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On 26/05/2010 09:49, Dan Dart wrote:
This is essentially the point I made to my MP. I think the majority of council/government users will be bog standard Office type users. Ease of migrating them to Open Office/Thunderbird/Firefox.. pretty high. For example the 650 MPs could all have net tops running Linux instead of full blown laptops running Windows. Yes Henry's right - some machines will have to remain Windows based, but does that mean they still have to run Microsoft Office? Even if they can't save the Windows license fee they *can* save all the MS Office licenses.WHile it's true for most of this, training costs will be minimal in an easy-to-use system, most will need a brief intro. Think about it, most staff don't even know how to use windows, and have to get hints from kids. So they can help them here easier because it's what they'd use at home, and all software by year 1 will be converted or found alternatives to because the companies produicing the software would lose money if they didn't. Besides, what software do they need? Logon, browse, do maths? Play on a whiteboard? All of that is there. And UI improvements especially is what I'd like to be pushing to schools with Bibud, which will be made easily rebranded by councils etc.
Also I think you can off-set some of the costs against the saving in hardware - with every new Windows release there is a leap in the hardware required to run it. Linux in comparison uses lower spec hardware for the same performance, so you save on upgrade costs. I think the saving of not upgrading a couple of hundred - or thousand - machines probably outweighs the additional costs in training, if not in support staff as well.
Julian -- 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