Kenneth Gonsalves wrote:
On 18-Aug-08, at 1:14 PM, Erach wrote:
Now the key issue is that has anyone taken a software project of say one year and shown it is cheaper to develop using Windows v/s LINUX for the "easy to use touted set of Windows tool v/s which tool set to use of LINUX".
in my experience it is more expensive to develop in FOSS, for the simple reason that the developers hired have to actually know what they are doing, so cost much more. In the long run, though, once the software is developed and deployed, the software is far cheaper to maintain. If I am not mistaken, when Munich opted for FOSS, the FOSS bid was much higher than the proprietary software bids.
The general opinion of people in the software industry (programmers and potential clients) is that Windows programmers are cheaper and available in large quantities whereas FOSS programmers are few and quote astronomical rates for their work.