Ballmer warns Asia of Linux's total cost, lawsuits
InternetNews | at | by Mike
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer urged Asian government leaders not to take sides in the Linux versus Windows debate. Ballmer pointed out that licensing costs may be only a small percentage of the total cost of ownership of a piece of software. "You've got to install it, you've got to deploy it, you've got to develop for it, you've got to manage it, you've got to create and buy applications from it, and all of those costs are probably about 90 percent of the total cost," he said.
Ballmer said governments should remain neutral and evaluate software on its own merits. "Taking a position [on] open source versus commercial software is almost like taking a position on which economic model for society is better," he said.