Exactly what I argued when I first saw this...
Criticism mounts over Birmingham's Linux project
,----[ Quote ]
| Several industry watchers have voiced their concerns about the project,
| particularly around the number of PCs rolled out. Birmingham's expenditure
| averaged over £2,500 per PC.
|
| "That's ridiculous," said Eddie Bleasdale, the owner of open-source
| consultancy NetProject and an early participant in the project. "It's
| an unbelievable cock-up... They decided to do it all themselves,
| without expertise in the area," he added, saying that a lack of
| skills in open source and secure desktops would undoubtedly have
| raised costs.
|
| [...]
|
| Mark Taylor, whose Open Source Consortium also exited the project
| in the early stages, said: "I have no idea how anyone could spend
| half a million pounds on 200 desktops, running free software".
|
| Asked by ZDNet UK whether he was surprised that an XP upgrade was
| calculated as cheaper than the Linux project, Taylor said, "If it's
| done properly, that can't happen. It's amazing that anyone can spend
| that much on [Linux] project management." Taylor added that there
| are plenty of open-source skills in the Birmingham area which could
| have been utilised.
`----
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39284758,00.htm
Related:
LiMux The Penguin: Deep into Munich's Linux F/OSS migration
,----[ Quote ]
| Munich's Linux migration has been a publicity frenzy, a
| software patent poster child, and the subject of a debate
| on the role of government in technology mandates. Now it's
| a real-life IT project, and the key to success is training,
| management, and replacing 170 non-Linux applications.
|
| [...]
|
| Now, after enormous criticism and a nearly complete halt,
| it's becoming a successful migration if for very important
| reasons: it's going well, quietly, and on plan.
`---- ^^^^^^^
http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2006/110606-munich-linux.html
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