On initial review, the answer seems simple. Linux's low- or no-cost license fees should drive down the TCO of the open source OS, compared to Windows or other flavors of Unix. But the debate--like the larger debate of Linux vs. Windows--is complicated by administration and support costs that vary for each installation.

TCO is hard to pin down
Most analysts, if asked whether Linux has a lower TCO than other systems, will answer, "It depends." That's because a wide variety of factors affect any TCO calculation: what function you're using Linux for, what kind of hardware (and how much of it) you're using, if you're transitioning from Windows or starting from the ground up, and if your IT staff has any experience with a Unix-like OS.

Those variables and others--such as what distribution of Linux is in play and the version of Windows or Unix it's being compared with--make it impossible to plug numbers into a preset formula and spit out an easy answer, explained Al Gillen, research director of systems software for tech analyst IDC, which has been doing TCO studies for several years.

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into a preset formula and spit out an easy answer, explained Al Gillen, research director of systems software for tech analyst IDC, which has been doing TCO studies for several years.

"It's not trivial to figure out, and even when we do a TCO study, you have to remember that our TCO studies are extremely specific in nature," Gillen said. The IDC studies examine a specific workload on two specific kinds of systems with specific kinds of hardware. "The chances are the stack that we select is probably not going to be representative of anybody's real-world configuration," he added.

The numbers you can measure and compare with often end up with complex explanations attached. For example, take licensing fees, where Linux easily beats Windows or other Unix OSs. When you figure out TCO over a three- to five-year period, the initial licensing costs end up being a miniscule piece of the cost, compared with large-ticket items like Linux administration and support, Gillen noted.

"The cost of acquisition of software, hardware--all the things you buy up front--that's a minority element of the total cost of ownership of any operating system," he said. "Whether you pay $2,000 for a Windows license or $49.95 for a boxed copy of Linux, over the course of its lifetime, that ends up being a minor cost."

Gillen pointed out that $2,000 divided over five years is $400. "What is the cost for a technical support professional per hour to be there on staff? Probably a couple of hundred dollars," he noted.
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