<font style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#cc33cc"><i><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">WHY would someone pick a non open source product?</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">or the perception by the business owner that it</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">
<span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">will be "cheaper" to run Microsoft based solutions.</span><br><br></i>I've always felt that it's a simple ROI issue. Even if a company feels they can save in the long run, in the short run, it involves having to train their entire organization on the new open source software AND spend money to (potentially) hire an entire new IT staff. From a business perspective, that's a HUGE investment so most folks play it "safe" & stick with bloated, buggy software that's super expensive to maintain. Oh, & don't even get me started on IT Directors who don't do what's in the best interest of their company, if it means switching to open source, not only due to the ROI i mentioned above but also because they need to keep their jobs secure (saving your company tens of thousands of dollars would look great on a resume, but they'd have to USE that resume soon after since, chances are, they're locked into one vendor themselves & know nothing else).<br>
<br><font color="#6600cc"><i>Anyone wishing to counter them should be looking to<br>encourage those in high school and college to develop<br>on open source platforms.</i><br><br><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I'd take it a step further, Matti. I believe that you have to start with the kids at the earliest age. Kids don't know the difference between open source vs. proprietary behemoths. Expose them to open source early on & let them decide as they grow up. I'd bet that if Generation Z kids grew up on open source software (& liked it), that once they were out of school & contributing members of society, they'd look at closed source software with disdain. Let the kids decide, they're WAY smarter than we give 'em credit for. I say that from personal experience of exposing kids to simple open source products like Edubuntu. Countless times have I gotten calls from friends & they put their child on the line who's basically crying 'cuz they lost or broke their live cd & ask me if I can give 'em another. It's amazing to me but I don't think I'm special amongst folks who consider themselves open source "evangelists" (like, probably, everyone else on this list).<br>
<br>Sorry for the wall of text, it's just something I'm really passionate about. :)<br>--miguel<br></span></font></font>