Norm - you are entitled, and to each his own.
IMHO - Platform fit is dependent on both the organization and application(s) you are working with.
Workstation Perspective:
With small to medium companies you are probably dead on. There is too much specific knowledge to configure and maintain low volumes of equipment. None of the Linux ‘vendors’ have figured this out. It shouldn’t take a programmer to build a basic workstation.
Larger organizations, in contrast, pay huge amounts of money for licensing MS products on their workstations. In return, MS continues to re-invent user interfaces to applications like Office. This costs a lot of money in terms of user re-training, formal or just figuring it out.
It wasn’t for a long time, but frankly Open Office at this point is as good or better than MS Office, excluding some specialized functions. It also has the added advantage that it has menus that stay put, didn’t turn into iconic ribbons, and it doesn’t force you to work like you’re on an Android or iPhone. People are creatures of habit, they work more efficiently when their environment stays the same.
If you want any form of hardware consistency MS and Apple also add many thousands if not millions of expenses to constantly upgrade hardware. The cost of a select few knowledgeable people to build ‘a corporate workstation distro’ for a common hardware platform would seem to be a lot cheaper. Once it’s built, many end users show little knowledge or concern about the underlying platform. I am always shocked when people don’t even understand basic things like the file system. I answer more questions about ‘lost files’ on the MAC and Windows than I would care to admit. For the record, Mint is also my preferred Window Manager.
Server Perspective:
There is just no comparison. Servers are inherently more complicated, and they tend to remain more stable over time. It takes specialized skills to build and maintain them anyway. Linux gives you a lot more latitude to:
- strip away unneeded components (less hackable/less to break)
- selectively patch software
- update company specific software on your own schedule
- more readily identify what the machine is doing
Using Linux servers and VMs is like using a cheaper, open source version of DEC VAX machines in days of old, they just keep running!! We don’t even install an X windows manager on our servers; there is no reason, and it keeps the machines simpler. This is why Xojo is in our toolkit. We can develop cost effective applications that are NOT Windows/ DOT NET dependent. They can be upgraded and managed and upgraded for YEARS without major intervention.