On Fri, 2011-07-08 at 12:19 +0530, Debayan Banerjee wrote: > > so we use FOSS to save money?? > > > > The Government's usage of FOSS will allow us to escape unfair and > non-negotiable pricing policies from monopoly proprietary vendors, and > hence > it will result in reduction of procurement costs in the long run. It > is to > become self sufficient some time in the future and free ourselves from > vendor lock in. While the primary motivation is not saving money, it > is > still an aspect that matters and warrants investigation.
agreed > > Creating an environment where FOSS platforms are used for development > will > foster the growth of an industry that has 0 input cost in buying > licenses > and hence will be able to turn out products which are not as > expensive. > Unless a big 'customer' like the Govt of India takes a stand like > this, the > required eco-system of support for FOSS is not going to grow. Govt *is* taking a stand on this - the various governments in India are among the most FOSS friendly in the world. > > I use FOSS and it certainly saves me a lot of money as well. so do I - and money has never been a criterion. > Replacing > Windows with Linux will certainly save on licensing costs. There is > the > issue of retraining costs involved, but it will repay itself in the > longer > run. agreed, but in the short run it is much more expensive. > > For backend uses such as web servers, announcement systems, public > display > systems, route navigation systems etc there is no mass retraining cost > either. you will have to retrain the developers - and that is non-trivial. > Instead a redevelopment effort is required, which as any > professional would know, is not easy to do. No one would fix something > that > ain't broken. > > So what is broken currently, in the Govt's perspective, is the Govt's > helpless dependence on Windows as a platform (pertaining to the draft > under > discussion). are we discussing the same thing here? -- regards KG http://lawgon.livejournal.com Coimbatore LUG rox http://ilugcbe.techstud.org/ -- Mailing list guidelines and other related articles: http://lug-iitd.org/Footer
