[Glastonbury] Linux advocacy - (fwd)

[Martin WHEELER]

FYI -- forwarded from the Free S

************************************************************************
Date: 01 Aug 2003 07:36:58 +0100
From: Paul <paulf.johnson@ukonline.co.uk>
To: discuss@openoffice.org
Cc: FSFE <fsfe-uk@gnu.org>

> Everybody who cares needs to contact their
> elected representatives and let them know that their vote will be cast
for
> politicians that support open source. Anyone with the passion needs to
work
> on educating the masses on what is at stake by writing, speaking and
> demonstrating.

This is exactly what we have been doing in the UK. Over here we have a
really awful position in that a good chunk of our GPR is thrown at MS.
Roughly 110 million UKP is just given to MS for the licences in school
(if a school is signed up, they have to pay - not on a per machine
basis, but on a per student basis. If they're signed up and don't have a
machine, they have to pay). The NHS gives somewhere approaching 55
million to MS with other services providing a large chunk (Universities
are approaching 90 million p.a.). There are a couple of glimmers of
hope. The UK Police have come over to Linux (all new work stations and
terminals will be linux based) and more educational establishments are
spending their money more wisely by not giving it to MS and using Linux
instead.

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=A3110 million from schools; =A390 million from Universities; =A355 million
from the Health Service -- that's a quarter of a billion quid per annum,
with nothing to show for it in return.

Get rid of third world debt?  Let's start with the Microsoft tax on the
developed world, shall we?


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Martin Wheeler   -   StarTEXT / AVALONIX - Glastonbury - BA6 9PH - England
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