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by: ColonelZen	IP: 228.181	rated: 0-0	posted: 2007-08-16 22:44:23
Over on Y SCOX leclite comments that some on comp.unix.sco.moderated are koolaid drinkers because they believe *somebody* will look after their products.     IMO these comments are overly disparaging.     I've been called a couple times to help with some SCO boxes (mostly getting data off as they were migrating to another platform - I see another in the not too distant future).     What you have to remember is that most of these companies running SCO are old style brick and mortar outfits who do businesses that have nothing directly to do with computers. Most of the "admins" are clerks and office workers for whom "sysadmin" is third or fourth down their list of daily responsibilities (until something breaks, of course). E. g. the admin might be their chief bookkeeper who had a couple of computer courses in college, then when the need arose, took a couple of SCO admin courses. He knows just enough to add new users, run backups and (hopefully) restores ... and then a bit more on how to manage their software packages on the box.     They are generally not people for whom sysadmin-is-a-way-of-life.     For these companies, computers are a necessary evil - and they do, and rightly for most of their businesses - consider it an evil. An expense and overhead in time and money that they must have but has no direct relation to what they really do. They *hate* having to do business in a way that matches what their software will accept and almost as much hate changing the way they do business.     A lot of these boxes are running ancient custom or strongly customized code for which there is no quick and easy migration path. When they will *have* to go to another platform - and extremely likely to different software (poorly) customized to their business processes it will be a MAJOR trauma to them as business entities - very likely significantly affecting their bottom line, probably pushing it into the red - for a year, maybe two. Brick and mortar biz's, remember, thin, thin margins. And I like these companies - those I've worked with seem to have more old time respect and care for their people than "modern" by-the-spreadsheet cut-people-to-meet-not-just-profit-but-profitability-expectations companies.     And he's probably right that whomever comes out owning the customer base will be offering support for some time to come. They will naturally be pushing these companies to migrate, but the roadblock will be the ancient customized software. Handled right and delicately this could be a boon for that company.     -- TWZ