[Sussex] OSS with UK Government

[Matthew Macdonald-Wallace]

Quoting Steve Dobson <steve at dobson.org>:
> All
> 
> The report on the Use of Open Source Software within the UK 
> Government has now been published.  I haven't read it yet
> but the report I suggests it is worth reading so...
> 
> See some of ya tonight.
> 
> You can get the report from:
> http://www.ogc.gov.uk/index.asp?docid=2190#finalreport

The Executive Summary concludes:

Key Conclusions
On the basis of the empirical evidence and experience reported from the trials
sites and elsewhere, the current study has concluded that:

- Viability of OSS: 
Open Source software is a viable and credible alternative to proprietary
software for infrastructure implementations, and for meeting the requirements
of the majority of desktop users;

-Obstacles to implementation: 
The main obstacles to widespread implementation of Open Source software are: for
desktop applications, the current lack of complex functionality which can
affect ease of migration and interoperability for some organisations; and for
business applications, the lack of Open Source products to compete with
large-scale proprietary enterprise-level products; no significant obstacles
were noted for the adoption of Open Source in infrastructure developments;

- Costs and benefits: 
Adoption of Open Source software can generate significant savings in hardware
and software costs for infrastructure implementation, and reduce the licensing
costs and hardware refresh requirements for desktop implementation;

- Lessons learned: 
Adoption of Open Source, particularly for the desktop, requires investment in
planning, training of users, development of skills for implementation and
support, and detailed consideration of migration and interoperability issues.

Sounds encouraging to me... :)

-- 
Matthew Macdonald-Wallace
E: matthew at truthisfreedom.org.uk