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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Dan Attwood wrote on 14/10/14 08:43:<br>
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<blockquote
cite="mid:CAGcBgjgTnkbT7zxOaVo+Cx9rMN=iNSbP3b3zdfh8CFAX5yRfwA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr"><span
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">>Agreed.
But they talk about a "strategic commitment" to Microsoft. Do</span><br
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">>you
know what a "strategic commitment" is? Do council members have
stock</span><br
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">>options
in Microsoft? Seriously though, why on earth would anyone have
a</span><br
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">>"strategic
commitment" to a corporation?</span><br>
<div><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">They
mean their 5 and 10 years plans. ie.</span></div>
<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">We currently have Windows on
all our machines and it works and we happy with
the associated costs, current staff training etc.</font></div>
<div><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">We
expect, and MS have told us ,that they will release new
versions of all their products and we will have a clear
supported upgrade path to those products</span></div>
<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Within that we have
a estimated life span and refresh rate of hardware etc.</font></div>
<div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="arial, sans-serif">If they switched to OSS they
would still need a </font><span
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">"strategic
commitment"</span><span
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"> to that
as an organisation</span></div>
</div>
<br>
</blockquote>
Thanks for the explanation Dan. I've written to some Dutch reporters
who covered the Munich switch to Free software. I sent them the FOI
response. Here's an extract from the Munich article:<br>
<p><i>As of November last year, </i><i><a
href="http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/open-source/3413037/linux-migration-has-already-saved-munich-89-million/">the
city saved more than £8.9 million</a></i><i> because of the
switch. More recent figures were not immediately available, but
cost savings were not the only goal of the operation. It was
also done to be less dependent on manufacturers, product cycles
and proprietary OSes, the council said Thursday.</i></p>
<i>
</i>
<p><i>"All project objectives were achieved and in some cases even
exceeded," the council said. One of the goals was to migrate
12,000 desktops to LiMux, but in the end, the city managed to
create over 14,800 LiMux workspaces for its approximately 15,500
desktops.</i></p>
source:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3493623/munich-declares-switch-open-source-successfully-completed/">http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3493623/munich-declares-switch-open-source-successfully-completed/</a><br>
I've asked them to comment on the FOI response I received. We'll see
what they have to say.<br>
<br>
It seems the UK government is also moving in this direction but I
guess it's all too much for our Kent County councillors. <br>
Jonathan<br>
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