On the face of it the use of a GNU/Linux-based OS in place of Windows ought to be attractive. Unfortunately, things are not quite so simple.
The amount the government (national and local) pays to Microsoft per seat, for both OS and applications, is minisule, compared to what you or I would expect to pay as individuals. This is a deliberate ploy by Microsoft precisely to counter the issue of cost advantage when considering alternative software suppliers. Compared to the actual cost of reconfiguring every server (many thousands) and desktop (hundreds of thousands), the savings would not be worth it. On top of that, of course, is the fact that there have been so many IT disasters in government departments, both publicised and unpublicised, that there is simply no stomach for such a fundamental change. It's bad enough when departments perform upgrades withing their existing architecture. If you were to ask public servants how confident they would be of a smooth migration to an entirely new OS, I think you'd be struggling to find any at all. Nige > Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 20:42:54 +0100 > From: Pete <[email protected]> > To: UK Ubuntu Talk <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Has anybody seen this and what do you > think...... > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; Format="flowed" > > I guess most if not everyone out there know that Governments use Windows > XP (Uk Gov't) and that it costs quite a huge amount to pay in bulk > licenses, including local councils. Does anyone know how much these bulk > licenses cost and how many the UK Gov't have? > > Well, onto the main reason I am posting - I have sent an email to my > local MP to look into using a Linux based OS instead of Windows as they > wont need to pay for licenses which will presumably save hundreds of > thousands. > > Why not send an email to your local MP or the MP that deals with the IT > or whoever it is that does. > > What's your thoughts on this? > > *****************************************
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