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Study: Linux beats Windows again
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Wednesday, December 15, 2004 (21:46:07) Article by: OFrNEO
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An updated Linux vs Windows TCO study has found that a 250-seat company can end up saving 36 percent if it were to equip its users with the open source operating system and applications that run on it. The study, by Melbourne-based open source firm Cybersource, found that even use of a commercial Linux distribution such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, would result in 27 percent lower costs.
The study was first issued in April 2002. "We have now updated this report to accommodate the changes in both platforms. We have also extended the model to increase its relevance and accuracy," said Con Zymaris, chief executive officer of Cybersource. The study covers the average requirements over a period of three years. Zymaris said the timeframe was chosen because the costs of upgrading had to be borne repeatedly in the case of Windows.
He said given the fact that the company deals in open source products, four aspects had been factored in to tip the scales towards Microsoft:
# The model was not modified to to reflect research by the Robert Frances Group which showed that Linux needed 82 percent fewer staff resources.
# The costs of malware - viruses, spyware, worms, keyloggers, adware - were not taken into account. Zymaris said every research point found had suggested that this cost was essentially and predominantly a Windows platform cost, resulting in billions lost by business every year.
# Costs which arose when systems need to be pre-emptively rebooted or crashed, resulting in unscheduled downtime, were not taken into account. "All our research indicates that Linux rarely if ever suffers such problems and open source platforms on the whole are extremely robust," Zymaris said.
# "Finally, because Microsoft has claimed that introducing Linux into an environment will lead to increased reliance on external consultants, we have tripled the amount budgeted for such requirements on the Linux models," he said.
Source: The Age
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Mind over matter
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Friday, December 10, 2004 (06:20:57) Article by: devil
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An experiment was successful in enabling four separate people to move a computer cursor through thought alone. A similar successful experiment had been done before with a monke, but that required electrodes implanted in its brain. These volunteers simply wore a thinking cap held 64 electrodes against their scalp.
The researchers used an algorithm that was able to translate the volunteers' brain signals into directives. The four people involved were each successful in getting the cursor to move in two directions. In the official study jargon: "The results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two dimensions." The thought process took practice, but once mastered it could be done consistently.
Of the volunteers, two were disabled men restricted to a wheelchair, and the other two were a man and a woman. Reportedly, the disabled men were better at the task, possibly because of stronger motivation and/or a more adept brain that is used to coping with physical limitations.
Again in the official jargon of the study, the implications of this finding are as follows: "The impressive noninvasive multidimensional control achieved in the present study suggests that a noninvasive brain control interface could support clinically useful operation of a robotic arm, a motorized wheelchair, or a neuroprosthesis."
Read the full study info at the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the USA.
Article taken from Geek.com
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