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The pros and cons of business-app implemention via open-source software: Is open-source or Microsoft-licensed software the right choice for better, faster, cheaper and safer business-application implementation? A series at linuxmag.com

"Licensed or open-source software: which is the better choice in real business situations? Paul Murphy launches the debate with the first installment in a six-part series. In this article, Paul compares the costs, key questions, risks and managerial issues involved in implementing business apps via Apache/Cocoon to those brought about when using Microsoft-licensed software.

HOW TO MAKE TECH DECISIONS FAIL

The focus here is on the technology, but readers should be aware that the most-important factors in real architecture decisions usually have little or nothing to do with the technology or cost. The goal in making tech decisions is to get a product that works for its intended users, but getting the best product at the lowest cost is only part of this.

As discussed at length in my Unix Guide to Defenestration, any Unix technology, no matter how insanely great or cheap, can be made to fail if the managers who get control of it after implementation either wanted something else and consciously or unconsciously set out to prove they were right. If a manager only understands how to manage a proprietary system and insists on applying those ideas to Unix, it can also doom the project to failure."

linuxmag.com series >>