Tech Forum

The philosophy of Python teaches that:

Simple is better than complex
But complex is better than complicated

It seems to me that:

Apple is simple, but most expensive
Linux is complex but inexpensive
Windows is complicated and expensive


You can:

Get it done quickly, cheaply or right
Pick any two; Trying for all three leads to destruction


My question is this:

Why is the Church still using Windows for MLS and Family History. Am I missing something?

BrentFiegle wrote:Why is the Church still using Windows for MLS and Family History. Am I missing something?

That Windows is available and Windows is cheap probably has a lot to do with it.

BrentFiegle wrote:My question is this:

Why is the Church still using Windows for MLS

We (the community) have discussed this in older threads. I think three points need to be made. First, more members (both user and support roles) know Windows over Linux. Second, Windows has enterprise-class management tools (such as the IBM manager). I'm not sure as Linux is as robust. Third, and perhaps most important, there's really no cost savings with deleting windows. The top tier PC suppliers pay Windows licenses per-machine shipped - not just the ones sold with Windows. So while you can buy machines without Windows, you're still paying for it. It's unwise for the church to go with a lower-tier supplier for a world-wide enterprise.

BrentFiegle wrote:and Family History.

In addition to the above points, the FHC has (or can have) 3rd party programs that are developed by the Family History Partners. Just like the PC market as a whole, those programs are predominately Windows.


Since those discussions, things have changed. Things are moving toward the internet. MLS is being reduced and may disappear completely. If there were to be a change, I'd think Chromebook has a chance.

Also, because it costs a lot of time and resources to switch from one operating system to another; and they've been using Windows for a while.

I understand why the Church used Windows in the past. I've used MS-DOS since 3.11 (at least) and every version of Windows since 3.1.

My question was and stIll is:

Why is the Church still using Windows?

A RasperryPi 3 costs $35. A RasperryPi Zero costs $5. Both are more capable that almost any of the systems I have seen. The existing computers could be sold or given to schools or members as things are replaced.

The hardware savings (see Moores Law) is enough to pay for any development costs in a reasonable time frame. They can even be centrally managed.

We can even train programmers in Python using them and retire things with built in testing, documentation, etc. it is designed to last a long time is completely open source.

sbradshaw wrote:Also, because it costs a lot of time and resources to switch from one operating system to another; and they've been using Windows for a while.

Less than switch from MSoffice 2003 to MSOffice 2010!
I'm a retired programmer and start developing program for Linux two years ago. I've not find any great problem.
My last application is a IoT device that communicate with a server.
Server and development tolls use Linux.

BrentFiegle wrote:Why is the Church still using Windows?

The church is a wold-wide "enterprise". It follows the IT trends, it doesn't lead them.