Best of the web - 9 Nov 06

Today's roundup of stories from the rest of the web detail Amazon's plans as an outsourcer, suggest Open Source may not always be the cheapest and explain why you may need to speed up your web site

Amazon details outsourcing plans
Amazon’s announcement that it is going to sell processing time and storage space on its systems has added an interesting option for companies looking at outsourcing their computer infrastructure. Today, at the Web 2.0 summit, Amazon’s chief executive Jeffrey P Bezos, outlined the company’s plans in more detail, as reported in the Washington Post.
At Web 2.0 Summit, a Look At What's in Store (and Storage)Open Source may not be cheapest Open Source software can seem an attractive alternative to proprietary software thanks to its licensing structure, but companies should look at the total cost of ownership, including support costs, to get a fair comparison. This is especially so for charities which can often license software at reduced cost. The BBC looks at Christian Aid's common knowledge programme which uses Microsoft software in preference to Open Source.
Charity shuns open source code

Slow sites lose users
If you’re conducting business over the web don’t ignore load times for your web site. If your site’s too slow users will simply go to a rival instead, cautions another report from the BBC.
Websites face four-second cut-off