Linux gaining ground!"> Linux gaining ground!

About a third of businesses plan to migrate at least some Windows machines to Linux, according to a recent survey, but adoption will continue to be both slow and cautious, as companies evaluate a maze of economic factors.

In a report on total cost of ownership for the Linux, Unix and Microsoft Windows operating systems, research company The Yankee Group found that only 4 percent of businesses planned to migrate Unix servers to Linux within the next two years. A total of 11 percent intended to move Windows servers to Linux, while 21 percent proposed to add Linux servers to a predominantly Windows environment. On the desktop, 36 percent of businesses expected to have a few Linux PCs in their business, but only 5 percent planned a total migration to Linux. A majority–57 percent–planned no changes for Windows on the desktop.

But here’s my take: Last week, a friend tried to purchase 23 copies of Red Hat Linux from Red Hat and was told it would cost him about $20,000. That doesn’t sound like a less expensive alternative to Windows and methinks that some may be cranking the window up a bit too quickly.