Free Linux and OpenOffice - even if your email address doesn't end in .edu - (was Re: OT: Microsoft crazy academic deal)

[Ray Arachelian]

Tony Mori wrote:
> I would disagree with that - nothing is free. My time is worth
> something, and unless you are volunteering up your free
> time to support, it ain't free.
Your time to go down to the software store and pick up a box of crap
ware with the "Microsoft" on it isn't free either.

>
> Second, I work for a multi-billion dollar company, and there is NO WAY
> on this earth any minutely-responsible IT
> department is going to run ANYTHING unsupported in a production
> environment, especially with SOX and other
> requirements.

Weren't we just talking about educational software discounts here?  How
exactly does a multi-billion dollar company fit in here?

If you want it supported you can buy it supported.  RedHat and Suse will
both happily take your money for site licenses and such.
The rest of your reasons are so far fetched as to not warrant further
response.  I'll leave you to your own ignorance, proof of which can be
found in the next line of your quoted text:

To enlighten you, EEE PC's can come with XP, just as some Dell and
Lenovo notebooks come with Linux (never mind that you can install it
yourself above and beyond this.)
> Put the Asus EEE PC with Linux next to version with XP / Vista, and
> there is NO comparison - it even LOOKS like a cartoony toy.