IBM aims for 40,000 Linux desktops in-house by 2005 - Computerworld

IBM aims for 40,000 Linux desktops in-house by 2005 - Computerworld "IBM hopes to have 40,000 Linux desktop users within the company by year's end, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the computer giant thinks everyone should move to the Linux desktop, an IBM executive said today at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco.
Already, about 15,000 of IBM's more than 300,000 employees have moved to the Linux desktop, said Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of worldwide Linux strategy and market development. While Handy believes that the Linux desktops are costing IBM less than the $5,000 to $7,000 per year that analyst firms typically ascribe to the maintenance of Windows systems, the switch to a Linux PC may not be a great deal for everyone.
"We're not going to see as much traction in the traditional desktop space," Handy said. "If you look at the TCO [total cost of ownership] characteristics of [Linux and open-source software] vs. Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office, it's not that great."