Does it Make Sense to Switch to Linux?

The NYT today reports that companies bought software, but the general public saved.

``The crucial driver of growth in the second quarter was nonresidential fixed investment, which covers items like office buildings and purchases of equipment and software. This sector rocketed up at an annual rate of 17 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 7.8 percent increase in the first. The equipment and software category alone grew at an annual rate of 21.9 percent, the fastest pace in 12 years. ''

If you are in the category of general public, you don't have to skimp on software, there is free - as in no money - software.

I posted in this blog a Dell with Ubuntu for $459.99.

Not bad!

If you keep reading the NYT story, maybe there is another reason to switch:

``“There are limits on the degree to which you can substitute capital for labor,” Mr. Ryding said. “But you can understand that businesses don’t have to pay health care on equipment and software, and these get better tax treatment than you get for hiring people. If you can get away with upgrading capital spending and deferring hiring for a while, that makes economic sense, especially in this uncertain policy environment.”''

Businesses  do not seem to want us back in their payrolls.