers available for Windows].
Acid2 is a test meant to show support for
standards and industry-standard browser features.
...
I have now officially banned Internet Explorer on my own
network and recommend that all
others do the same (primarily due to security issues; lack of standards
is secondary).
...
Don't use Internet Explorer."
— Anthony Dotson,
"Acid2 Tests - Review",
Sandusky Computers, 2006-07-16.
Demonstration of rich visual effects in a completely standards-compliant
web page, which Mozilla Firefox displays better than MS Internet Explorer:
Complexspiral Demo
"There were at least 98 days last
year in which no software fixes from Microsoft were available to fix IE
flaws that criminals were actively using to steal personal and
financial data from users.
...
Mozilla's Firefox browser -- experienced a single period
lasting just nine days last year in which exploit code for a serious
security hole was posted online before Mozilla shipped a patch to
remedy the problem."
— Brian Krebs,
"Internet Explorer Unsafe for 284 Days in 2006",
Washington Post, 2007-01-04.
"Internet Explorer + Your Business = Security Vulnerabilities
...
Remember that Internet Explorer is the only web browser to have ever
received a warning from the US government not to use it due to its
security flaws!
...
Opera is the winner.
...
Firefox certainly beats IE in terms of security
by a wide margin."
— Anthony Dotson,
"Browser Security",
Sandusky Computers, 2006-10-29.
"Browsing safely: I suggest dumping Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web
browser, which has a history of security breaches. I recommend instead
Mozilla Firefox, which is free at www.mozilla.org. It's not only more secure
but also more modern and advanced, with tabbed browsing, which allows
multiple pages to be open on one screen, and a better pop-up ad blocker than
the belated one Microsoft recently added to IE."
—
Walter S. Mossberg,
"How to
Protect Yourself From Vandals, Viruses If You Use Windows",
The Wall Street Journal, 2004-09-16
- Attacks on Unpatched IE Flaw Escalate, Brian Krebs on Computer and Internet Security, WashingtonPost.com, 2006-03-27.
- US-CERT: Beware of IE, InternetNews, 2004-06-29.
- Vulnerability Note VU#713878, US-CERT (Department of Homeland Security)
- Secunia Vulnerability Reports: MS Internet Explorer 7.x (IE-6.x) | Mozilla Firefox 2.x (Fx-1.x)
- Acid3 Test ... Screen Captures, Rob Larsen, 2008-03-04
Office Productivity Documents
"I've been using OpenDocument Format (ODF) with OpenOffice.org
for about a year
now and I've yet to find a single thing that I couldn't do. I converted
all of my personal and business documents using the built-in batch
converter with no errors whatsoever. Not only has it saved me a lot of
money, but also my documents take up less space than they used to."
— Anthony Dotson,
"Document File Formats",
Sandusky Computers, 2006-11-24.
"OpenOffice.org 2.0 is swift, smooth, and
highly compatible with MS Office documents. Even better, it has plenty of
features that you can't find in MS Office itself.
...
it opens and saves files in MS Office format seamlessly,
without special prompts or warnings
...
Writer adds a PDF-export feature that Word doesn't offer.
...
We found Calc's menus and dialogs
easier to navigate than the corresponding dialogs in Excel.
...
It does mostly everything that typical
users need it to do, and does some things better than MS Office."
—
"OpenOffice.org review from PC Magazine",
2005-09-06.
"OpenOffice does everything I need it to do - including
saving files in Word format."
—
Wade Roush,
"Linux
is Finally Offering Windows Users a Real Choice"
(registration or ad view may be required),
Technology Review, 2004-09, p50-56
"The big questions facing anyone considering adopting open source software
are: does it work, is it reliable, is it useful? On all these points,
OpenOffice.org 1.1 delivers."
— Rupert Goodwins,
OpenOffice.org 1.1
Full Review at ZDNet UK Reviews, 2003-10-20
"Grade A: Output compatibility was very high. All PDF exported documents
opened without flaws in Adobe Acrobat Reader 5 and 6. ... Printed documents were
universally identical between office suites. Someone on the outside would be
unable to tell if you were using Microsoft Office or OpenOffice."
—
James McPherson,
Examine
OpenOffice's interoperability with Microsoft Office, TechRepublic, 2003-10-20
—
Quotes about: Open Source in General | Linux Operating System | Linux vs. MS Windows | Internet Web Browsers | Office Productivity