Why don't I migrate to Linux? Let me count the ways," began reader Tom Staight's response to my recent column, Why aren't you migrating to Linux?

Of all the topics I've disemboweled in this space in the last year, the question of moving to Linux is the hottest. It seems almost all of you have a leaning toward Linux.

But Staight's point is important. The existence of a constellation of issues, rather than one or two dominant ones, was cited by perhaps 80% of those who wrote to me saying they aren't migrating.

It seems that unless you are building a Web server farm or have specialized needs, Linux isn't compelling yet. In general, you are trapped by your apps or by the enormous task of migration. It turns out there are galaxies of irreplaceable Windows-based apps to consider, and armies of executives and workers who all make migration, at best, really difficult.

Reader Mick Toothaker wrote: "On the server we have already evaluated Linux. . . . [But] of the 40-some servers I am responsible for, all of them are running some sort of server-based Win 32 application, or are Domain Controllers. One, count it, one, server is a good candidate for Linux."

Toothaker continued, "I am not some newbie who hates, fears or is otherwise ignorant of Linux. Nor am I some Microsoft flack, drone or zombie. . . . The fact that Microsoft is dominant in the industry [and] in my place of employment is not the best part of my job . . . [but] it is a fact, one that I have to live with."

Of course in some IT shops the availability and functionality of Windows apps makes Windows the preferred solution. Nathan McCourtney wrote: "I've got 20 servers to worry about and I don't have time to learn the arcane and poorly designed system interfaces for a quadrillion different management apps, none of which do everything I need and none of which share anything close to a common design philosophy."

McCourtney added: "Microsoft is just more functional and useful. They actually <GASP!> conduct usability studies to see if people can intuitively use their apps. I don't recall any postings on SourceForge in that topic area." And if there are, I'll bet they say something like, "Users are dumb! They don't DESERVE to run Linux!!"