
French Lawmakers Hope to Inspire Linux Revolution - dimm
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/french-lawmakers-hope-to-inspire-linux-revolution/
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sounddust
Having recently moved to France, I was surprised by how many people are
comfortable with Linux (especially Ubuntu; I've had so many conversations with
non-technical people about how they use it instead of Windows) and how common
it is to see people using it in public (netbooks and laptops alike). It's not
a surprise that the government is becoming more comfortable with the idea of
OSS as well.

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jballanc
Why must a push for Linux always be touted as political and/or economical? Why
couldn't it just be an openness issue? I see no compelling reason, at all, why
government should use proprietary software.

...a government of the people, by the people, for the people, run by software
of the people, by the people, for the people...

~~~
Jebdm
Is openness not a political issue?

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thwarted
Openness shouldn't be a political issue in a democracy, it should be the
default.

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bprater
500k/euros over 5 years savings? Sounds like a waste of time just talking
about it.

Did they actually factor in the actual costs of switching folks over?

It's going to take more than a couple 50k/year employees to support a massive
upgrade.

On the other hand, I think that Linux is close enough to being ready for
public consumption.

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kragen
It might have taken more than a couple 50k/year employees to support the
existing setup too; if the new software is better, it will free those people
up to perform more productive services than resolving Windows Genuine
Advantage problems.

