The costs of converting from Microsoft to Linux - Partially or completely!

[daller]

Some time ago, "Politikken" - Which is a danish newspaper, wrote an article on the economical advantages of switching from "MS Office XP" to "OpenOffice 2.0"

The result was crystalclear!

The danish government (including 400.000 computers) uses 900.000.000kr ($150.000.000) a year for MS Office licenses, and stuff! (Just thinking about what the sum of all the licences (Including Windows, AntiVirus, etc... ) per year is, makes me angry!)

The discussion is now, whether or not the spared money would just have to be used for technicians etc... I refuse to believe so!

People have to learn how to use the new environment (probably expencive) - But don't you think they have to do that when a new version of "MS Office" is out?

OpenOffice uses an open standard, which enables people to share documents without having to pay a lot for an MS Licence.

Let's say it'll take a day to get used to OpenOffice:

400.000 workers (many of those may not need education in OOo) - I have a hard time figuring out, how that may cost $150.000.000 - So why do they stich with MS?

Ones everyone has been trained, we'll be down to the expences of having MS Office running (without expences to licences!)

Alternatively all schools could switch to OpenOffice, meaning that OpenOffice would become the standard forever on! (Doing this, everyone doing business in Denmark would use OpenOffice in just 30 years from now)

The problem is that MS Office has become some sort of Standard in Denmark, You learn how to use it in school, you get a job or start your own business - The only option you have is MS Office, because it the only thing you know.

If we can get the schools converted, the rest of the country will follow!

That was the Office part! - What about leaving Windows as well?

Again - I'm talking LONG TERM!

[ember]

I guess, you have to take into account that we are not just talking about uninstalling Office XP and installing Open Office. That step would be relatively easy.
Indeed training people for the new software is an issue - you have remember that there may be psychological barriers of people who are used to the old software.
Also there are often custom made plugins and macros that cannot be transfered 1:1 - also there could be other commercial software that integrates well into MS Office but not into Open Office.
I am not saying that a migration is not worth while in the long run, but you have to plan it carefully and carry your plan out step by step, if you do not want to fail.

[Alpha_toxic]

There is sth more.
About 3 years ago there were debates about that in my country (Bulgaria). Then one minister stated that the cost of maintaining one computer with win is about 15$ a year, and the cost to switch to linux will be about 2000$ for a computer (total cost that is, including the trainign of people, managing personal etc.)!!!!!

Now this obviously is a pure lie (after all for 2000$ you can buy a new multiprocessor computer, powerfull enough for a small server), but those debates never actually led to anything so our government continued to buy wins.

I don't remember the exact figures, but at one ocasion they bought wins for the computers in schools that are 3 times more than the actual computers!!!!! They said they are going to buy more computers in future, and those wins are for them (of course by the time they actualy buy the computers, they'll have to buy newer versions fo win).

The point is that there are too much money to be made from buying wins. If you buy, lets say, 10,000 wins, this makes about 1,000,000$. Worldwide 10% of the deal is considered a comision for the middleman. This makes 100,000$.

Now if you were a fat lying politician and that middleman at the same time,
what yould you chose???

[Ultimo Aliento]

Hmmm, here in Mexico, some years ago, the goverment create a office to change some parts of the gov to open source software...some really BIG names (like Miguel De Icaza) were working with the office... everything was looking wonderful, but one day, the news from that work stop comming.

One friend, that was working with the office tell me that Microsoft do EVERYTHING to screw the iniciative , even giving for free windows licenses, talking with all the high ranking politicians about how linux would cost them a LOT more that windows (sure...) , and maybe , giving money to some politicians (here in Mexico politic corruption is as common as air).

If you know some Spanish, here is the E-Mexico manifiesto, writed by Miguel De Icaza.

http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/emexico2.html

I dont know if the inicitive is still working, the last time i know something about E-Mexico, was two years ago.