(Ed)Ubuntu montetary value or cost equivalent?

[jkb973]

Hi,

I'm involved in a project to collect used PCs, refurbish them if needed, and install Edubuntu for a local grammar school (see link in sig for details).

I've looked on various Ubuntu forums and Google for some sort of metric to compare the cost of non-FOSS with the cost of the FOSS (applications and OS) provided with Edubuntu.

This is not for tax deduction purposes or anything like that. I'd just like to be able to tell the school that if they purchased the equivalent commercial versions of the applications, it would cost them $XXX, versus $0 for OSS.

Anybody see this type of analysis out there?

Thanks,
Jack
http://pcs4olv.googlepages.com/

[Lord Illidan]

Well, I would start with the cost of Windows, then the cost of Microsoft Office. It all depends on the type of applications you have replaced.

[jkb973]

Yep, that's the idea. I'll do it myself if I have to, but hope to leverage an existing "study".

[jkb973]

Are you really in Malta? My son, who's heading this project, was there over the summer with a youth group. Really enjoyed it, especially Comino.

[Lord Illidan]

Look around on the net, there are plenty...however beware of MS studies that claim that Linux is more expensive than Windows in the long run.

[stchman]

Look around on the net, there are plenty...however beware of MS studies that claim that Linux is more expensive than Windows in the long run.

Those studies are almost 5 years old. The big thing about those studies was Linux expertise. Since Linux is far more widespread than it was 5 years ago the talent pool is far larger.

[Lord Illidan]

Those studies are almost 5 years old. The big thing about those studies was Linux expertise. Since Linux is far more widespread than it was 5 years ago the talent pool is far larger.

More like 3 years (04)

[jkb973]

More to the point, those studies typically cover just the OS, and try to account for long-term support, upgrades, training, support staff, etc.

I'm just looking for a side-by-side license cost comparsion for each application included in Edubuntu:

Windows US$129 Linux: US$0
PhotoShop US$599 GIMP: US$0
MS Office US$179 OOO: US$0
etc
etc
etc

Like that. Easy enough to make my own list, but computers have make me lazy and I like to make use of exisitng resources. And I know the list won't be perfect (e.g., is GIMP really equivalent of the GIMP, etc), but it just needs to be a reasonable estimate.

So, anybody seen that on the Intertubes?

Thanks,
Jack