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Henry Bremridge wrote: > As this is on the web... > > On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 06:38:43PM +0000, james kilty wrote: > >> Whilst the up front costs of a Microsoft Desktop compared to it's >> Freeware Linux counterpart may appear to favour the Linux route, the >> total cost of ownership would show a different picture. The additional >> work required on the Linux platform to create an integrated set of >> tools, which is out of the box functionality for Mirosoft would very >> quickly overtake any initial purchase savings, as has been experienced >> by Penwith. This is outside of the argument for the business to be able >> to quickly respond to changing needs. >> >> > OK this is the key paragraph and basically what they are saying is that they > refuse to compare "apples to apples " and instead want to compare "apples to > oranges". Lets break it down > > - Microsoft has an annual licensing cost, and this will be for perpetuity. > - Openoffice is free but has a one-off conversion cost (we can argue exactly what > cost, and while I would accept it is real; I doubt it is significant in the scheme > of things) > - Then there are the additional costs / issues. Archival of records, tailoring of > the system, lower disk space etc etc etc > > The question is at what point does the one off upfront conversion fee become equal > to a perpetual low cost? If CCC believe that the perpetual smaller fee is always > less than a larger upfront payment, then given their credit rating I am sure we > can do a deal that will make us rich (and CCC much poorer). > > This is a classic problem and to solve it you need to find the present value of > the future license fees > > The formula in OpenOffice is "Present Value" and as an example at 6% interest, £20 > cost pa for 20 years is the equivalent to a cost of £229.40 today > > Finally there is the example of Bristol who showed that converting to Openoffice > cost £1.6m, but staying with MS would have cost £10m or so (I have forgotten the > exact figures) > > >> The council does not rely entirely on the use of Microsoft products, and >> have Unix and Linux systems deployed to run some of the most critical >> database systems used in the authority. The council uses the right tool >> for the right job - the Microsoft platform on the desktop where >> interoperability and flexibility is required, and Linux to run the >> council's largest databases where security and performance is critical. >> >> > This seems to be copied word for word from the Devon County Council.... :) > > > >> As a footnote, early tests for the latest release of the Office product >> shows that when using the compatibility download, there is forward and >> backward compatibility for files created in either Office 2002, 2003, or >> 2007. The council has seamlessly and automatically deployed this >> compatibility pack to all of its computers." >> >> > This is red herring. Is office compatible with international standards? > > > Odt has ISO certfication number 26300, as far as I know OOXML still does not come up to the required standard, or fill the right criteria, despite efforts by MS Paul -- Support open file formats use ISO 26300 Open Document format as used by openoffice.org, http:///www.openoffice.org visit us on IRC - irc.flashtek-uk.com / 6667 #dclug -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version 3.1 GIT d S: a C+++ UL++++ P+ L++ W++ N+ W--- O! V! PS+ Y! t+++ 5 X+++ R tv- b- DI! D++ G e H! r! z? -----END GEEK CODE BLOCK---- -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html