You've been hearing a lot about Linux lately- see how it can it benefit your small business!

First, Linux is freely available software. That is, it can be obtained inexpensively with support, or for free without. No license fees, no problem. Because Linux is not licensed on a per system or per user basis, it affords your business the choice to step off the "License Fee Treadmill". What do we mean by that?

The License Treadmil

In the traditional sense, you would purchase an operating system license at the same time as you purchase a computer (typically a server). As you add users to your system, you purchase more licenses, and as you add systems, you also purchase more licenses. The cost of your computer network rises on a steady curve- more systems, more users, more licenses to buy. Your total cost of ownership rises with effectively no limit!

In contrast to this licensing model, with Linux you don't have to buy a single license! Add users, add servers, upgrade to a new version. Your license fees never change- they're always $0.

File storage and much more:

Most small businesses that have servers are essentially using them as a huge electronic filing cabinet. In addition, the server may provide access control to the network by managing users, perhaps also acting as a post office for e-mail. If that describes your business, then there is a very good chance that a switch to Linux will be completely painless and transparent to the users of the system. Some businesses, particularly those in a "vertical market" (Real Estate, Insurance, Legal etc.) have applications specific to their business that run on the server. More and more, the providers of these applications are either making a move to Linux for their products, or at a minimum, "porting" their product to Linux as an additional, alternative platform so that you have a choice of what to load on your server. If that is the case, the switch can be accomplished with a degree of difficulty determined by the supplier of your particular software package (i.e. If file formats change between software versions, then there is more work involved to make the switch).