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• Open source software, boon for e-governance (The Hindu, 2005.05.25)
  Open source protects governments and big organisations from depending on a single company. Proprietary software and hardware generally go hand-in-hand, so when the company upgrades hardware, users are forced to upgrade their software and vice versa. ... The report suggests that by using open source software, instead of Microsoft Office, the Government can generate enormous savings even while continuing to use other proprietary software applications. The software can be made available to all departments through a centralised web-enabled database.
  

• Government Studies Open-Source Migration (ECT News Network, 2005.05.20)
  The Paraguayan government is studying whether to implement open source Latest News about open source software in all its entities to reduce costs...
  

• Cuba dumps Windows for Linux (Australian IT, 2005.05.18)
  Cuba will gradually switch to the open-source Linux operating system for its state computers, eliminating its exclusive use of Microsoft Windows. Roberto del Puerto, director of the state office of information technology [said] that Cuba already has about 1,500 computers using the Linux operating system.
  

• Linux in Italian Schools (Linux Journal, 2005.05.17)
  The reasons why [some Italian high schools] discovered and switched to free software are quite varied. Some simply needed basic network services, including e-mail, shared printers, Internet access control and so on. Others wanted to run their Web sites and maybe offer e-learning services through them. Finally, some teachers and other personnel turned to free software to help them produce didactic material for students or simply to manage unavoidable paperwork. ... Their conclusion is you do save money with Linux but less than you thought, because the costs and effort for the initial setup cannot be ignored. At the same time, the switch greatly increases productivity and reduces maintenance costs even more. Overall, the school is quite happy to have taken this path.
  

• Top Companies Making Big Strides With Linux: Aduva OnStage Revenues Mirror Linux Growth (Investor's Business Daily, 2005.05.17)
  Aduva CEO [observes] 'Our firm has been experiencing strong, steady growth with each successive quarter. Linux is making significant strides within large enterprises and we're pleased that Aduva is one of the major players powering this expansion. As Linux continues to proliferate and ultimately becomes the platform of choice for mission critical applications, enterprises will require the level of security, availability, and standards compliance made possible by [our product].'
  

• Intel, Novell say Linux gains on Microsoft Brazil (Reuters, 2005.05.17)
  In Brazil, the free software movement has gained considerable backing from the government, which is pushing ministries to adopt open-source software to cut the cost of proprietary software like Windows.
  

• Birmingham Council plans 1,500 seat trial of open source desktops (ComputerWeekly, 2005.05.16)
  Birmingham City Council is to carry out large-scale trials to evaluate the viability of open source software on its desktop PCs. ... . The open source trial will include public-facing PCs in libraries as well as those used to access core systems in council offices.
  

• Open Source worthy of 'serious consideration' by schools, UK agency advises (DesktopLinux.com, 2005.05.13)
  The project found that Open Source software "can provide a suitable technical infrastructure and a basic set of applications for classroom use." Somewhat surprisingly, the report also states that Open Source "productivity" applications were perceived as "easier or simpler to use" than proprietary equivalents. Also, staff surveys revealed an overall higher rate of satisfaction with reliability and performance in the OSS schools than in the non-OSS schools. Less surprisingly, the report discovered that the total cost of ownership (TCO) at OSS schools -- evaluated over the course of three years on seven points -- was 20 to 50 percent less per PC. Schools implementing Open Source alternatives spent up to 50 percent less on support and training than "non-OSS" schools.
  

• IBM backs Firefox in-house (C|Net News, 2005.05.12)
  Firefox is already used by about 10 percent of IBM's staff, or about 30,000 people. Starting Friday, IBM workers can download the browser from internal servers and get support from the company's help desk staff. ... By supporting Firefox internally, IBM is also furthering its commitment to open-source products based on industry standards...
  

• Ditching Microsoft can save millions (The Times Educational Supplement, 2005.05.06)
  Primary schools could cut their computer costs by nearly half if they stopped buying, operating and supporting products from [Microsoft], [British] government research has found. ... The association analysed costs at 33 schools which use paid-for software, and compared them with 15 which have pioneered the use of free programs, known as open source, and the pared-down hardware to run them. Average costs, including software, hardware and support costs, were 24 per cent less per computer in secondaries using open source.
  

• Key Advantage of Open Source is Not Cost Savings (Computer Economics, 2005.05.05)
  Open source software is a low cost alternative to proprietary software. For example, the open source Linux operating system is commonly seen as a low cost alternative to Microsoft.s Server 2003 operating system, or Sun.s version of Unix. ... the leading vote-getter [in an online survey] was 'reduced dependence on software vendors' at 44%, followed by 'lower total cost of ownership' at 22%.
  

• eSN Special Report: Open-Source Software (eSchool News Online, 2005.05.02)
  Not only did the Linux-based labs cost half as much as the Windows-based labs to equip--but system upkeep is much easier, too... Ron Gerstenmaier, principal of Norton High School in Norton, Ohio, has a similar story. Norton High School has been using open-source software for six years now, according to Gerstenmaier. Not only does the school pay a fraction of the cost it would require to run proprietary software programs, but "we've never had a virus problem--and the downtime is zilch," he says. ... At a time when budgets are so tight, it would make sense that a growing number of schools and other institutions would turn to a solution that is free to license and distribute. But many schools are citing enhanced stability, too, as a primary reason for making the switch from proprietary to open-source software.
  

• Open Source Makes School Breakthrough (eGov Monitor, 2005.04.25)
  [A] landmark report will show that [Open Source Software] can be implemented successfully in schools and present documented examples of cost savings from its use. ... Among the key findings will be that primary and secondary schools using OSS substantially reduced the total cost of ownership per PC. Support costs - typically accounting for more than half a PC's total cost - showed the biggest reduction.
  

• Brazil: Free software's biggest and best friend (CNet News, 2005.03.29)
  Looking to save millions of dollars in royalties and licensing fees, [Brazil's president] has instructed government ministries and state-run companies to gradually switch from costly operating systems made by Microsoft and others to free operating systems, like Linux. ... Brazil has also become the first country to require any company or research institute that receives government financing to develop software to license it as open source...
  

• South Korea Steps Up Linux Use in Public Sector (TechNewsWorld, 2005.03.28)
  Last year, the ministry encouraged eight government agencies to adopt the Linux operating system and it is now gaining traction...
  

• Linux desktops have internal role at Cisco (LinuxWorld.com.au, 2005.02.17)
  The advantage of Linux on the desktop is in the ease of administration, provided by some of the built-in tools and properties of Linux. ... Manning estimates that it takes a company approximately one desktop administrator to support 40 Windows PCs, while one administrator can support between 200 and 400 Linux desktops.
  

• L.A. investigates open source to cut costs (Federal Computer Week, 2005.02.12)
  City officials could save $5.2 million by switching to OpenOffice, an open-source desktop computer suite that includes word processor and spreadsheet programs, rather than purchasing a Microsoft Office product at $200 per license for 26,000 desktops. The savings would go to a special fund to hire more employees for the police department, a major focus for city officials right now.
  

• World's Largest Linux Migration Gets Major Boost (PC World, 2005.02.02)
  Describing the moment as the first important milestone in its company-wide move to Linux, Deutsche Bahn Aktiengesellschaft said that it expected the move to give it continuous cost savings, greater flexibility, and integration benefits as it gradually moved the rest of its business over.
  

• Tech Giants Push Open Standards for Health Network (Slashdot.org, 2005.01.27)
  Eight of the nation's largest technology companies, including I.B.M., Microsoft and Oracle, have agreed to embrace open, nonproprietary technology standards as the software building blocks for a national health information network.
  

• Linux fights off hackers (vnunet.com, 2005.01.17)
  Linux systems are getting tougher for hackers to crack... Linux systems today take three months to fall prey to hackers... By contrast unpatched Windows systems exposed in a similar way in tests last year by Symantec lasted a few hours, or in some cases minutes.
  

• Linux: Fewer Bugs Than Rivals (Wired, 2004.12.14)
  According to a four-year analysis of the 5.7 million lines of Linux source code conducted by five Stanford University computer science researchers, the Linux kernel programming code is better and more secure than the programming code of most proprietary software. ... Commercial software typically has 20 to 30 bugs for every 1,000 lines of code, according to Carnegie Mellon University... [115 to 173 times as many as in the Linux kernel]. ... [It was] noted that the majority of the bugs documented in the study have already been fixed by members of the open-source development community.
  

• TCO Study: Linux wins again (The Age, 2004.12.13)
  An updated Linux vs Windows TCO study has found that a 250-seat company can end up saving 36 percent if it were to equip its users with the open source operating system and applications that run on it. ... Costs which arose when systems need to be pre-emptively rebooted or crashed, resulting in unscheduled downtime, were not taken into account. 'All our research indicates that Linux rarely if ever suffers such problems and open source platforms on the whole are extremely robust'...
  

• Europcar slims IT costs with Linux thin clients (ZDNet UK, 2004.11.30)
  The car hire firm says its has cut hardware and maintenance costs dramatically by migrating 1,500 rental stations to thin clients running Linux. '[By] converting fat clients to terminal servers we have reduced the total cost of ownership by 60 percent.' Europcar chose to run Linux rather than Windows on the terminals so that it could create a bespoke version of the operating system which included specific inventory, security and remote management tools needed by the company.
  

• Veterans Dept checks open-source options (Australian Financial Review, 2004.11.29)
  The Commonwealth Department of Veterans Affairs is considering installing open-source software on its desktop computers as it continues a wide-ranging technology revamp that has taken in almost all of its information systems. If it goes ahead with the proposal, the move would again put Veterans Affairs at the forefront of computer and communications technology adoption, continuing several years of intense change at the agency. It would also cement the department's position of one of the country's most advanced users of open source software, including the Linux operating system.
  

• UK Council Dumps Microsoft for Open Source (Linux Insider, 2004.11.17)
  The local authority estimates that the move will save it some 1.4 million (US$2.6 million) over the next five years. ... According to the council, as well as saving money, the project aims to ensure a more consistent use of software systems across its departments and services where a mixture of products are currently used.
  

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