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I am intending to write a letter to our elected representatives pointing out the
cost of MS and the alternatives available; hence areas where Devon CC can
considerably increase the value of their IT spending. If looked at intelligently.
Basic gist of the letter would be as follow:
- Proprietary software costs money and will continue to do so ad infinitum, while
switching costs are a one off and need not be material. In addition proprietary file
formats are used to lock in demand for proprietary software.
- Support for opensource software should not cost any more than proprietary software
and is commercially available.
- Opensource is being used by Public Bodies around the world. Some of which are
significantly larger and more complicated than Devon
- Opensource cannot solve all problems, but prima facie it can reduce IT spending.
Areas than I can mention include the following
- Range of stable, reliable, opensource software (OpenOffice, Asterisk, Linux
Operating system) and areas where opensource is improving (mapping?)
- City of Washington DC with 38,000 terminals uses googledocs instead of MS office
- Bristol (switch to Open Office)
- Netherlands ("OpenSource as a part of the Software Strategy" in which Government
Institutions are obliged to explain why they need to use proprietary solution)
- Indian States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu
- http://www.linux.org/info/linux_industry.html
- http://www.linux.org/info/linux_govt.html
These were all collected from various news reports. If anyone has publically
disclosable facts or suggestions for improving the argument, could they please send
them? eg I do not know what commercial support for Open Source Desktops is available
in the SW.
--
Henry
Photocopies or faxes of my signature are not binding.
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