tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5650649138973583402.post4965350146588417330..comments2023-09-20T07:28:27.572-05:00Comments on Linux in Exile: Why platform matters less, part 1Jim Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598443864678006773noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5650649138973583402.post-4490650519941015752010-07-10T10:13:44.061-05:002010-07-10T10:13:44.061-05:00Shawn, lots of big companies have moved to google ...Shawn, lots of big companies have moved to google docs. It's not like using Google means the whole wide world sees what you write.pyxienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5650649138973583402.post-34516371158964078992010-07-09T19:36:19.017-05:002010-07-09T19:36:19.017-05:00"are *not* necessarily controlled" of co..."are *not* necessarily controlled" of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5650649138973583402.post-30360074773193075042010-07-09T19:35:39.438-05:002010-07-09T19:35:39.438-05:00Keep in mind that many web platforms are necessari...Keep in mind that many web platforms are necessarily controlled by an external party. You can get calendaring software that runs on servers you have but present a web interface, and Google (I believe) offers a version of Google Docs that is hosted locally.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5650649138973583402.post-70735334728159690342010-07-09T14:15:16.489-05:002010-07-09T14:15:16.489-05:00You must work in a very open environment, one that...You must work in a <i>very</i> open environment, one that wouldn't mind if your competitors were able to see your budget and strategy documents. Those documents would seem by their nature to provide some pretty detailed bidding and future product direction information. I hope it works out for you and doesn't bite you in the ass later.<br /><br />But the main point of your post is certainly valid, and Joel Spolsky has commented on this several times.Shawn Smithhttp://www.thisisnotavalidurl.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5650649138973583402.post-40470005619933593922010-07-07T17:52:20.072-05:002010-07-07T17:52:20.072-05:00Yup, that's the tradeoff. Each organization ne...Yup, that's the tradeoff. Each organization needs to evaluate if Google Docs (or other web-based "cloud" applications) provide sufficient value for that tradeoff. And a lot of organizations don't have the same kind of data confidentiality requirements you describe.<br /><br />In our organization, for example, our medical group had to go through their own due diligence, and generate their own governance policy on using Google Docs.<br /><br />But Google isn't the only option for web applications. You mentioned running apps at a local level. Agree! By extension, many classic "desktop" applications can be web applications that run on a locally-managed web server.<br /><br />My example was our groupware system. It was a "fat" client, running on Windows. At first, that seemed like an obstacle to me running Linux at work. Then I realized we had a web version so people could use the application remotely without the fat client. Worked perfectly for managing contacts, email, calendar access, and everything else.JHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264061238864151815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5650649138973583402.post-58690732767129238292010-07-06T19:26:26.443-05:002010-07-06T19:26:26.443-05:00One downside is security and data confidentiality....One downside is security and data confidentiality. My work deals with a lot of confidential data that isn't legally allowed to leave our system, thus all applications have to be run at a local level. There are ways around this (say, run the applications on a local server accessed via HTML), but it'll still be a major issue for some workplaces.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08345844882894801472noreply@blogger.com