I put forward the many open source alternatives available to my local council.
They understood, but cited it was too expensive - referencing this article:
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/234 ... rnment-cio
It's an old article now but I'd never seen it before and I thought I'd share it here with you guys.
Best
Nathan
Local Council rejects Open Source (MS Cheaper)
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nathanjh13
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Local Council rejects Open Source (MS Cheaper)
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Pjotr
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Re: Local Council rejects Open Source (MS Cheaper)
In the short term open source may well be more expensive. Not in the long run though: then it's considerably less expensive. Because after the initial costly learning curve, the benefits become clear: no more licenses to be paid and hardware which has a much longer stretch of economical lifespan.
But the desirability of a shift to open source isn't only about the costs. It's also about readability of digital documents in the very long run, resistance against malware and adaptability.
It would seem to me that a local government which apparently only looks at the short term costs, severely lacks vision.
But the desirability of a shift to open source isn't only about the costs. It's also about readability of digital documents in the very long run, resistance against malware and adaptability.
It would seem to me that a local government which apparently only looks at the short term costs, severely lacks vision.
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richyrich
Re: Local Council rejects Open Source (MS Cheaper)
They referenced the article . . too bad they didn't read the comments and replies ! 
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nathanjh13
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Re: Local Council rejects Open Source (MS Cheaper)
I know, I pointed this out to them too. Many thanks folks!
Re: Local Council rejects Open Source (MS Cheaper)
maybe just point out, that The City of Munich opted to take its systems out of the proprietary loop - in 2003 
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Re: Local Council rejects Open Source (MS Cheaper)
As the article points out, there are many variables to consider, and many that are locally dependent (eg, training, familiarity, length of equipment leases, level of expertise within the organization, etc). Also, commercial software license fees vary widely depending on the number of seats, size of the organization, etc.
I'm sure there are cases in which commercial software is cheaper, but as an IT contractor I can't tell you how many small organizations I see that pay top dollar in their MS licenses and could easily save a bundle with FOSS solutions.
Also, I'm seeing more and more Windows shops keep Windows as their baseline environment, but then add FOSS on top of it for software development tools, utiltiies, and the like. Call it Windows + FOSS on top?
I'm sure there are cases in which commercial software is cheaper, but as an IT contractor I can't tell you how many small organizations I see that pay top dollar in their MS licenses and could easily save a bundle with FOSS solutions.
Also, I'm seeing more and more Windows shops keep Windows as their baseline environment, but then add FOSS on top of it for software development tools, utiltiies, and the like. Call it Windows + FOSS on top?